The very tense 'In Words, Drown I' was a complete contrast to last week's more lighthearted episode, in which we see Zapata in jail to get close to an inmate and Sandstorm operative portrayed by guest star, Ronda Rousey.
It was great to see Zapata get more spotlight and I'm glad her imprisonment was revealed to be an episodic story, not an overarching side plot, which we do not need more of in these final few episodes.
Granted, it would have been nice to see Jane in prison, as her kicking a bunch of prisoner's ass would have been so damn fun. Nonetheless, Esparza did a fine job as Zapata in this episode. Her character is equally bad ass, someone who is not afraid to get her hands dirty, but the only difference is that she ends up, more often than not, on the receiving end of a beating.
Zapata gave one of the more dramatic scenes of the episode, as well as the most laugh out loud moment. Her line, "you think I weight as much as a fridge?!" was classic. In contrast to that though was her scene near the end. Her speech about how they need to screw policy and follow their own rules to get ahead of Sandstorm was powerfully delivered. The episode really made the case that we need more screen time for Zapata! And it looks like we will as it seems she is plotting her own plan with Reade to attack Sandstorm.
Speaking of Reade, there was a limited appearance by him in this episode and he was sorely missed on the field. During the big confrontation, it was weird to see a random FBI dude fighting Devon's brother, usually that would have gone to Weller, and if he is occupied, then to Reade. Nevertheless, that meant more spotlight on Jane's big fight with Devon. One of the more badass females on screen versus a bad ass in real life and the scuffle did not disappoint.
Jane had more to work with in this episodes than her fists though. Her relationship with Weller seems to be going south after her revealing of Roman's recovered memory. His speech about what this means to him and how her holding this information from him packed a lot more emotion that we never usually get to see from the big man.
Jane also sees her relationship with Roman deteriorating in that one heck of a cliffhanger, in which he remembers she erased his memory. Wow! It was bound to happen sooner than later, but it still came very unexpectedly.
Overall, 'In Words, Drown I' was a solid episode. Everyone had something to work with - Jane and Weller's relationship seems to be crumbling at a time when they need to be on the same page to top Sandstorm. Patterson's mood continues to shift week to week. I am not a big fan of paranoid, traumatic Patterson, but it is a necessary part of her evolution as a character. Of course, Esparza did a tremendous job in carrying this episode. It looks like Zapata will have a larger role to play the closer we get to the finale and there are no complaints here.
8/10
