"I know a little something about physics!"
After last week's turn of emotional blows, this week's episode doesn't really sweeten the pill, as all of the characters are now inches closer to the end and they somehow seems to know it, with their lives at a turning point and a lot of uncharted territories ahead of them, here are my thoughts on the events of this week.
Last week almost had the feeling of a goodbye for Ted and us, as he got ready to leave his and Tawney's house one last time, but that wasn't it, as we're seeing him barely keeping it together, drinking the whole day and going about his day with a whole different vibe, more self-assured, the vibe of a man that has nothing left to lose. He's divorcing with Tawney and he's pretty sure that Janet and Ted senior are selling the store, leaving him without two of his cornerstones in life. He takes it out on the flailing man that Daniel wanted in front of the store a couple of seasons ago, which he shoots which leads to Ted shooting himself in the leg when one of the bullet ricochet off of the metallic built base of the thing. While it wasn't meant to be a cliffhanger, this isn't a show that usually relies on that angle, it was fun to see Clayne Crawford acting in a way that is more akin to his current role as a former Navy SEAL now turned cop Martin Riggs on Lethal Weapon. We also get to see a couple of glimpses of Tawney, as her patient Zeke dies and the "plaque storyline" gets to have a conclusion with she going to his house to finally retrieve it. Now that everything seems to have been stripped away from Tawney, she relies on the only thing that she used to love more than Teddy, which is God and the religion, in a way to find some sort of comfort.
Speaking of instability, Janet too has been barely keeping it together for the last few weeks now, and the trend doesn't really change now that she's finally reconciled with Daniel. He is still distant, treating her like he's a tour guide of sorts, taking her to cool places around Nashville where he has never been and not letting her in on where he really spends his time now that he lives alone. This leads to a sour exchange, with Daniel asking his mother to let him go, let him have his life away from her. Promising to not interfere too much with what he has going on, Janet gets to meet Chloe and even have lunch together. Heading into this episode Janet was in weird places with Ted senior, but with him and Daniel getting to "clear the air" as he puts it, with the both of them apologizing for their past misbehaviour, and their desire about wanting to sell the store overlapping, the show does give us a simmer of hope. Ted also propose of giving the inventory (which Rite Aid isn't interest into) of the store to Ted junior to let him do his own thing, in a new place and without him.
Jon meanwhile finds out of Bobby's confession to Ted junior about Trey Willis going back to Hanna after he, Chris Nelms and George Melton raped her. He no longer works for Justice Row and is thinking of dropping the lawyer career altogether, but not before freeing Daniel of all charges, and he has one more ace up his sleeve on that regard which is an IAC claim, based on the fact that he was sleeping with Daniel's sister the second time he confessed to kill Hanna as part of his plea deal and thus the deal should be voided because he wasn't able to provide effective counseling. He later shows Bobby's claims about Trey (which he has recorded) to the District Attorney, asking her to seek the truth, disregarding the possible consequences it might have on her career. Sondra doesn't seem convinced, not yet at least, but as with Sheriff Doggett the show's portraits of her has been of someone rigid and stubborn, but not with malicious intents, unlike say her predecessor Roland Foulkes, so I'm confident that her approach will align with Doggett's one and try to do what's best for Hanna's memory.
The episode ends with a long excruciating sequence that begins when Chloe, once again, invites Daniel to seek the specialist counseling that New Canaan offered him to treat the PTSD that he developed during his 19 years on death row. To no one surprise, Daniel doesn't take the advice that well and responds by attacking her for what she has done in her past, with the baby she's pregnant with and the father now out of the picture. This show doesn't mince words, when they go for it, they really go for it, Chloe does an excellent job of figuring out Daniel's behaviour of the past 4 seasons, how he's been so uptight with the possibility of being innocent, of not being the bad guy anymore, afraid to let go of his armor, of the thing the character that he created and he plays as a mechanism of self-defense. While earlier in the season I wondered if Chloe's role had something to do with Daniel's future after the end of the series, I've now shifted to the belief that she's his final stepping stone, the final push that could convince or rather "force" Daniel to finally embrace his role as a free man.I can't wait to see what McKinnon and his team have in store for us in these last two episodes, which will both run longer than usual, with 4x07 clocking at about 60-minutes and the series finale 4x08 even longer than that, with more than 70 minutes of running time.
So what do you think will happen in these final two episodes? Let me know in the comments below!
Episode 4.06 - "Physics" - B+
