Stitchers - Finally - Review: "Shifting into Gear"

This week’s episode felt tighter to me. Maybe it’s because we got more arc story and less case of the week. The mythology story is shifting into gear. There were a couple of other changes that were improvements for me.

After Marta’s funeral it’s clear that Kirsten is thinking a lot about the issues Marta brought up. Marta has her wondering if she can trust the people she’s working for and with. Cameron believes that Marta considered their relationship important enough that she would have left him a message to be delivered if anything happened to her. This prompts Kirsten to re-listen to the tape that Ed made her when she was a little girl. The one she threw away.

Camille decides the situation calls for Kirsten to experience a “Besties” ritual. She hops in bed with Kirsten to give her the opportunity to talk about her feelings. That went as expected. Kirsten is fine. She neither wants to share her feelings or hear Camille’s. Fortunately, Camille’s distraction keeps Kirsten from turning off the tape and she gets another clue to the mystery of her childhood. There is a digital message on the tape. She asks Linus to dig it out and translate it.

Cameron’s neighbor from across the street made a couple of appearances in this episode. It seems like they are planning to bring her in as a romantic interest for Cameron. I’m all for this. I have never been a fan of this idea that a male and female can’t work together without hooking up and have been worried that they plan to make them a couple. The insta-couple of Linus and Camille doesn’t work for me, but it hasn’t been at the forefront of ever ep so I can live with it. I am enjoying Cameron and Kirsten’s growing relationship. They’re becoming friends. I am happy if this doesn’t change.

The Stitch this week is a research scientist that ran her car into a concrete wall. Literally. The research she was working on dealt with traumatic brain injury. Kirsten’s lack of trust in Maggie is now near constant. She challenges her on their investigating car crashes now. Maggie responds that she, like the others, does as she’s told. She doesn’t say who is calling the shots on this one.

Kirsten watches Dani at work with her boss who appears to care a lot about his patients. The patient that he and Dani are treating isn’t showing the kind of improvement they desired. The doctor is very encouraging and supportive with the patient.

The second important memory for Dani involves her roommate/sister and a sizable chunk of money that a Red-headed Woman promises will be kept secret.

Kirsten is suddenly popped back to Dani’s office as she has two separate confrontations. One is with a co-worker and the other is with her boss. Both have to do with the data.

The next memory is just before Dani’s car crashed. They realize the car was sabotaged.

The investigation seemed to only be here to lead Kirsten to the Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulator (or dentist chair on steroids) Dani was working on. There was no real mystery to the case. It only took about 15 seconds for me to identify the killer. I’m okay with that. I found that it worked well as a framework to get more of Kirsten’s background out for the audience. It also gave us at least one major clue to the big season’s mystery!

Kirsten was in an isolation tank that seemed very much like a precursor the Stich chair thingie she uses today. Could this be why she seems, judging by Cameron’s reaction, to be the only person capable of touching things in someone’s memory? Could this be why she was able to fast forward the Peeping Tom’s memory while she was in there? It has got to be why Les and Maggie wanted her in the program so badly.

When Kirsten returns home after letting Dani’s sister, Nicole, know that Dani believed in her so much that she rented a storefront for her to open bakery, she discovers Les waiting for her. Les offers to honestly answer Kirsten’s questions.

Yes, the cases they’re working on are indeed test runs for something bigger. But Les doesn’t know what the bigger something is. He also tells her that everyone in her life wants to keep her safe. I believe him on that score especially after seeing her in the tank. She is important to this project. They need her so they will protect her. He also answers truthfully when Kirsten asks about Ed’s death. (Ed was murdered and died protecting her.)

Kirsten makes it clear that while Les and Maggie may be happy doing what they’re told without asking questions. She’s not them. That’s when my attitude toward Les softened. Maybe he be trusted? Or is he just smart enough to know when the truth will get him what he wants.

Camille finally makes some headway in the roommate/bestie department. The conversation with Les shakes Kirsten up so much that she actually goes to Camille for some comfort. She climbs into bed with Camille and they finish a crossword puzzle together. Kirsten falls asleep in Camille’s room.

The next morning we get the last big clue of the episode. Remember the sounds we heard on Ed’s tape? They are map coordinates that lead to the mausoleum where Kirsten’s mother is interred. Kirsten finds the key Ed left there for her. What’s that all about?

All of the movement on the arc storylines made this the best episode so far. I also thought it was Emma Ishta’s best performance. Frankly, I have spent the bulk of the series trying to decide if Emma Ishta was completely out classed by the actor’s she’s working with or if the fact that she’s playing a character that has no real emotional levels to play is coloring my opinion of her abilities. This week she got to play those emotional levels when she was pretending the brain device worked, and it was nice being able to see what she can really do.

We got a lot of clues for the arc story this week. I’m really curious to know how you guys think these pieces are coming together. What are your theories? What did you think of this episode specifically?

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now. Currently, she's reviewing Stitchers and Major Crimes.

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