Still feeling the emotional effects of the chemical weapons case, Martin Odum took a leave of absence from the FBI (whether voluntary or unvoluntary, I’m not clear) and spent some much needed time on the exploration of the questions about his identity. “He went rogue,” as Crystal said. And I loved it.
With a nod to the X-Files, and a reworded repeat of McCombs’ warning, “Trust no one,” Odum started tracking down people with clues to the conspiracy around his missing past. First stop was the home of Dennis Evans, a former soldier who apparently was in Iraq with Odum and McCombs, and now suffers from PTSD. He’s living “off the grid,” as he tells Odum, because he believes people are following him and tried to kill him a couple of times. We leave off with seeing him with plastic bag over his head. As we’re reminded, just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean that everyone isn’t out to get you.
Next stop is Texas, where Odum assumes the persona of Len Barlow, a Texan legend who charms his way into the car of a girlfriend of Kyle Dobson – another figure from Odum, McComb, and Evan’s past. This past contact is not as friendly, and the exchange ends with a car crash – the car with Odum and Dobson being plowed into as Odum attempts to kidnap Dobson.
The episode not only showed some forward momentum with the plot, it was a shift in tone from the FBI case last week, and had moments of humor. I was laughing as Odum (as Barlow) takes out the drunken girlfriend’s driver and slips into the car beside her as she’s still prattling on about Camaros, unaware of what was happening.
The tone and direction this week fit the show better. Bean is at his best portraying a slightly unhinged character branching out on his own. Meanwhile we saw some new alliances form: Crystal and Tony, and Martin and Maggie. In both cases, these duos felt well-paired. The conspiracy storyline worked better for me than the FBI case, which as I commented in my review last week, came across as flat because it was never the show’s main focus and falls short when compared against so many other similar dramas like 24.
We left off with two major reveals:
- Sonya, Odum’s estranged wife, is definitely involved in the conspiracy and seemed to be reporting to a hidden figure (my guess Gates, but that may be too obvious)
- All of this seems to be about a military operation in Iraq in 2004 nicknamed “Raining Fire”
What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments.
