CBC’s Bellevue
Season 1, Episode 8: “You Don’t Understand Me at All”
Directed by Adrienne Mitchell
Written by Jane Maggs
* For a recap & review of the penultimate episode, “The Man Behind the Curtain” – click here
On the lonely road in the woods, Brady’s been run down; dead. Annie (Anna Paquin) is left relatively unscathed. The driver of the other vehicle? Adam (Patrick Labbé), of course. He’s saved his estranged sister, keeping her safe from near death. He says he wanted to “end the cycle.” But what does this mean? He still isn’t satisfied, and he’s off running into the woods once more, away from her. The mystery still churning.
Welland (Shawn Doyle) and the others arrive not long after, carting away the body, left with the aftermath of Brady’s revelations concerning his incestuous feelings for his sister Briana (Amber Goldfarb), which eventually led to him killing Jesse. Afterwards, Eddie (Allen Leech) begs Annie to walk away from the job, if only for their daughter Daisy (Madison Ferguson). But we know there’s too much obsession in her veins for that. Especially now with her brother’s mysteries still floating in the air.
Poor Briana, having to deal with her brother before and now with his death. All upsetting, despite the circumstances. She tells Annie about their abusive father, that Brady came to bring the worst of it on himself to save her from it. A troubled past, no doubt. Doesn’t change the ugliness which came later.
Coach Tom (Vincent Leclerc) gets a call about his daughter in trouble. He rushes into the woods, calling for her. His leg winds up caught in a bear trap. The police get there and hear the calls of a girl; it’s a recording, tied to a tree. They also see SANDY carved bloody across Tom’s chest. Ah, this is the heart of the whole thing.
They find more info from Maggie Sweetland (Victoria Sanchez), about the shack in the woods around New Horizons, about Tom when they were younger, all sorts of things. Father Jameson (Joe Cobden) was involved, too. As was Lily (Janine Theriault). Some more cruel than others, such as the priest. He “had a habit of humiliating.” Suddenly Welland and Annie decipher the LION clue from in front of the church, which leads them to find Jameson strung up, though not dead; SANDY carved into his forehead.
All those years ago, they tortured Sandy, locking her in the shack. Because Lily wanted the part of Mary in the school pageant. And one question remains: where’s Lily? They’ve found the other two. She must be out there, somewhere.
Answers lie with Adam, his few clues that he left Annie. What’s driving him? What is the ultimate goal? Go back to the beginning, with the murder of Sandy. Immaculate conception, without sin, Mary. Did he help Sandy die because she wanted to be free? Was it “mercy“? Maybe something darker.
The idea of mercy leads them to a street of the same name, an old brewery. They find a lily on the floor. Further on are boot prints. Welland the rest dig out a pile of dirt and locate Lily in a coffin underneath. Each of the three culprits of Sandy’s humiliation not killed yet tortured to a great extent.
Adam turns up to see his niece Daisy. She opens the door for him bravely. “You‘re the one who leaves the riddles,” she says without fear. They sit and talk about their family, their shared history, dear ole grandpa, and certainly mom. He speaks of Jesse, how he was treated like Sandy and driven to bad places by the bullies in their lives. Only I worry about his intentions with Daisy, I hope he’s not playing any dangerous games.
When Eddie and Annie can’t find their daughter, they’re frantic. Looking for clues anywhere possible. They see cutout paper people holding hands, posted on the trees. This leads her out into the woods alone, just as Sandy Driver once ran through the same path being tormented by the three torturers. Annie finds Adam, sending Daisy back to her father.
That day long ago, Adam found Sandy locked in the shack. He broke her free. They bonded instantly. Both of them feeling cast out by the world, their families, their friends. She pulled off the bloody fingernails loosened from scratching at the shack’s walls, then put his hands around her throat. A terrifying and subtle moment, it’s actually so powerful. Dark, but powerful.
Adam (to Annie): “I am you. You are me. Don‘t you get it?”
The brother and sister confront their past, all those ugly pieces of their life that fell in whatever place they were able to fall. Adam embraces Annie, feeling somehow elated by all the confession and the revelation. But she laments him, the fact their father is dead because of him. Then he puts his hands around her throat, the same as he did Sandy. She puts a shot through him just before Eddie and Welland and the rest track them down.
Once things settle down, Annie’s planning on leaving. She needs to move on. Although Welland doesn’t think she’s okay, that she needs time to heal and grieve. Eddie wants to get his family out of Bellevue, for all their sake, particularly that of his daughter. There’s a lot of history, though. Welland is like a second father to Annie, he feels responsible for her after Clarence killed himself. Maybe feels more, confirmed by the conversation in the confessional which he had with Adam, one we see again briefly. Wow.
Regardless, nothing is easy. Definitely not goodbyes. Yet it’s a new beginning, as well. For everyone. No matter how tough.
What a fucking show. I’m so sad this has been cancelled, it would’ve been nice to see a Season 2 and find out where Welland ends up, where Annie and Eddie do and if they last, if Bellevue would keep calling to Ms. Ryder. Even so, Season 1(and only) ended with a bittersweet note that does feel of finality.
Annie (Anna Paquin) and Eddie (Allen Leech) aren’t on speaking terms at the moment. She actually takes a spill in the road chasing his car because he won’t say a word. She apologises for the previous night, his run-in with Brady (Billy MacLellan), though her ex isn’t totally in the right, either. She tells him about having a brother, named Adam (Patrick Labbé), that he’s lost, “messed up” and such. So, is her long lost older brother her Riddler? All these years?
The three were “worried about” Jesse, supposedly. They wanted to convince her to play the game, not rock the boat in their little town; that’s all it was, not some altruistic intent on their behalf. Only problem is that Jesse took off from the church, not leaving with either of the three. They lied to save themselves the embarrassment, to not look weak in front of their town. Bunch of dummies. And why go to the church, simply to talk? Suspicious, if you ask me.
A bit of a break comes when Daisy falls in the lake where Jesse washed up. She gets an antibiotic because of bacteria in the water. Thus, the killer might very well have some kind of infection requiring medication.
Dt. Holt was there that night, watching in the church. The three pressured Jesse, not to tell the police, to serve his community. They effectively blamed him for “freak urges” inside. What exactly drove him further? Why has it affected Brady so deeply? He has feelings for his sister Briana (Amber Goldfarb), he loves her more than a man should love a sibling. An improper, taboo love. And that’s what drove him to it. When he tried to reach out to Jesse, equating his feelings of incest with the transgender issues Jesse faced, the kid called him “sick” and it drove him over the edge. Oh, god. Such devastating things we could’ve never seen coming.
HOLY CHRIST! What an episode, I never saw any of this coming personally. Such intense, deep revelations. Just spectacularly dark writing, and comes together in a neat little package. Although there are still things to uncover.
If it wasn’t obvious by now, Annie (Anna Paquin) is obsessed. She’s whittling away at the similarities between the deaths of Jesse Sweetland and Sandy Driver. Eddie (Allen Leech) grew up with Jesse’s mother Maggie, so he gives his two cents. Even young Daisy (Madison Ferguson) has opinions.
We see that young Ms. Driver was Mary in the school play, same as Bethany Mansfield (Emelia Hellman) is now. Mayor Mother Mansfield (Janine Theriault) is in a photo, also in the play. What’s her connection to Sandy, I wonder?
Later, Welland gets a call from Sid Oak (Raphael Grosz-Harvey), saying he’s heard the voice of the Riddler again, down at the bar. Ah, a lead, and Peter actually invites Brady to go along, so it looks legit. Just another way to make himself look genuine? Hard to tell.
Welland goes to see Lily, demanding to know more about the man who left the fingernails. He’s very serious. He’s pissed, and lashes out in anger. The guilt of Clarence killing himself over the case tears him to pieces. And Lily, she feels that Welland brings out the best in her, that she can’t be real with anyone else. It’s a dark thing they have together.
Another solid chapter, unravelling a bit of the mystery while still retaining the core, the darkness which makes the atmosphere of the series so interesting. “The Man Behind the Curtain” is the penultimate finisher. I hope that, despite its cancellation, this sole season can end on a good note story-wise. We’ll see!
Talking through the surveillance system, Annie (Anna Paquin) talks to the Riddler, the mystery man. She thanks him, for helping with her father’s death. He helped give her purpose, in a strange way. He tells her now to “trust her instincts” about his identity. She asks him more about the murders of Jesse Sweetland and Sandy Driver, how they’re connected. It’s a strange relationship she has with the Riddler. To keep it going any further, she asks more of him. Although he doesn’t give her much more than before, only cryptic references and no promise of any concrete answers.
At the funeral, tensions run through the crowd. Particularly when Danny comes in. But Bethany (Emelia Hellman) and others embrace him as a big part of Jesse’s life. Maggie talks about her boy, mourning his death; more importantly, she refers to Jesse as “my daughter.” Suddenly, Mr. Driver (Andreas Apergis) barges in saying she deserves everything that’s come to her family before cops pull him outside.
Such a strange connection between the Riddler and Annie, like two strange souls linked together in the night. She’s starting to realise that, too. She believes he’s getting his kicks from watching her scramble, listening to his clues. Yet I can’t help wondering who he is, why he’s doing all this to her. She gets a trace on his line and finally something’s come back. Annie follows the signal out to the grave of Sandy Driver, where she finds a phone and a text message reading YOU’RE NOT CRAZY.
The building of character is as good as the plot development, all the backstory. Bellevue deserved better in terms of viewership. I think because of it being a Canadian show and done by the CBC, it might not have been eagerly watched by too many. Certain viewers likely didn’t expect the gritty, deep, mysterious (and weird) take on the typical crime-mystery series that we received here.
Annie (Anna Paquin) is setting her place up for surveillance, in light of recent events. And she’s not giving up on the case of Jesse’s death, either. Even though it’s all clearly weighing on her heavy. So many things surrounding the case, her own life, it’s a wonder she’s keeping her head above water.
So the question is now, what’s Jed got to do with Danny, Jesse, et cetera? They’ve found a pink Eiffel Tower earring on the man’s property. Belonging to the dead boy; buried. Virginia further digs up info on his past, that he was sexually abused as a kid and has anger issues. She and Annie interrogate Jed, whether drugs were stolen by Jesse, if there was a sexual relationship, a three-way thing between the two of them and Danny. Or, was it something more forcible? Was the earring a trophy of a murderer? Rainmaker Jed lawyers up, either way. And he says that all he was trying to do was help. Hard to tell. Suspicious and eerie nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Annie is diving into the past of her father Clarence (Patrick Labbé), the psychiatric records and tapes of his sessions with a doctor, things she’s never heard before. It’s tough for her to hear, though necessary. It helps us come to understand her past. Also, it’s leading Annie to wonder if Neil Driver (Andreas Apergis) is her Riddler. He is, indeed.
What’s the ultimate connection between Jesse and Sandy? Could the latter’s father have killed her, then years later killed the boy? Welland doesn’t think so, and Annie’s father never believed Neil murdered his daughter. Our fearless detective finds a note on a nearby swing, about a bracelet. This leads her to call up Daisy (Madison Ferguson), about the hospital bracelet she found belonging to her grandfather. This and the watch together, the time of 12:13, adds up to more mystery.
Solid episode that builds on the case itself, in favour of leaving some of the Riddler stuff as secondary. Not that I don’t dig Annie’s personal little mystery, I do. It’s just nice to see the development in Jesse’s case, seeing more of him as a character instead of him just being a trans victim. “How Do I Remember?” is next. Hoping to see more of the Riddler story this time, as well as how Welland ties in. He’s a sneaky one, that Peter.
We see the journey of Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades), after escaping from the massive fire where he and the group were staying awhile back. So glad to see him back. Although not without struggle and pain. He didn’t simply escape the fire, he barely made it out. His hands and neck and legs burned. Walking through the streets, he winds up stalked by one of the dead. He barely makes it away from it when a dog draws the thing away.
Daniel comes across a man named Efrain (Jesse Borrego), he seems like a bit of a religious man. He kills the dead like an old school vampire hunter, only putting his version of the stake – a long nail – through the zombies’ heads. Either way, it’s another human to help Daniel, at least for now. He aids the old man in getting someplace safe; our friend isn’t well, and definitely parched. They get a bit of water from a nearby fountain, it looks like it only comes on at certain times a day. Each Tuesday, 5 PM. Ah, the water wars we saw last episode, a situation into which Strand (Colman Domingo) has put himself. Looks like Daniel may wind up there, too.
“Something is rotting in you far worse than your leg”
With this revelation, Daniel’s ingratiated himself into the inner circle of the dam. Dante wants him on their team. Although our guy is mostly just concerned with finding a way to search for his daughter. So he’s out on patrols with the boss’ boys, they’re looking for sneaky people stealing water where they shouldn’t be. Daniel watches the clock, worried Efrain will show himself at 5 PM. Afterwards he leads them right to his new friend. What a cold move. He tries telling Lola that it was to protect her, that they’d find out sooner than later. Same kind of bullshit he used to convince himself while working on a Salvadoran death squad years earlier.
WOW, this is a stunner of an episode! One of my absolute favourites. Because Daniel Salazar was always interesting to me, this only upped the stakes. His backstory, his history is vile, and with the fall of society, the fall of civilised men comes another moment where he must face the ugliness of his past.
Jerry Horne (David Patrick Kelly) is in the woods, a bewildered look on his face. More than just a good bake on from his killer bud. It’s like he knows there’s something bad in that forest. He calls his brother Ben (Richard Beymer). Seems as if he’s had his car stolen. Turns out he’s actually just high. Too high.
Out on the road Deputy Sheriff Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz) talks with a very nervous, paranoid man. They’re set to meet at 4:30. This guy seems like he’s up to no good, but I don’t see Andy as being the type to be up to anything shady. So what’s the deal?
On a lonely road, Andy waits for the paranoid man with whom he met earlier. At the guy’s house, we get the feeling of something ominous behind his open front door. Only Lynch could make a simple shot of a door like that feel creepy. One of the many reasons the man is a master filmmaker.
I love Lynch because he intrigues us, and he also gives us slices of anticipation where we see a long shot of the Bang Bang being swept, Jean-Michel Renault (Walter Olkewicz) at the bar working silently. And nothing happens, for so long. Because Lynch knows we’re paying attention. He doesn’t do this for shits, he does it to make sure we haven’t fallen off.
Another good episode, this one a bit less heavy on the surrealism and the absurd, more a classic episode of Twin Peaks we’ve come to know. I’m excited because with 18 episodes, Lynch and Frost have the opportunity to take their time a bit, which they do with relish. All the same it’s good, it isn’t frustrating for those of us Peakheads who love the mystery, the intrigue, the surreal. Can’t wait for the next episode already.
More spiders, crawling all over a garment shop, as clothing is sewn and fitted by Mr. Nancy (Orlando Jones). Sitting by, Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) listen to Nancy tell a story while they wait. He speaks of Bilquis (Yetide Badaki), her “place of worship” in a temple below the red planet Mars shining bright in the sky. A large room full of writhing, naked bodies. They lift her above the crowd, carrying her, worshipping, as she anointed them. Men came to challenge her, to try knocking her off her throne. But she absorbs her lovers. She takes them into herself, into her “vagina nebula.” The source of her power.
Meanwhile, Shadow’s not particularly happy about the way things are going. He doesn’t understand what Wednesday is doing, seeing as how he just killed one of his old buddies. Now the old man says they’re going looking for a queen. Shadow doesn’t even know Wednesday’s real name. He’s not sure how his dead wife Laura (Emily Browning) came back to life. No easy answers.
So it looks as if Bilquis has taken the bait, she’s been given the gift of modernity by Technical Boy. She is no longer homeless, on the streets. She’s the curator of a museum, looking after the artefacts of the past. However, she avoids him. So he shows up to call in the favour for returning her to glory. She does seem reluctant, which gives me hope.
Media: “You‘re an Old God new again”
Now that Laura and Shadow are back in one place, the Old Gods are coming together more… what will happen next? Wow. Just wow! This whole season is fucking fantastic. A visual head trip. The plot’s been written well, too. Neil Gaiman should feel good about this adaptation, I hope he loves it as much as fans do.
Here we get a look at Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr) on the road before he met the big group. He was all by himself, wandering the wasteland in search of food, the next place to stay and rest. It went this way a long time. He’d stop and hole up someplace where the walkers couldn’t get him, drink a bit of cough syrup or whatever booze he could scavenge. A hard existence in the zombie apocalypse, being an alcoholic. Easy to try and block it all out with the aid of booze. Easy to get lost in your own head then, too.
In the present, Bob is with his Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), but they’re definitely not in a safe place. Walkers come from out the fog, unseen until so near. The three friends fight against them, taking each down. Except Bob winds up getting bitten. But lucky enough it didn’t pierce the bandage he already has on his previous wound.
In conversation together, Bob and Sasha talk about what’s best going forward. She wants to find a place to stick it out awhile; higher ground someplace. He’d rather go on, hoping there’s community at Terminus for them. A destination, a goal to reach. We see that Bob doesn’t like being on his own, nor does he like isolation, of any kind; even in a group. He’d rather be tight knit with others, Sasha doesn’t yet understand how low he sank by himself.
Suddenly, Daryl and Beth are crowded by a horde of zombies in the funeral home, breaking through the door. They run for outside quickly, teeth gnashing at their heels. He gets locked into the room downstairs, facing a load of the dead, but gets himself out with a bit of quick thinking.
Sasha decides she doesn’t want to go on to Terminus. Then Bob lays a kiss on her, not wanting them to split on their journey. He heads off on his own like before and refuses to let Maggie go forward without him. Sasha looks for a place to stay, for however long she can. Funny enough, she comes across Maggie, who’s hiding from the dead. Noise wakes them up.
Lots going on in this episode. We’re seeing the beginning of many things, from Terminus to the Claimers and their whole racket. Can’t wait to watch them all come together more. “The Grove” is next.
Now that Annie’s (Anna Paquin) found the body of Jesse Sweetland, and Virginia (Sharon Taylor) found out about the boy’s boyfriend Danny (Cameron Roberts), among other things, there’s so much going on in Bellevue. Welland (Shawn Doyle) isn’t particularly impressed that Annie has been running around investigating on her own, not telling him things. All the same she’s found some intense, very possible connections to the Sandy Driver murder. The relationship between Annie and Welland is not doing well. Still, he knows she’s good at her job, he’s just worried.
Bellevue’s been rocked with the death of Jesse. Even Dt. Brady Holt (Billy MacLellan), usually a bit of a hard man, seems to feel it. However, they’re police, and they’ve got to keep on investigating, to figure out who killed the young man. He was killed with blunt force trauma, then tossed into the water.
After Daisy gets in trouble for her little seance, Eddie (Allen Leech) is pissed with Annie. He feels she’s starting to become “obsessive” as her father started out, apparently. Did the mystery of Sandy Driver’s murder all those years ago drive him mad? It’s all certainly threatening to push his daughter over the edge in present day.
The relationship between her and Eddie isn’t good, either. They get in a fight, she runs out to a bar dancing with another man, and he goes straight for her. They’ve got a love-hate thing going on, exacerbated by the fact she’s wildly unpredictable. So is he, though. No shortage of issues between these two, from emotional to drugs and alcohol. Also doesn’t help that Annie is obsessed with her job, the past, all of it mixed in a mess together.
Something else to add into the investigation: a large quantity of MDMA, half a pound, in Jesse’s closet. Perhaps a distributor for a local drug dealer. More clues to lead them in other directions. Good, especially for the fact they can’t pin anything on Tom as of yet.
So many things to ponder. I already know that Bellevue won’t return for another season; I hope they finish on a good note at the end of this one. Pity, because I’m really into it. Lots of mystery, intrigue, so many characters with their own lives and deep secrets. Great stuff from CBC. A true shame this won’t be renewed, I guess it didn’t impact others as it did me.
At the old church, Annie Ryder (Anna Paquin) brings Peter Welland (Shawn Doyle) back to see the bleeding mural she found. She has pictures, from the one sending her riddles, and luckily because it’s gone now. As if it were never there. She also shows Welland the UR MY LIGHT message written on her back windshield.
Maggie flips out on Father Jameson (Joe Cobden) about his relationship with Jesse, so of course Annie talks with him more. Wondering if someone connected to the church conducted a “violent form of conversion therapy.” With all the religious iconography and imagery connected, it has to be somebody of faith, right?
At the church, Maggie talks to Father Jameson and tells him that she knows Jesse is “who he is.” She doesn’t need him to be fixed. She kisses Jameson, saying: “When you put on your dress, I thought it was a phase, too.” Such a STELLAR line! I love that. Because religion is a fluid as identity, if you want it to be. To those of us who don’t believe. A way for Maggie to sort of say fuck you without having to actually say those words.
This all relates back to the death of Sandy Driver, those many years ago. He fingernails were never recovered. Bringing her back to those memories, that place in the forest. Where there hangs a mailbox, taking us back to the opening scene where she sees her own mailbox at home, hanging crooked. Great imagery.
Clear now there’s a big connection between Sandy’s death and the tragic death of Jesse. But what is it? “The Man with Fire in His Eyes” is next, I’m hoping we’ll see a few more weird, exciting developments. Bellevue has got me hooked now, two episodes in.
In the town of Bellevue, Annie Ryder (Anna Paquin) stumbles to her car out of a bar. She breaks a man’s car window, before the two of them head back to a motel to have sex. This guy’s Dwayne (Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles), he’s a bit crazy, plus he’s got good drugs. They have some fun, they snort a little coke. Then the cops bust in – Brady Holt (Billy MacLellan), Virginia Panamick (Sharon Taylor), and Peter Welland (Shawn Doyle). Seems that Annie’s a cop, working undercover. Except she’s a bit… deep undercover.
I like that they’re tackling a sensitive issue, including ideas of transgender identity, gender fluidity, so on. Don’t like that the trans community is often relegated to victimhood. However, we’ll see where Bellevue takes us in that regard. It’s nice to see some inclusion, and particularly from CBC here in my country.
During a conversation with her daughter Annie figures out one of her father’s riddles. She goes to an old, rundown church. There she finds a statue painted half man, half woman. A cellphone goes off nearby: Nature is calling, apparently. The sound echoes around her everywhere. Terrifying.
Later, Annie gets a call about Neil Driver (Andreas Apergis) out at the old church. Off his meds again. When she arrives she finds streaks of blood. From a wall hangs bags of it – red paint, not blood – leaking over a painting covered in barbed wire and a rosary. Spooky religious imagery. And that cross on Jesse’s hand? It’s a mark from an electric fence. Perhaps someone is trying to shock the femininity out of the young man wanting to transition? Either way, something connected to Annie is happening. She finds one of her childhood toys in the building. While her daughter sees someone crawling around on the car outside. He’s left a note, too: UR MY LIGHT on the back windshield.
This opening episode did it for me! I’m in, Bellevue. Take me for a ride. It’s obvious there are many things swirling around Annie, now including the fact her daughter is nearly traumatised and I know it’ll get worse. I love the idea of imperfect parents, and she is definitely one. She’s an interesting character, as is the story compelling.
On the road together, just the two of them, Beth (Emily Kinney) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) face harder times than a lot of their friends. They seek refuge wherever and whenever they can, walkers everywhere outside. It’s never easy, though this is a new level even for them.
They find a golf course and head into the country club attached. Inside is dark and full of walkers. Beth is almost chomped by one before she stabs it in the head. Daryl scavenges anything and everything he can find. In the pro shop they find new clothes among other things, including a female zombie, bloody, dressed in clothes with a sign reading RICH BITCH across her chest. Beth insists they cover her up, for dignity’s sake. Long after dingnity has ceased to walk the Earth.
He knows the backwoods, he’s a hunting, tracking machine. They head out into the woods in search of a cabin, one Daryl found before with Michonne. Inside he knows there’ll be moonshine, somewhere. Just like back home with daddy. This is where things start to take a little turn. Because we already know Daryl Dixon didn’t have it easy, we’ve sen the lash marks on his back, dug deep in his skin. He’s been to a terrible place as a boy, lucky to have escaped, I imagine. Being in a place reminiscent of home, drinking shine, it brings up emotions he probably didn’t plan on experiencing.
The two of them get closer, they talk more about life before the turn. Daryl talks about a stupid situation with Merle at a tweaker’s house, and he reveals he didn’t have a job before everything went to hell. He and his older brother were drifters, essentially. He was just “some redneck asshole with an even bigger asshole for a brother.”
A quiet, more subdued episode. I did enjoy it. First time I saw this one I didn’t find it as engaging. This time around, I pick out more nuance than before. It’s a great look at Daryl, as it is Beth, too. They’re both on show in their own respects. Love it.
Sergeant Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and his people have picked up Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) on the road; they’ve got a large military truck. The Sarge is a tough motherfucker, a real slick talker, too. Tara finds it strange that he was smiling while he killed. His response? “Well, I‘m the luckiest guy in the world.”
In a house together, Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) sit together at a table eating cereal. They have a nice morning, until he remembers Judith, imagining the worst. Nice that we know the truth, though painful to watch them not know.
Then suddenly Rick wakes in his bed to voices downstairs. A bunch of men. Dangerous sounds. WHO ARE THEY? He can’t find his gun, so he rolls out of bed and hides underneath it. A man with a gun walks through the upstairs hallway, searching the rooms. Then into Rick’s room. The man lays down on the bed.
Abraham can’t figure out how to fix the truck, the tank is busted. Rather than stick around Glenn leaves, and Tara can’t leave his side. The Sarge doesn’t want to leave, though his friend Rosita (Christian Serratos) decides they’ll go, as well. Nowhere else to be, right? A destination is a destination, you can’t stop for long on the road in the post-apocalypse world.
A great episode, introducing more stories and characters. As well as sets up a few different things we’ll find coming back into play the more we get towards the end of Season 4. “Still” is next.
An older gentleman is killed in his home by the silent, deadly Meemo (Andy Yu). This man is Marvin Stussy.
Varga’s still scheming. I’m curious as to his endgame. He’s got Meemo driving a transport truck and headed lords knows where. At a red light, Nikki Swango (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) tosses a grenade through the truck’s window, as Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard) fires an assault rifle on them. Well, the bullets are real. The grenade ain’t; just a paperweight. The two bandits make off with the truck easily. An awesome little trick. Nikki and Wrench look through the back of the truck when they can, they find a briefcase of particular interest. That’s all they take with them when they leave the vehicle behind and head out in a car.
Over at a different house, another Stussy, there’s a dead body. More Stussys piling up. Moe Dammick (Shea Whigham) is starting to wonder if there’s something strange happening around their jurisdiction.
Varga: “It‘s not that there is evil in the world, the problem is that there is good. Because otherwise, who would care?”
Great penultimate episode to this fascinating season. Truly, I’ve loved Season 3. I don’t know if I love it more than the first season, which is my personal favourite. Regardless of that, they all match up in quality. They’re each awesome in their own rights. “Somebody to Love” is the finale next week. Sad to see these characters go already. Hoping to find some explosive moments in the last episode.
“My name is Tommy Shelby, and today I‘m going to kill a man.”
Arthur (Paul Anderson) is still holed up in his cell. He’s getting out, though. All the witnesses pulled their statements about what supposedly happened. No longer grassed up for a murder he had no part in committing.
From out of nowhere Grace (Annabelle Wallis) arrives. She tells Tom of her pregnancy, that she loves him and not her husband. He has to rush off but they’ve definitely got things to talk about later. Simultaneously, we watch him manipulating Lizzie (Natasha O’Keeffe) into helping with the plan concerning Field Marshal Russell (James Richard Marshall), target of the assassination.
At the track, Pol sticks a gun to Campbell. He tries to justify what he did to her. He acts as if he cares for her, which is absolutely crazy. Although he tries his best to ingratiate himself to her. Not enough, of course. Nor should it be. She fires one in him: “Don‘t fuck with the Peaky Blinders.” Case closed on the rotten Major, left to bleed out while Grace unknowingly sits not far off in the same bar. An amazing, welcomed coincidence.
Great fucking finale. Unexpected, exciting, intense. Nice revenge, as well. Season 3 is spectacular, too. Make sure to head on over and check out those recaps/reviews.
Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) receives Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson) and a few lads down at the bakery. They sit around a table, the baker talks of the persecution of the Jewish people and the “evil fucking Egyptians.” They’ve got a Passover goat for sacrifice. They’ve named him after Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). All hell breaks loose. Billy Kitchen is shot in the head. Arthur nearly choked to death as a few men hold him back. He’s knocked out and given to the coppers.
Later, Tommy meets with Campbell. The copper’s been fucking him over constantly, so it isn’t really a surprise to see him uncaring about it all. The Blinders’ leader finds himself in a tough spot. Lots of charges looming overhead, for everyone from Arthur on trumped up charges to Michael on crimes he’s admitted. Campbell’s a jealous man who’s at the edge of his own sanity and morality. He has power over “life and death” of the Shelby family. An ugly place this relationship has arrived.
Tommy is down in the barn shovelling shit. To remind himself “where he‘d be” if it weren’t for who he was, his name, the gang, everything. Trying to keep himself honest. Then later on he meets with Grace, after so much time. He seems bitter, and she does, too. She tells of her husband, that she’s happy. And he tries acting like it doesn’t burn him up inside she’s married. They go out to a party together, where Charlie Chaplin is kicking around; apparently he’s a gypsy from Birmingham like the Blinders.
Major Campbell is over at the Shelby offices poking around. He’s plotting something sinister, you can just feel it. He almost wants to BE Tommy Shelby, in a strange way. There’s a streak of jealousy running through him on a lot of fronts. He and Tommy meet once more for a chat. The Major asks about Polly, sly and nasty. He further stresses the importance of the assassination with which he and IRA have tasked the leader of the Blinders. Tom’s making sure he gets to do the kill when and where he can assure he’ll make it out of the damned thing alive.
What a lead up to the Season 2 finale! There’s so much trouble about to pop, and I can only hope there are certain resolutions we’ll see. Either way, the last episode of this season is bound to be cracking.
We cut back to when the women were first being introduced to Gilead. Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) laments the “parade of sluts” in their regular attire. Even though they’re all dressed normally. This is a hyperreality of misogyny.
Poor June, she has to remember her first pregnancy, a much happier and safer time when she and Luke (O-T Fagbenle) were able to feel excited for the coming of their child. These days, it’s ugly. Nothing to feel good about.
Off someplace unknown to her, June waits in the car. Serena heads into a house then comes back outside with June’s daughter, Hannah. Right there, where she’s unable to speak to the girl. This is one of the most cruel things Mrs. Waterford has done to the handmaid. Not THE most cruel; that would be holding her down to be raped. But this is so tragic, hurts the heart to see June so close to her daughter. Serena is despicable. And this has really pushed our woman over the edge.
Moira experiences a culture shock, going from the US to Canada. She is now an American refugee in the land of freedom, where women are still people. The biggest difference is just dealing with men, seeing a man that doesn’t treat her as an object. He processes her into the country, welcoming her to Ontario, and offering all sorts of things she hasn’t been able to do in so long. One of the basics? Read a book. So fucking sad to hear, and at the same time glorious. (Also feel good being a Canadian.)
In Canada, Luke and Moira find each other. She was on his list, as a family member. It’s a bittersweet reunion without June there, yet still wonderful. Just to know she is safe for now, that she isn’t alone.
On the road, Smurf (Ellen Barkin) takes J (Finn Cole) to the wake for Manny after he’s finally passed. She hadn’t seen the guy for about 20 years. I wonder how things will go for grandma and her boy. Meanwhile, Baz (Scott Speedman) calls Pope (Shawn Hatosy) to go pick up his daughter, neglecting things while he’s in Mexico with Lucy (Carolina Guerra). Baz meets with Marco (Joseph Julian Soria), who’s helping on a new job, without the Cody matriarch’s knowledge, of course.
At the wake, J and Smurf meet Manny’s old crew, including old buddy Jake (Jack Conley). Looks like before the guy passed, there was big trouble with his crew. Being run by Javier (Alex Meraz), apparently a real “sick piece of shit.”
In the motel room J and Smurf kick back. She receives a late visit from Jake, apparently Manny was recording things near the end of life to keep his memory strong. That’s going to be a large problem for her. If he said anything troubling, could mean jail time. Or worse. What’s she planning on doing about it? Will she look for the tapes?
Using a story Smurf told him about Manny, J does an impromptu robbery at a diner using grandma as the perfect pretty bait. Uh oh, this is not good. Not just the fact he’s becoming closer with her, I worry that her strange affections will spread further over her grandson. It’s terrifying, really.
Baz goes to Gia (Karina Logue), their fence. He finds out that the Cody matriarch doesn’t want them doing business with her. Cut off. This will cause a good deal of grief in the long run, right now it’s pushing the gang further apart.
Stunning episode. So much happening. Particularly, I’m worried constantly about Smurf exerting a strong, bad influence over J. He’s already falling into her lap, as a boy lost after losing his mother. It only gets stronger with every passing day, the more they spend time together.
Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) visits the freshly dug grave of the young man whose throat was cut for the Blinders in prison. Naturally, he’s met with an angry mother. He pays what cash he has, then leaves; bloody temple and all. Then another clandestine meeting with Major Chester Campbell (Sam Neill), who’s invited a couple people: Irene O’Donnell (Simone Kirby) and Donal (Rory Keenan). All in the same bed of Irish greens. Tommy taunts about their mixing the “personal with the political” and the IRA frowns upon such things. This is one hell of a shaky alliance. Christ almighty! This is what happens when… common interests arise. Or I guess here it’s common dislikes, common problems.
Arthur (Paul Anderson) and some of the lads are in Camden Town. Gearing up for a row. They storm into a club, beating the shit out of any man who steps near. Bashing the place to pieces. The oldest Shelby’s making a statement and sending a message. He stabs the manager in the face with a broken bottle, announcing he’s taking over.
Michael is officially of age! They have a party to celebrate, also letting him in on the business finally after Pol and Tommy chat. So there’s plenty to be celebrating, indeed. They toast and have fun together like a big, happy family. Next day’s back to the grind like usual. They’ve got an export business ready to thrive, starting by setting off for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Taking advantage of Prohibition in Canada. Whiskey for the Canadians; these lads are right on.
Fucking love this episode. There’s a lot to pack in sometimes, but it’s great because the writing fleshes out the characters every episode, and explores so much in each one. Can’t wait to see more of what happens between the IRA, Campbell, and Tommy; a bad standoff that can only end in nastiness for possibly all sides.
