WARNING - MAJOR SPOILERS WITHIN. ONLY READ IF YOU HAVE WATCHED THE EPISODE.
After Carter's shocking discovery last week, the beginning of HR's demise brought about all kinds of problems for the band of heroes. While Carter has taken the boss, there's still one last person yet to be taken down: Officer Patrick Simmons.
I loved Carter's heightened role in this episode - particularly her ease at breaking the law to gain what she wanted. This side of Carter has been slowly brewing since she rescued Elias from HR, and it's nice to see it finally spill over the top. Joss Reese (and no, I don't mean they got married, before any of you start hoping).
Speaking of Elias, it was nice to see him back, and out of his dingy 'home'. Casual as he always was, I want to see more of him. That said, working with Carter is the only way I'll like him. His hatred towards both the Russians and HR makes for a useful sidestory, even if the HR story ends in two episodes time.
Back to Carter. Going rogue was a fantastic moment for her, yet despite her request that Reese leave her alone, he was still ready to help in her time of need. The interaction between these two is fantastic (see fist bump last week), something that has changed dramatically since season one.
It was nice to see her team up with Shaw (even temporarily). The two, in their normal personalities, are the complete antithesis of each other. Carter, a cop at heart, follows the law. Shaw has little regard for the law, and has a fondness for shooting people. However, Carter's changed ideals made these two a good match for each other. Perhaps the two can have more scenes together.
As for Reese's side of things, he is becoming like a Machine-less version of Root. He always seems to know what's going to happen, and when he needs to intervene. Obviously the Machine has some part in this, but Reese seems to have turned into this omnipotent being. It's nice. As for his opinion towards people stealing his grenade launcher... That was the funniest part of the episode, perhaps even the season.
Carter's scene with Fusco outside the precinct was brilliant. I loved how, despite trust issues in the past, Carter still has total faith in "the best partner (she) ever had". Her abandonment of him wasn't surprising, and done purely for his benefit. She has the perfect mix of compassion and anger, and never mixes the two.
I enjoyed seeing Taylor's father. There has been little revealed about him in the past, so although we haven't seen everything, we've seen the basic important bits about the story.
While it was to be expected that the Judge was in with Quinn, I didn't expect Carter's counter-ploy against them. Although Reese took out two members of HR, and he and Carter made off with Quinn, Simmons survived. Despite Reese's tendency to shoot important things, he failed to shoot the police camera. As of next week, he is in for a lot of trouble.
Other bits:
- It was harsh of Reese and Finch to assume that Shaw was behind the attack on the Russian truck. But it was funny though. And it reminded us that Shaw has no friends outside the other four. Sad times for Shaw.
- Did Bear ever get that protective vest?
- How much money did Finch have to spend on photo paper in this episode? There must have been upwards of 60 pictures on that board in the end.
- "Once we save the bad Russians from the bad cops, what exactly are we gonna do with them?"
- "The man in the suit dies tonight."
With such a short review, I thought I'd present my theory for the next two episodes.
While every criminal in New York is trying to kill Reese, Carter manages to get Quinn to some sort of law enforcement (most likely the FBI). Obviously, without a warrant, she is going to be in trouble, but it won't last too long. Simmons, in an attempt to draw out Reese and get Quinn back, kidnaps Fusco and threatens to kill him. When Carter gets wind of this, she makes Reese stay back and not come after her, which after some argument, he agrees to do. She trades herself for Fusco's life, and Simmons, seeing she is without Quinn, refuses to let Fusco go, vowing to kill them both. Reese comes in, manages to save Fusco, but Carter is killed in the crossfire by Simmons, who escapes. Episode 10 follows Reese's pursuit of revenge against HR, and with the help of Fusco and Shaw, he takes out all surviving members of HR. He's left with a final showdown against Simmons, who is killed by Fusco, as he proceeds to say, "For Carter."
Promo for next week. This looks awesome. And potentially very, very sad.
What did you think of the episode? What do you think of my theory? Give your opinions in the comments!