This season has been heavily focused on relationships and this episode continued that trend. However, the relationships dealt with this time weren’t just the romantic ones. This episode dove into the friendships as well providing for some really nice moments. While it has been fun watching all of the relationships evolve and develop it has sort of overtaken the season. That’s likely because of the sheer volume of how many of them there are this season. Hopefully, in the coming episodes, the show will shift focus for a little while and dive back into evolving the mythology of the series. For this week, however, it was all about relationships, so let’s take a look at each of those and what went down.
First up is the Kirsten and Cameron drama. They have been the darlings of the show from the start and while they are finally an official couple things have not been easy on them. Their disagreement early on in the episode highlighted some of their core problems and almost led to them breaking up. They encountered some moments of jealousy thanks to the overly flirty Chloe Marks (Teressa Liane) who ended up messing with a lot of the characters. Thankfully Kirsten made sure that Cameron was never in a position alone with her where his integrity could have been tested. He remained faithful even with a beautiful woman naked in his bed.
This couple also had some major communication problems throughout. In fact, Cameron was a bit of a hypocrite. He got angry at Kirsten for going to Camille for help in secret then he turned around and went to Linus for help on a secret project. She had the prime opportunity to give him hell for that like he did to her, but she’s understanding and knows him so well that she just let it slide. It’s obvious how much Cameron loves Kirsten and he has an intense need to protect her, but she’s proven that she’s more than capable of protecting herself. She’s only going to be able to handle this obsessive protective behavior for so long before even she can’t deal with it anymore. Cameron came dangerously close this episode, but hopefully, he’ll pull back on being overly protective after everything that happened. It was established from the start of the season that everyone thought Kirsten’s fledgling emotions were going to be the problem in their relationship and in the ultimate irony, it's Cameron’s well-established emotions that keep causing issues. These two need to find an evener balance in their relationship for it to have an opportunity to have a long lasting future. It would be sad to see them overcome all they have only to fall prey to their own emotions.
Cameron needs to take some lessons from Camille on how to handle Kirsten. These two have managed to maintain a steadfast friendship from the very beginning. They’ve had their differences, but Camille knows when to pull back and just let Kirsten do her own thing. She’s there to have Kirsten’s back if she needs it, but she trusts her friend and her capabilities. Camille would have never agreed to help do additional mapping if she thought it would in any way cause Kirsten harm. She was in charge of that first stitch and Cameron should have trusted her instead of trying to backseat stitch drive. The way Cameron came at Camille for helping Kirsten was out of line and very obviously out of a place of emotional distress, but still out of line. Camille had every right to be ticked off with him and give him pushback. What was impressive is that even with him in her face she wasn’t about to let slip that she was helping Kirsten. If Kirsten hadn’t spoken up that whole confrontation could have ended very badly. Camille didn’t do anything that Cameron wouldn’t have done before he was Kirsten’s boyfriend. The relationship status change, as well as his job promotion, has certainly made him more uptight. Hopefully the near death encounter they both had was the good smack upside the head he needed to get back in sync with Kirsten. It certainly seemed that they were very fully together by the way the episode ended with them getting close and intimate.
While they were struggling through the events of this episode, Linus and Camille were dealing with their own issues. Even though they are just friends now and have moved onto other relationships there are still lingering issues between them as became apparent during their intense double-date. Camille is upset with Linus, not because he moved onto someone new, but because he moved onto Ivy. She has been burned by Ivy before and doesn’t seem all that inclined to trust her very soon. And she’s very protective over both Linus and Kirsten who she sees as being in harm’s way if it turns out Ivy is playing them. While Linus has no reason to not trust Amanda with Camille, he went hard in on throwing down some warnings which she responded to with a very clear threat of her own to put him back in his place. To be fair, both Camille and Linus were out of line for approaching things the way did. Camille came from a place of friendly protectiveness, but it would seem like maybe Linus hasn’t been able to completely move on. That could prove to cause problems later on down the road for this foursome. Ivy and Amanda are perfect matches for Linus and Camille, so hopefully, the writers don’t do something crazy like try to get those two back together. They are actually way better off in their current relationships.
Camille, in particular, is much better off being with Amanda. While there is absolutely no questioning the deep friendship bond she has with Linus it never felt like she truly ever fully let her guard down with him. With Amanda, she’s absolutely smitten and even self-admitted to opening herself up to her new love. That sort of love is terrifying to Camille yet she has such a connection with Amanda that she is willing to persevere through her own trust issues to be with this woman. She is also extremely affectionate with Amanda in a way that she wasn’t with Linus. Their relationship was more like friends with benefits and her only deep emotional connect was with his parents. With Amanda, Camille takes every opportunity she can to wrap her arms around her and kiss her. When she learned that Chloe was the killer they were looking for, and alone with Amanda, there was no hesitation before Camille dropped everything and ran full speed without even taking the time to get backup. She was on a mission to get to Amanda and was in instinctual auto-pilot mode. That was an intensely primal reaction of fear for someone you love.
When Chloe went for the knife, Camille went into full on beast warrior mode and used every skill Fisher has taught her. There was no hesitation to throw herself between Amanda and the danger and go immediately into a defensive fighting stance. She held her own for a good amount of time which was quite impressive given Chloe’s training. It was also a nice touch that when Camille was pinned to the ground that Amanda delivered the blow to Chloe that freed Camille enough for her to do the final takedown. That was some serious girlfriend tag team action. Amanda thanked Camille for saving her, but it really was a joint effort. Now, Amanda only knew Chloe was a danger because of Camille, so perhaps that’s what she was thanking her for, but the taking down of Chloe was indeed a prime example of two people being completely in sync. Allison Scagliotti and Anna Akana have such a natural ease with each other that beautifully sells this relationship. When Camille was making her big declaration there was so much love in her eyes and thick emotion in her voice that the love was palpable. Scagliotti has been an absolutely dominating force this season and she continues to deliver one intense and snarky performance after another. With any luck, all this brilliant relationship development won’t be for nothing, between Amanda’s impressive cool under pressure reaction and her response to Linus about knowing how to kill and making it look like natural causes, there might just be more to Amanda than meets the eye. Hopefully, she won’t prove to be a mole of some sort. If she were to betray Camille at this point it would forever destroy Camille’s ability to trust. Let’s just hope that the main threat this season remains Striker and neither Amanda nor Ivy proves to betray their new loves.
While there are all these new relationships there is an old one rekindling. That would, of course, be Fisher and Stephanie (Erin Cahill). She proved to be quite helpful this week even if the person she helped spring did end up being a crazy psycho murderer. When Fisher came to her she did her best to assist him without really much to go on. She helped simply because of how much she trusts him. Their relationship really is on the fast track to being fully rekindled except they’ve been thrown a new curve ball. As he learned, there is a chance she might be getting a promotion. While Fisher took the news really well and was super supportive there was a strong implication that it would mean her moving. Would he leave the team to follow her? They have come a long way so it’d be nice to see them get a happy ending after all the obstacles they’ve overcome. It’s just nice to see Fisher’s personal story get some quality time spent on it.
A quick note about Stephanie, did anyone else completely miss the quiet recasting that happened with her? She appeared in last week’s episode, but she was only really shown in the shower with Fisher so the switch wasn’t apparent. This was the first time she’s got enough time on screen for the casting switch to be evident. Erin Cahill replaced original actress Georgina Reilly who originated the character last season. Nothing against Reilly, but Cahill’s chemistry with Damon Dayoub seems to better fit the relationship of their characters. This switch actually makes it easier to root for this couple. Reilly played Stephanie as having questionable intentions while Cahill has taken a much more intimate soft approach to what is going on between her character and Fisher. Much like with Amanda and Ivy, hopefully, Stephanie’s intentions prove to be noble. However, with three major new recurring characters that are all connected to series regulars who work in a secret lab on a show set in the world of the NSA odds are sadly in the favor of one of them being a mole. The question is which one?
All of these relationships got heavy focus in an episode revolving around a spy relationship gone wrong. Chloe staged her own capture and supposed murder in an attempt to be with her lover who also happened to supposedly be an old friend and spy partner of her husband’s. When her husband figured it out she then murdered him and in an attempt to cover it all up she and her lover concocted an elaborate plan of deception. Chloe then set out to silence her lover by attempting to kill him too. It is a sordid web this lady weaved with many backstabs. Was it a coincidence that this big relationship episode had a case like this? Or could it have been a parallel to one of the new characters? It would be tragic, but with a show based in a very secretive and dangerous world, it would not be at all surprising to see one of the main characters get betrayed by someone they love.
This was a very heartfelt episode ranging from big declarations of love like between Cameron and Kirsten who ended the hour possibly about to take the next step in their relationship to Camille declaring her deep scary feelings for Amanda. Both of these big steps were fueled by near death moments where each couple had to bond together to survive. Camille and Kirsten had some truly lovely moments together. They each proved how incredible their friendship is with Camille backing up Kirsten’s mapping plan and then later with Kirsten declaring how happy she is that Camille has Amanda. It’s worth noting that the fact Camille is dating a woman was a non-issue. That is how same-sex relationships need to be handled because love is love and there doesn’t need to be big fights over it for a story to matter. The only reason Camille seemed to try to hide Amanda away is that, much like with her guitar playing, she wanted to keep Amanda to herself while they were in the early stages of their relationship. Yes, things moved fast between them, but there isn’t really a rule on how fast two people can fall in love and the writers made it feel very organic. What matters is that in the midst of everything going on Kirsten intentionally took the time to slow Camille down and get her friend to understand that she was happy for her and more than accepting of Amanda. These two showed what true unwavering friendship looks like. Linus and Camille also had a lovely talk that they’ve need to have for awhile now. Even Fisher got time alone with Stephanie. All of the characters got equally big and important moments this week with the exception of the still absent Maggie. She needs to find her way back to the lab and soon because she has been missed. It’s likely her return that will usher back in a heavier focus on the overall mythology of the show.
A lot was crammed into this episode and the case was actually really intriguing. Though the moment Chloe was left alone with Amanda it became sort of obvious that Chloe was somehow directly involved with the murder. It wasn’t really surprising when Belinda ended up being Chloe. It was however poignant to see the instant fear that flashed over Camille’s face. That’s the look of fear that can only come from deeply caring about someone. The case also forced Kirsten and Cameron to confront things about their relationship. What comes next? Now that they have access to Maggie’s mystery case machine it seems like the mythology of the series and the stitchers program is about to get some much needed time in the story. Relationships will likely keep evolving. More secrets are probably yet to be revealed. Striker will likely make some more moves to get closer to his daughters. They’ll keep working towards being able to stitch into Kirsten’s mom. Many awesome things are likely on their way, so keep watching to see where the story takes all of the characters next.
Be sure to tune in and watch the next episode of
Stitchers in two weeks on
Monday, July 10th at 9/8c on Freeform.
Hit the comments with your thoughts about the episode. Does Linus still have feelings for Camille? Do you think any of the new recurring characters could be a mole? Will Kirsten and Cameron finally get to be intimate? Did you notice the Stephanie recast? What do you think will happen now? Is it time to shift focus away from the relationships for a bit?
