Season One, Part 2
The task force’s new mission is, in some ways, more disturbing to me than its first. There’s something less horrifying about the stereotypical ‘bad guy’ plot to blow up a city or take over the weather or something on a grand scale – maybe because that’s what we’re used to from the Marvel type villain. Or maybe because it’s less personal, so somehow less impactful. Volchek was one of those ‘bad guys’ – though I was also fascinated by Volchek as a villain. We saw enough of his backstory to understand some of how he became so bent on revenge, and he was smart and devious and the actor had lots of charisma in spite of the character he was playing. Is it wrong that I kinda miss him?
The villain of this mission is, frankly, just horrifying – in a turn my stomach kind of way. I don’t mind my media dark, so I’m intrigued. What are we going to find out about this guy??
This is the first full episode in what feels like Part 2 of the first season of the show. It’s disconcerting that it’s so different, but I admit it also ups the fascination factor. Even the pace of this episode is much slower, especially in the beginning. We follow the new bad guy in acute detail as he listens to radio propaganda, puts on camo gear, loads his rifle and goes hunting. The music is even slow, and while I was fairly sure this was going to be a bad guy, it was almost deceptively peaceful. Until the gut punch at the end of his hunt.
We see that a few years earlier, the guy is out of work, presumably for PTSD reasons, and reacts badly when a friend/colleague suggests that he should get back to work or he’ll be called a malingerer. His girlfriend is also pushing that, and you can see the pressure building up – he’s like a powder keg, waiting for a match. I find this guy scarier than Volchek because it’s “everyday” rage and violence, and we’re all surrounded by people like that in real life. As soon as we meet his girlfriend and her adorable beloved little beagle, my stomach was queasy. When she betrays him and he takes the dog with him when he leaves, I was full on nauseous.
The task force needs a name for their killer; Meachum suggests Todd. I’m not sure why that’s funny, but I laughed and so did the rest of the team. Nevertheless, Todd it is.
I don’t like Todd.
Guess Who’s Back?
They know that the Governor of California and the POTUS are the targets, thus the need for the task force – which Oliveras returns to join also.
That’s not a big surprise, though we couldn’t be absolutely certain they’d bring her back. Considering that the sparks between her and Meachum are definitely part of the show’s appeal, though, it would have been an odd decision not to have Jessica Camacho return.
Things are strained between Meachum and her after their almost-hook-up ten months before, especially because Oliveras has been dating the doctor who cured Meachum, Julio. Meachum is clearly threatened by that, posturing by insinuating he’s been doing a lot of sleeping around himself, “doing all the living I can with whoever, more than one whoevers…”
Oliveras: Gross.
Meachum: it’s not gross, it’s human nature.
(Sam and Dean Winchester may have had this same conversation after Dean’s tryst with twins, just saying…)