Season 1, Episode 10
Finding a way towards a cohesive whole
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way: the worst plot of the night was the Vonda/Isaac plot, and even that wasn’t so bad once it got going. The show has been struggling to find an effective way to use the two since the start, unsure of what their role should be in the overall case. If they just do little related side errands – like pulling over a driver in Killian’s operation – the show risks making them look ineffectual at larger tasks. But if you set them off on their – like the rest of their plot – the shows risks losing viewer interest, regardless of how interesting the case may be.
I have yet to feel invested in the relationship between the two, and I doubt that that’s going to change. Yet despite the slow start to their story, it did end up being kind of fun (I fully enjoyed watching that bust for some reason), and I think it points to what they should could/should do with them for the immediate future. Though perhaps not the best option, having the show split the line between full and no involvement for Isaac and Vonda with the ongoing narrative like they did tonight manages to serve both masters, and more importantly, it keeps the character busy, and without that distraction, the show can weave the other three sets of characters into one masterful story, like it did tonight.
“Political corruption in Chicago is like the pizza. Other cities do it, but no one better than us.”
-Teresa
For ten weeks now, the show has asked us to be involved in Teresa’s quest to take down Gibbons, something that has been harder to do as the show has settled in for the long haul and Delroy Lindo’s presence has been lessened. Yet tonight that same story line picked up force tonight, coming back stronger than ever. (And the way I hear it, the next three weeks – which are crucial to the show’s renewal – will see some sort of resolution to this season’s arc. I don’t know what this means, since I doubt the show would drop Lindo this early, but I am excited to see how this all wraps up.)
The best part of this development, I think, is that it finally feels as if the story is actually moving somewhere. Sure, the show has spent the past couple of weeks using the feud between Colvin and Gibbons in order to provide insight into the characters, and to paint the picture in all different shades of gray. And though those dividends have rewarded handsomely, the show has often seem stalled in its initial storyline, leaving the characters to be passive pawns as opposed to active players.
That changes with this episode, as we begin to see Teresa, Jarek, Liam, and Caleb prepare to bring the rain down on Gibbon’s head. This episode contained a lot of setup to be sure, but it was dynamite in the way it did so, paying off weeks of tension with the first steps toward taking down Gibbons, small steps that should lead to some even bigger payoffs in the upcoming weeks.
“You want dirt on Gibbons? I will get you dirt on Gibbons.”
-Liam
The most interesting part of the storyline – and the one where it felt like the most was accomplished – was Liam’s, as we finally got to see him make some real head in Gibbon’s criminal organization, and grow as a character as well. For weeks now Liam’s been a bit of a cipher, as he had yet to prove why he was undercover in the first place. This was perhaps due to the show trying to illustrate how hard undercover work was, but it often just came off as if Liam was sloppy and emotionally incapable of doing such work.
But that changed tonight, as we saw Liam take direct action, move his own investigation forward in an attempt to take out not one, but two criminal leaders. And the sloppiness here didn’t feel as forced, with some of Liam’s near being due to external forces (like the old friend who spotted him in the bar) as opposed to his own incompetence. What’s more, Liam has seemed to learn from his mistakes, as his attempts to cull knowledge about Killian’s operation went much smoother with Killian himself as they did with his earlier questions to someone lower on the totem pole.
But the best part of Liam’s storyline was the final scene with Killian, where Liam proved his chops as an undercover cop, taking decisive, aggressive action, in a very tense scene. What helped this scene, beyond the excellent pacing and the solid acting by Billy Lush, was the fact that the show used it’s relation to Jarek so effectively.
“It’s a promise I haven’t been able to keep…yet.”
-Jarek
We haven’t learned as much about Vincent, Jarek’s dead brother, as I figured we would have before tonight. We knew that he was killed in the line of duty, and that his death is the reason that Vonda is also an officer. I’m still not sure that we learned anything all that useful tonight – unless Vincent’s death while undercover somehow links back to Gibbons. And on the one hand, the show probably leaned a little too heavily on this connection, repeating the information more times than necessary.
Yet on the other hand, all of those quick jump cuts during Liam’s sting to the shot of Vincent dead, combined with the great acting by Jason Clarke, helped to give the scene a tense, kinetic energy that made it even more effective. And as long as the show can keep providing moments like this, than the next three weeks should be very good indeed.
Quotes, Etc.:
“Subtle is for plastic surgeons and poets.”
“I can be charming.” “Try harder.”
Whenever you need to change the subject, the phrase “you’re drunk” will usually do in a pinch.
“Stop running, I’ve got you!”
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