Summary: Reese and Shaw have gone rogue to hunt down Simmons who has escaped. Finch gets in contact with Shaw and they work together to bring Reese back, who is still hurting from his injuries. They track down Quinn because Reese is heading there to get Simmons' exit strategy. Finch is forced to release Root to help them out. Reese gets the information from Quinn. Finch stops him from killing Quinn and leaves the information on a piece of paper. Reese is taken to a hospital. Root goes back to imprisonment. Fusco picks up the paper and confronts Simmons. They fight and Fusco wins, arresting him. In the hospital, Elias visits Simmons and lets Scarface kill him.
The Good: What was most striking about this episode was the tone. From the first moment, this episode latched onto a dark, somber tone with the slow-paced, soundless opening scene showcasing Reese and Shaw going hunting for Simmons to avenge Carter. This scene stands out because it's rare to see this show get experimental with its cinematography, and it tried something new here with a resounding success. There was also a terrific usage of Johnny Cash, using "Hurt" to set the tone of the scene. The rest of the episode more than lived up to the expectations. This was a fittingly serious episode, even Root wasn't as bubbly as she usually is. The main story of needing to find Reese before he gets himself killed was very engaging and it led to an enjoyable story centered around the odd, but enjoyable team of Finch, Shaw, Fusco and Root. Reese had a fantastic role as well. Since season 1, the show hasn't focused on Reese's more badass aspects very much, instead choosing to focus more on parodying the action hero and giving him a fun sense of dry humour. Here Reese is darker than he has ever been, going on a crazy revenge quest to kill Simmons and avenge Carter. It was awesome to see Reese mow people down viciously as he slowly bleeds out, determined to avenge his fallen friend (or lover, but I like it better my way). Watching Reese hunt down Quinn was engaging and Jim Caviezel gave his best performance yet with Quinn in a terrific scene. Quinn was pretty good here, being unwilling to betray Simmons for showing loyalty. It was pretty despicable, and it visually ticked off Reese who gave a fantastic monologue saying how he will kill Quinn. It's an out of character moment for Reese to give this monologue, but that's the point. Reese is here for petty revenge, and he fully plans to enjoy killing Quinn. Finch's timely arrival is great and he makes a compelling case to Reese. But what I love most is that Reese still tries to kill Quinn before he passes out in a final desperate act of vengeance. It was a dark change for his character and I really hope that the show sticks with it. It had been slowly growing in the last 10 episodes, and I really hope that Carter's death can spark a long-term character change for Reese. The flashbacks were really good too. The dull colour filter was nice, sticking with the tone of the episode while also providing good moments for the central characters as they speak with some form of a therapist. Finch's grieving started off the episode in the right way and also tied nicely into his grief over Ingram and why he decided to do this job anyways. Shaw's was very interesting (see: The Unknown), while Reese's fit perfectly with his character and even tied in with his dark character turn. It was Fusco who got the bets flashback though, reminding us of how much of a thug he used to be. I thought that "In Extremis" didn't portray the past Fusco effectively, but this was much more appropriate. Fusco coldly hunted down a revenge kill in the past and had no regrets. That sounds more like the man we were introduced to back in the pilot. The flashback perfectly set up Fusco's story in this episode. I was so glad that Fusco was allowed to be the one to finally take down Simmons since their rivalry is much more personal that Reese and Simmons. The fist fight between Fusco and Simmons was tremendous. Sure, it was a bit hokey, but I bought into it because Fusco has certainly been wanting to beat the crap out of Simmons for quite some time now. Plus, the flashback nicely set up Fusco's determination to give out justice to bad people. The best part was certainly Fusco's final speech which was one of the finest moments of the show (see: Best Moment). The ending of the episode was as close to perfect as you can get. Elias killing Simmons coldly in the night was a wonderful use of his character, giving somebody some well deserved vengeance over Simmons without compromising the character of any of the main cast. The Bad: It doesn't make any sense that Shaw and Finch would get to Quinn before everyone else. They had to choose whether or not to get Root involved which likely took some time, and after that they also had to get to Quinn's location, giving Reese and the Russians plenty of time to get there. I really wish that more was done with Elias this season. The final scene made me really wish that we had gotten to see more of his relationship with Carter, which could have made his murder of Simmons and even better moment. The Unknown: So Shaw was a doctor and I'm not sure if I like it. Shaw doesn't strike me as the kind of person that would go through med school and everything. Though it does explain how she can give herself medical treatment so easily. I wonder if this reveal will actually go somewhere. Why is Root still with Finch? Does she have a purpose? Is it the Machine's will or her own? What will it lead to? Best Moment: After beating Simmons down, Kevin Chapman gives his best performance on the show so far. Fusco passionately goes off on Simmons on how Carter saved his life, expertly conveying how much Simmons killing her really hit Fusco. It's a fantastic moment for Fusco who finally gets a big moment to prove how much he has changed over the course of the series. The final line when Fusco decides to arrest Simmons instead of stooping down to his level was terrific. Character of the Episode: Fusco. Conclusion: This was one of the show's finest hours which concluded the first half of season 3 in epic and emotional fashion. This half season has been a huge success for the show. The original POI-style episodes were pretty lame, but the more serialized episodes were pretty fantastic and there were a lot of them in this half season. The show is adapting, and has improved in leaps and bounds as a result. Score: 81
2 Comments
Ben
4/8/2019 06:44:36 am
This is certainly the best of Season Three so far. I love the use of flashbacks this episode, as well as the ending scene and Fusco’s confrontation with Simmons. I agree that the HR story was the show’s overall weakest long-term story, but the last three episodes are phenomenal. I can enjoy the story a bit more on rewatch knowing there’s decent payoff. Now the HR story is over though, the show certainly goes onto more interesting threats, like Decima Technologies.
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Joe Y
8/14/2020 10:57:30 am
This is a masterful hour of tv, one of the best to ever air. It definitely deserved your highest grade.
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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