Summary: Flashbacks reveal that Jessica was accidentally murdered by her abusive husband Peter. Reese learns this and seemingly kills Peter. In the present, Donnelly involves Carter on his investigation of Reese which leads to Jessica's murder. She eventually learns of Reese's relationship to Jessica. Finch gives Reese a day off since the next POI case is a woman running from an abusive husband. Reese gets involved anyways and lets his emotion take control. Reese captures the husband, Marshall Jennings, and plans to kill him. Carter meets up with him and convinces him not to. Reese ends up putting Jennings in a Mexican prison.
The Good: This was a really strong episode with some great storytelling. It almost felt like "Lost" at times because of the way the flashback story impacted the main narrative by explaining Reese's motivations in the present through a story from the past. The format worked for "Lost", and it worked just as well here, providing the show's best episode yet. Reese's emotional journey was really strong. His utter disdain for abusive husbands was explained really nicely since abuse was the reason that Jessica died before he could come back to her. Better yet, the show capitalized on Reese's emotions to make him a proper loose cannon. He was burning hot with anger and that anger led to him behaving irrationally throughout the episode and that added a lot of tension. We could never be sure what Reese was going to do or what consequences he would be faced to endure due to his overly emotional state. This unpredictability is very different from what we usually get from this show, and it allowed this episode to really stand out and provide a more emotional experience than what we are used to. Reese's evolution as the show has gone on has been wonderful to see. He started off as one of my least favourite parts of the show, an overly serious badass that had little to no charisma. But as the show developed a sense of humour, it has used some lovely repetition (lines like "hello Lionel" whenever Reese appears out of nowhere) and smart dialogue to make Reese a more charming character. They even managed to make Jim Caviezel's discount Batman voice fit with the character by structuring some dry humour around him. It has worked superbly well, and coupled with the familiarity effect, it has turned Reese into a character that I enjoy to watch. Some of the tense sequences were really great. Finch's investigations are still some of the most exciting scenes to watch. I enjoyed watching him patiently track Sarah, and having him get caught by Marshall Jennings was really tense and I was excited to see how he would get out of the situation. I thought Reese's save was really good and I laughed at the idea of Reese just happening to have a police badge on him. Naturally, somebody like Reese would actually have a police badge on hand. I was really happy to see that the police were notified this time when Reese did something stupid. I also like how it tied into Carter's story and got Donnelly away from her when she was investigating Reese. I like the idea of her learning more about Reese. Taraji P. Henson did a great job of conveying Carter's feelings for Reese. After learning more about his past, she has come to view him as another person and her opinion of him has changed. Reese with a beard looked remarkably similar to Jack from "Lost" in that one episode. Those who have seen "Lost" should know. I found that to be a neat parallel, especially seeing how both characters were in similar states. The Bad: I was surprised by how easily Reese was able to get away from the Marshalls. He just assaulted one of them, and they just let him go. Apparently nobody got a look at his face either which is ridiculous. Also, he certainly appeared on some security footage, so he should be a wanted man now. Sharon started talking about Reese really suddenly to Carter. I understand that she would want somebody to talk to, but I felt that the scene was set up poorly. Sharon's emotional state wasn't clear enough for the scene to work. The running away cliché featured again when Sarah made her escape. The Unknown: Very interesting ending. Was Finch aware of Jessica's existence? Did she appear on the Machine? Or was he following Reese? Why? Was he casing for a new partner? Why was he in the hospital anyways? Evidently he had just had the injury which caused his limp. What will Carter do now that she understands Reese more? Best Moment: I really enjoyed Reese grimly speaking to Peter moments before he (seemingly) kills him. It was a very powerful scene that nicely displayed Reese's regrets. Character of the Episode: Reese. Conclusion: The show's first truly great episode. This episode was a great emotional journey for Reese while finally giving us all of the information we need to truly understand him. Even outside of the emotional subtext of the story, this was still a very enjoyable episode to watch which makes it a big success. Score: 70
3 Comments
Ben
1/18/2019 05:47:40 am
Just to point out, I don't believe Reese was ever going to kill Jennings, as he was always heading to the Mexican prison; he asked Carter to trust him, and it was for good reason. That's why I think the end twist works so well because it sheds a lot more light on Reese's previous behaviour, since it's probably where he sent Peter and also Benton (104). Anyway, as good as the next two episodes are, this is my favourite of the season because it really is the climax of Reese's emotional journey this season.
Reply
Aaron
1/18/2019 07:51:26 am
Ahh, thanks for the clarification! That does make a lot of sense and adds a new layer to the story being told in this episode. I'll definitely have to re-watch this episode soon with that in mind.
Reply
Joe Y
8/14/2020 03:15:15 pm
"Cura Te Ipsum" was the real beginning of Reese's transformation from the stone cold killer to the man in the suit saving one life at a time. He killed Peter that night in New Rochelle. I think he ended up choosing not to kill Benton in Montauk.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|