4.03 - "Under Pressure"
Directed by Sharat Raju
Written by Jordan Budde
Reviewed by Gavin Hetherington
Kate soon realizes dating in Los Angeles is a little harder than she expected. Harry has an exciting new job venture while April finally realizes what her passion is with a little help from Marc. The boundaries between Karen and her many, Robert, become complicated. Meanwhile, Joss is still trying to figure out how to deal with the aftermath of the past year.
EPISODE GUIDE
Season 4 Episode Guide
4.01 - "
The New Girls" (May 30, 2016) -
Advance Preview
4.02 - "
Mistaken Identity" (June 6, 2016)
4.03 - "
Under Pressure" (June 20, 2016)
4.04 - "
Blurred Lines" (June 27, 2016)
4.05 - "
Lean In" (July 4, 2016)
4.06 - "
What Happens in Vegas" (July 11, 2016)
4.07 - "
TBA" (July 18, 2016)
4.08 - "
TBA" (July 25, 2016)
Check out my other
Mistresses reviews:
2.01 - "
Rebuild" (June 2, 2014)
2.02 - "
Boundaries" (June 9, 2014)
2.03 - "
Open House" (June 16, 2014)
2.04 - "
Friends With Benefits" (June 23, 2014)
2.05 - "
Playing With Fire" (June 30, 2014)
2.06 - "
What Do You Really Want" (July 7, 2014)
2.07 - "
Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" (July 14, 2014)
2.08 - "
An Affair to Surrender" (July 21, 2014)
2.09 - "
Coming Clean" (August 4, 2014)
2.10 - "
Charades" (August 11, 2014)
2.11 - "
Choices" (August 18, 2014)
2.12 - "
Surprise" (August 25, 2014)
2.13 - "
'Til Death Do Us Apart" (September 1, 2014)
3.01 - "
Gone Girl" (June 18, 2015)
3.02 - "
I'll Be Watching You" (June 18, 2015)
3.03 - "
Odd Couples" (June 25, 2015)
3.04 - "
Into the Woods" (July 2, 2015)
3.05 - "
Threesomes" (July 9, 2015)
3.06 - "
Love Is an Open Door" (July 16, 2015)
3.07 - "
The Best Laid Plans" (July 23, 2015)
3.08 - "
Murder She Wrote" (July 30, 2015)
3.09 - "
Unreliable Witness" (August 6, 2015)
3.10 - "
What Could Have Been" (August 13, 2015)
3.11 - "
Guilt By Association" (August 20, 2015)
3.12 - "
Reasonable Doubt" (August 27, 2015)
3.13 - "
Goodbye Girl" (September 3, 2015)
'UNDER PRESSURE' REVIEW
"Looks like Morocco threw up in there."
I may shake this up a bit and start with April for a nice change, as I usually find she has less meat to work with when it comes to the other girls, but I happened to enjoy her story in this episode. Although, when she started biting Marc's head off, I was not a fan of that. Anyway, what I loved about April in this episode is that she went for it - really went for it. She does have Marc to thank for that too, I think, and the residual jealousy is really clouding April's judgment a bit. She'll work through it and realise that he's helping her more than she realises. I loved her scenes with Michael, and for a moment I thought he was gay - which would have been great, and April could have had that someone to talk to without threatening her relationship with Marc (nothing has to happen with Michael, but this is
Mistresses, and it's kinda what the show is about). Their first scene together, with April telling him to get out of her store, was fab. That's the gall I'm looking for. I also like that she really went for it in the end and the scene of her giving Michael the note with her name in it as the designer he should pick had me punching the air! Yes, April, yes! Don't dwell on the rejection of Art School - grab every single opportunity by the neck, pull it in and kiss it right on the lips. But don't kiss Michael's lips please, just Marc's. More of that too please.
"When is he off the clock?"
"Probably when he's on top of you."
"Actually I like it on top of him."
"I bet you do."
And I always love the scenes when it's just April and Karen - the two friends who have been there for each other the longest (Joss included but in terms of their friendship, April and Karen are the originals), so their scene together having lunch and discussing Karen's love life was so great. Things with the Manny (whose name was mentioned a couple of times so we don't forget it, and it's Robert, in case you forgot) escalated, and I was so taken back by his assertions in the way Karen mothers Vivian. I mean, he sorta killed the mood in bed when he mentioned she doesn't spend enough quality time with her baby, and then again when he was saying he wishes she still breastfed. So judgmental and I can imagine him being very controlling. Sure, he's a good manny, but there's something not quite right here. Karen was too easy to forgive and forget, and the proposal to start dating was so out there. It was a little cute, and I like how much confidence Karen has these days to go for what she wants, but I'm still not taken by this guy. He should apologise to her for his assertions. Also, shout out the hilarious app name '
Shagr' - I wonder what that could be based on haha.
"Pain doesn't scare me all that much."
Joss's self-empowerment / self-destruction phase is not going to end well, and it seems further complicated when even her trainer is pushing her beyond her limits. I did love how the other girls there had their stories, and I can see a great emotional network forming here, which will be what Joss needs, but she's not ready to bare her soul just yet. She needs to slow down, and I had to agree with Harry that she had to give it a little break until she healed. Much like last week, Joss's storyline revolved around Kate, and the two fall out which forces Kate to apologise by the end of the episode. This will probably happen every week - Kate will screw up, Joss will get involved, they fall out, they make up. I loved how quickly Kate's date turned though, and he assumed they would have a threesome. I was like "no that was last year" (though with Karen, Vivian and Alec, and I loved that storyline, but I wouldn't like a repeat). I'm starting to lose faith, too, that we will get flashbacks to the night Joss was held captive. She is so scarred by it though that something really bad must have happened that we don't know about, so there has to be some kind of explanation. I really hope we get it, very soon.
"You're a very wise man."
I quite enjoyed Harry's side-storyline too, and I had his partnership with Jonathan written off and that he wouldn't go for it in the end. Turns out I was wrong. He did throw in a bit of a curveball when he invited Harry to his house for him to meet his rather large family. He didn't seem like such a bad guy after all, but I still see trouble afoot for this business venture. I get the sense that Harry is very high maintenance when it comes to this stuff. It did help Harry to see that he needs to put his family first, including Kate, so that was a lovely little scene too between the siblings. I always appreciate a good bromance so Marc's advice to Harry on the matter was spot on, and I loved that Harry called him a wise man for it. Poor Marc though, trying to help April out a bit but only having his help shoved back in his face. I'm sure that will change soon, and judging by next week's episode, there's going to be a lot of love-making, but also some obstacles along the way.
EPISODE VERDICT
If I could judge the episode solely on the image to the left, with Marc in his jeans, I'd give it a solid 10 out of 10. But when I put my TV boyfriend aside and look at the episode as a whole, it's still rather good, but again not quite brilliant. I see a sort of pattern with Kate already in that she'll just be a problem for Joss every week which will end up with Kate apologising to her by the end of each episode, but I still like her addition to the cast. April's storyline is helping her to discover herself, even though it's in the early stages, and I do like seeing a more determined, self-believing April who goes after what she wants - but she needs to treat Marc a little better too. Karen needs to slow down with this Manny too, so I can fully determine what I think of him as I'm still very unsure. All in all, good episode, but I see we still have a long way to go this season.
What did you think of 'Under Pressure'? Let me know your thoughts of the episode in the comments and be sure to watch the next episode when it airs on ABC next Monday, June 27th!
About the Author - Gavin Hetherington
Award-winning author of the 'Abyssal Sanctuary' series. Gavin joined SpoilerTV in August 2014 and reviews 2 Broke Girls, Devious Maids, Mistresses, Pretty Little Liars, Salem, Scream Queens and Sleepy Hollow. Gavin will write previews for Empire and Shadowhunters, and backs-up Once Upon a Time, Reign, Scandal and Supergirl. Gavin also writes special anniversary articles, most recently for Charmed. You can contact him at gavin@spoilertv.com.
