Summary: A flashback shows the Buffalo Society (Hoski and Frank) meet with BJ Vines. In the present, Raymond is shot by Hoski while searching at the lake. Bernadette's investigation leads her to the lake as well as she looks for Raymond. Leaphorn and Chee question Tso and figure out that he is an impostor. They have dinner together and bond before making their next move, though an argument breaks out between Leaphorn and Emma. They go to arrest him but end up in a shootout with Hoski and Frank. Hoski escapes, but Frank is captured. Frank reveals that he knows Chee from the FBI. Bernadette learns that Chee is FBI, and Leaphorn learns that Chee lied to him about not knowing Frank. Leaphorn fights Chee for his betrayal.
The Good: The opening scene was well done and does well to further the mystique of the show. The Buffalo Society haven't been explored much until now, and this scene gives us a good idea of what they stand for and why they are doing what they do, while also offering some curious insight into the motives of the individual characters Hoski and Frank. There's still lots that we have to learn about how this all connects, but the mystery is continuing to build nicely. The ending of the sequence with the helicopter being pushed in the lake and Raymond being shot out of nowhere was an excellent bit of drama. It was a surprise twist that immediately ramped up the suspense in the episode as we waited to see if anyone would realize what happened to Raymond. The build-up in mystery throughout the episode is done well. Leaphorn and Chee speaking with Hoski and figuring out his true identity was a highlight of the episode. This is just a simple conversation between three people, but it was executed spectacularly to convey an enormous sense of tension. It became clear through the acting of all three characters that Leaphorn and Chee were beginning to suspect something was off about "Father Tso" and that elevated the suspense because there was no indication about what was coming next. This was all done so subtly and through simple means. There was no intense music, no dramatic reveals, and no over-the-top moments. It was excellent, slow build of suspense. The ensuing gunfight later in the episode was also suitably dramatic and I loved the way that it was shot. It felt very realistic and there was genuine suspense about what would happen next. The preparations done by both sides and their suspicions and paranoia were fitting. Every character came across as competent and realistic. I like that this intense scene had a couple of huge revelations for the characters as they learned about Chee. Bernadette has to realize that she was completely wrong about who Chee was, and Leaphorn had to come to terms with the fact that Chee had faked honesty with him and was betraying him all along. Good stuff. The build-up with Leaphorn and Chee's relationship throughout the episode was really well done. The dinner scene was good and also did well to reveal more about Leaphorn's trauma through his argument with Emma. It was great how a casual fun dinner scene evolved into something much more dramatic, and also telling about Leaphorn's difficulty moving on from the death of his son. I appreciate that this scene was kept short and left a lot unspoken, mirroring reality and allowing us to analyze the characters ourselves. This show does not spoonfeed information and I appreciate that. In any case, it was clear that despite his trauma, Leaphorn had projected his son onto Chee, which is what makes Chee's betrayal hurt so much more. But Chee himself is compelling here too, because it's clear that he does have affection for the people he has met and that he feels bad betraying them for his own promotion. Kiowa Gordon portrays Chee's inner conflict nicely, and I'm interested to see how Chee handles this inner conflict in the final two episodes. The Bad: This show is a bit too melodramatic at times. A lot of the arguments and conflicts in this episode were a bit hammed up and didn't quite feel natural. Leaphorn and Chee's fight is one such example. I get that there would be enormous tensions between them, but I don't think that the show quite earned Leaphorn punching Chee for what he did. A bigger issue is that this conflict seems unimportant since it is highly likely that they will make up with each other later. Chee needs to still be around for us to have a show, so the conclusion to this conflict seems predictable, unoriginal, and uninteresting. I enjoyed the gunfight scene but I found it hard to believe that Hoski got away so easily. Leaphorn and Chee should have been much quicker to react to him running away, and they look sloppy for letting him escape so easily. The Unknown: Interesting opening scene. Who is BJ Vines and why is the Buffalo Society so against him in particular? How did this tie in with the robbery? What is the significance of BJ going against the Buffalo Society? How will this all play out? Why is the Buffalo Society allied with the witch? Hoski seems like he is the ringleader. How do his personal motives connect with the Buffalo Society? How about Frank? Frank seems to be very against killing Navajo people, while Hoski is fine with it. How was Frank convinced to go along with this? What exactly was Hoski's plan? What is he trying to do? Why is he so willing to kill to achieve his goals? Why did he need a cop car to go to the meet up? How will Chee and Leaphorn work around their problems? I strongly doubt that Chee is going to leave the reservation for his promotion. He's co-starring in this show, surely he sticks around. What will make him decide to stay? Best Moment: The dinner scene was nicely realized with some good emotional subtext. The dialogue in this series is stellar and feels very realistic, and it's aided by a strong cast. Character of the Episode: Chee. Conclusion: A good episode with more action and drama as the story starts to heat up. Score: 63
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
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