If you thought last week that John secretly liked being involved in a dangerous gang, there’s no doubt about it now! We got to see an even more disturbing side of John then ever in this episode, however, we also got to see some new sides of Gretchen, who up until this point has been somewhat of a mystery.
The episode began with a look into Gretchen’s past. Now, I wasn’t playing too close attention and I missed the “two years earlier” memo and I was really surprised at how good and happy she looked, not that she doesn't now but she just had a much softer look to her back then. I don’t necessarily think this process has hardened her but it’s certainly caused her to backtrack more into who she used to be like. We also found out during this meeting that Gretchen is a reformed bad girl. I was surprised when she gave in and took the money from Wes during that meeting because in my mind I was still envisioning her as she is now. However, back then I guess she must have been much more desperate and willing to go along with whatever. I can definitely see her now having more integrity and turning him down, especially after all the craziness that it’s caused her. The main issue for Gretchen in this episode, is that Jed has been arrested and the DA is trying to get him to cut a deal and give up Gretchen. In order to stop this she needs to get Jed a really great lawyer and get him out of jail ASAP. This requires money that she doesn't have. I bet she’s wishing she scammed the gang for even more money a couple of weeks ago.
Her associate, Wes, offers to help her out if her and John just steal some drugs for him, which John is initially totally against. After Wes corners and blackmails John in the hospital about Antoine he has to agree. I don’t know why this guy isn't more concerned about getting himself involved in a gang war but I guess he’s used to dealing with scary people? John’s natural response to planning this highly illegal activity is to go home and write everything down multiple times. I’ll just let that sink in. He literally wrote it all out for anyone to find or see. Didn't anyone ever tell him to not leave a paper trail?? He’s carrying around way too much evidence and it’s the easiest way to get caught. Unless he plans on burning all those plans this week he should have just kept it all in his head. Things don’t even go according to his plan because Gretchen is there and she can always be relied on to shake things up. When they deliver the drugs John realizes that the whole place is a scam and they've been diluting medication which has led to patient deaths. He freaks out - like, truly freaks out - and burns the whole place down, I’m assuming with the drugs still inside, which seems so counterproductive and such a waste to me. He also pulls a gun on Wes and threatens to kill him if he ever sees him again. Wes’s intimidation from earlier is nothing compared to this. This is John as we’ve never seen him. I have a feeling that he might have blacked out from his anger because when Gretchen asked what he just did he responds he doesn't know. It will be interesting to see the fallout of this in the next episode.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the episode John continued lying to everyone who cares about him most. He promises to tell Bridget everything and I wondered if he was going to finally tell Bridget the real truth or another one of his lies. I didn't have to wait long to find out. The next time he saw her he told her another one of his lies, this time that he has PTSD. Bridget is pretty reluctant to believe him but she does. It’s a real shame that he won’t let her in more because she clearly really cares about him and went out of her way to get him help. She could be really helpful but I understand him not wanting to involve her for her safety. However, his wife is a different story, she’s already involved just by being married to him so he should really let her know what’s going on. I think after calling Kyle though and getting confirmation that John is hiding something from her she's starting to realize and I can’t wait to see what she does with whatever information she finds out.
Overall, I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about Gretchen in this episode. However, I thought that this episode kind of backtracked in terms of writing and acting quality. The whole thing felt very melodramatic. My favorite parts though were when John asked Gretchen about her “roommate” and she was like “yeah, who I sleep with” honestly, he’s so clueless! I also loved when this show had it’s first realistic moment ever with the car alarm was going off and Gretchen saying “since when does anyone do anything when a car alarm goes off” - so accurate! One thing I do find a bit weird about this show is that we’ve spent the last 3-4 weeks in the same 2-day period which kind of throws me off sometimes. I’m looking forward to seeing how John handles therapy in the next episode, because he certainly wasn't a huge fan about it in the first episode.
What did you think about Fever? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
About the Author - Kate Sidwell
Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (
eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!
