Dig – Trust No One – Recap & Review

While last week, I thought the show was starting to drag, this week things got interesting. We had a funny scene (Debbie encouraging Josh to scream as loud as he could in the store), we had a sad death (Charlie being killed), and we had more Indiana Jones-style intrigue as Rabbi Lev and Ian Margrove set off a device in the caves that revealed a secret message.

We also heard a lot from Emma Wilson. On the surface, her story made sense, but left me questioning whether the episode title, Trust No One, referred more to her than the secret society which it would seem to be about.

The Recap …

The previous week we had left off with the revelation that Emma was alive. She and Peter Connelly give his FBI escorts the slip and head straight to Det. Golan Cohen’s apartment, where he has a completely appropriate reaction: “s**t.” I’m going to jump in right here and was so glad to see that Peter unveiled her presence right away to someone he can trust rather than the typical trope that I feared – that he would hide it and then start to look guilty by association.

At this point, we hear Emma’s story: a few weeks she was approached by a man who paid her to dye her hair red and say and do certain things that we know Peter would associate with his daughter, who had committed suicide. She says she had taken the offer because she was trying to get away from her boss, archeologist Ian Margrove, whom she had been having an affair with.

After she had played her charade, instead of being paid, she was kidnapped, escaping when she believed they were going to kill her. Her story lead Peter and Golan to observe that there was never a body and start to suspect that the conspiracy runs deeper than they had imagined. In the meantime, despite Peter’s warning and Cohen’s precautions, the man Cohen had taken into custody for Emma’s murder kills himself in the cell.

In New Mexico, we had left Debbie with Josh after Charlie had been kidnapped by Rev. Billingham. Debbie arranges an exchange with Billingham, Josh for Charlie, but wires Josh with explosives first. She threatens to blow up Josh if he doesn’t let both go. They start their escape. When they stop in the desert, because Josh says he has to go to the bathroom, their pursuers catch up and Charlie is shot and killed. Did Josh stall them on purpose? I’m hoping no, but it's suspicious. Debbie hides. but Josh is retaken. We end the episode with Debbie buying a guy in preparation for her retaliation.

While Peter is missing, Lynn calls his estranged wife, and the interesting part of the conversation is that his wife knows about their affair. Did this start before the daughter’s death? Is the affair related to why Peter is now targeted? Peter arranges to meet Lynn, but the meeting turns out to be a set up as he’s surrounded.  Lev had ordered the Ambassador to kill him.  He’s rescued and released by the bald man who had been following Avram, who tells Peter that when it’s time to meet again, he will find him.

Other significant reveals come in the form of an old VHS tape Golan finds in safety deposit box with the key Peter had given him. The tape has a recording from the 1980s of an archeologist who had worked with Margrove. In a message that seemed to be straight out of the "X-Files," he warns about the Order of Moriah, a secret society dating back to the Crusades, and says no one can be trusted. Also, we see that Margrove and Lev are working together to find a treasure in the caves under the temple. Margrove is motivated by money, and Lev by obtaining vessels he will need for rebuilding the temple. We also learn that Emma had been testing the ashes from the original red heifer, pointing toward the current red heifer being a clone. Finally, while looking at geological surveys, Peter remembers something Emma said about the water and thinks it’s related.

Thoughts

This episode seemed to be a cross between an "Indiana Jones" film, an "X-Files" episode, and any one of countless dramas featuring a group of unlikely heroes fleeing the bad guys. I particularly liked it because it moved the plot to the next phase. New alliances are being formed, with seemingly genuine warmth developing between Josh and Debbie, and with the bald man rescuing Peter. The integrity of characters we’ve come to know are thrown into doubt (Lynn and Emma). And the mystery and intrigue around the central plot deepens.

This week’s developments brought up several points for speculation:

- Do you trust Emma? She seems sympathetic, but her story is very convenient. I’m also wondering about the timing of her backstory. For example, she says she was approached just a few weeks ago and asked to set up Peter, but weren’t the photos of her with her red hair and tapes of her with her friends older than that?

- Do you think Lynn is in on the conspiracy, or do you think she was set up? The show framed it to look like Lynn was the person who revealed secrets about Peter’s family, but would she really know such private details, such as the song Peter’s daughter sang in his flashbacks, or the phrase she used to use (“unless I see you first”)? Could his wife, or possibly daughter if her death was also faked, be the source of the information?

The miniseries seems to be on a good path for a memorable finish. What were your thoughts? Are you excited to see how this all comes together?