"It might be morning, but there's no sunshine"
We're now halfway through this last season of Rectify, and though every piece of the puzzle isn't at its final place just yet, we're definitely getting there, though I'm not really sure that whatever ending we'll get a month from now will actually be that definitive, as this show has taught us over its 3 and a half season, it's not about the destination, it's the journey that matters, so let's see where the journey took us this week.
Last week we left Daniel with Chloe, holding on to her belly, in a sort of awe-inspiring kind of scene, which was about life, about freedom and about re-discovering what's good in this world. This week we find him with Chloe again, in a sort of road-trip kind of storyline, where they go to Chloe's ex-boyfriend house -which in fact is a famous, though unnamed, singer- to deliver a piece of art that he bought from the co-op and to retrieve some other artistry that he's giving up to them. As they try to figure out what exactly is their relationship and how to deal with each other, Daniel finds some comfort in the pistacchio gelato, as a way to take his mind off of all the things that still haunt him, all the nightmares that he still carries with himself after being on death row for 18 years. They end up staying at the house way more than they were supposed to, and have to hastily get away when Rick, Chloe's ex's aide, is getting back to the house. While getting Daniel's back home to the halfway house, the two seem to settle on the fact that while their relationship is anything but one by anyone's standard definition of it, is something that they still want to do as it makes them feel better and hopefully grow together, and they seal the deal with a kiss, which was kind of nice, other than a first time for Daniel since we've been following him.
Meanwhile, after Janet and her Ted senior's life was shook by the possible offer to buy the tire-store, here they finally meet the man himself, mr. Childers, which in a ironic-in-a-Rectify-kind-of-way got a flat tire while heading to the store to meet them. Despite Ted junior's readiness to begin a long and exhausting negotiation to prove that they're not a couple of schmuck from a southern little town and maybe what he needed to justify them refusing the offer, him and both Ted senior and Janet were shocked by a big-time offer, way beyond the actual value of both the store and the land its built on, though with some strings attached, since the big pharmaceutical company that Mr. Chidder is representing is considering more than one property, so it's not a sure thing that even if they accept the offer, they'll end up selling the thing. Predictably, it was the kind of offer that could definitely spun a rift inside the family, as Ted junior doesn't want to sell as he doesn't want to see go to waste all the years he spent working to improve the store, but he doesn't even really has a say in it, since it's Janet's anyway.
After not appearing last week, we see once again Mr. Zeke, one of Tawney's patient from the residency, that is still trying to convince her to go get his plaque from his house. Tawney meets Ted junior at the diner for their usual date night, but things go awry real soon with Ted so upset by the whole tire-store offer situation. When Tawney investigates in Mr. Zeke's personal history and finds out how lonely he's been feeling since the death of his wife, she's confronted with the possibility that her life might also end up being one of lonesomeness, and she's compelled to call Ted junior to try and patch things up, but this time it is him that is not ready for things to work out just yet, as he ignores her call and then burst out in tears when he hears the message she left on his voicemail. I'd like to praise once again Clayne Crawford for his stellar work in the series and with this character, he has been so consistently good over the years, and still finds way to surprise us week after week.
Billy meanwhile, Amantha's old pal from high school, came through on his offer to take her hunting, and went pick her up a full hour before sunrise nonetheless! The two don't get much screentime this week, but every bit counts as they finally hook up, with Amantha moving on to a phase in her life where she's starting to settle in Paulie for good, with a good job and a fine guy from the town, almost giving up her desire to moving back to Atlanta, when Daniel's situation in prison had her in constant close-proximity with Jon, which led to them being together, away from Paulie. As Daniel's stamp on her life and on the family is starting to vane, she's growing to become what never thought or wanted to be. We also get a little glimpse of Jared, now successful online seller, since he got half a thousand dollars from just selling some old Furbys. He also witness Janet's state of confusion, with Daniel so far away and the news about the store, as she briefly mistakes him for his brother, while referring to Lester as "his dad".
Finally, and I left this arc as the last one for a reason, we get a huge update on the mistery that started everything, the rape of Hanna Dean and consequent murder. Daniel confessed to the deed, but seems like Jon hasn't given up just yet. After his encounter with Sheriff Doggett last week, he follows through and tries to get a one on one with his predecessor, the old C.J. Pickens. While he hasn't any luck in that department, he finally has the confirmation from a 3rd party, an old schoolmate of Daniel and Trey, that Chris Nelms and a lot of other students were at the police department the day after the murder to be questioned, but only a few of them were, Daniel of course chief among them, being the first time the sheriff and the prosecutor extorted a confession out of him. His busy week doesn't end here though, as he follows Trey to a bar, and after being confronted by Jon, Trey HEAVILY floats the idea that Chris Nelms might be the one that actually did commit the murder. Something that doesn't come totally out of the blue as last year's finale introduced Chris as one of the guys present the night of the murder, and as Trey so well put it, was (and still is) the one that had the most to lose.Four weeks away from the end, we're inching closer to a goodbye that probably won't really be a goodbye. Daniel's journey to, let alone being an upstanding citizen, but at least able to confront his past is still far away, probably more than 4 episodes could ever show, but watching him struggle and fight so fiercely, has been a very thrilling experience anyway.
Episode 4.04 - "Go Ask Roger" - B+
