Stitchers has had its best season yet and this episode was a prime example of all the things that make this show so special. The penultimate episode of the season was directed by series co-star Salli Richardson-Whitfield and she delivered a powerful hour for the series. This one was Maggie centric so she had to juggle directing with a heavy acting load yet she still managed to deliver on both fronts without losing a beat. That right there is the sign of a true professional when they can multitask like that and still deliver a top notch final product. Should the show get another season, and it desperately needs to, they must get her to direct again.
It was really nice to see Maggie and Fisher working together so much. This season has seen Maggie away from the team a lot which has meant that the nice moments they have had in past seasons were mostly absent. They’ve had a couple nice moments, but nothing like in this one where they were each other’s rock through rough times. They are both going through hard times and having to make tough choices that others might not entirely understand. That applies in a big way to Maggie, who has had to make some really tough calls this season. She angered a lot of people when she had Kirsten’s mother moved away. While it seems harsh on the outside she clearly had the best of intentions at heart. Kirsten didn’t exactly have her mom secured that well and Stinger could have easily gotten to her. Like it or not Maggie did make the right call even if it was the hard call. It might seem cruel that she’s keeping Kirsten from her mom, but the less Kirsten knows the safer she is. As it is Maggie only agreed to let Kirsten see her mom because she was working with Ivy to bring Stinger in.
This episode made it pretty clear that Ivy is under the thumb of the NSA. Ivy has made a ton of mistakes, and big ones, but she was doing her best to make amends. Does it undo the harm she nearly did to Kirsten? No, it doesn’t, but she was hurt and angry and acted out in an extreme way. Even she struggled to justify her actions making it apparent that she knows how badly she screwed up. Now that she has gotten to know Kirsten it’s even more apparent how truly sorry she was over everything. However, there is Kirsten’s side to consider in this all as well, she was trapped in a virtual coma for three days. Her life was put in extreme danger and all over a petty round of sibling jealousy. Still, no matter how justifiably angry Kirsten is, Ivy is still her sister and as long as Ivy manages to survive this whole thing there is always some sort of a chance for reconciliation. It’ll take some major profound things happening to both sisters, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Now, back to Ivy and the NSA, the end of the episode made it look like she’s working with Stinger again, but it’s quite obvious that she got her information from Maggie to tell Stinger. They are running a con on him and Ivy is being used as the bait. Odds are that things aren’t going to end well for her in any part of this situation. She’s stuck between the NSA and her father with whom she herself had become estranged. Still, she craves that paternal love from him which will certainly make this final betrayal hurt all that much more. When she helps bring him down she will effectively be alone. It’s a position she has worked herself into thanks to one lie after another, which made the first scene of the episode even more tragic. She was actually being honest, well at least as honest as she was permitted to be, and still ended up getting shunned. Stinger wasn’t able to see that she was playing him because she was being sincere when she said they all hated her. That part and the anguish that came with it was all her. Bringing Stinger in may help a tiny bit with Kirsten, but it’ll probably take something even more major than that to reconcile the sisters. They have a long tough road ahead after this Stinger bit is behind them.
Even more unfortunate for her is that she’s even lost Linus. Losing the one person that loved her for her was a hard blow. Again, though, one can’t blame Linus for his anger as he had every right to be especially given how hard he worked to protect her from all the accusations others were making about her. While Kirsten and Ivy are likely to one day reconcile, if the show runs long enough, this whole situation might have been the final straw for her relationship with Linus. That seemed like a game over moment when he turned and walked away.
What Maggie is going to do with Ivy after all this is anyone’s guess, but whatever happens with Ivy she’s not going to have an easy time ahead. Given how her life has been turned upside down and the fact she’s prone to jealousy could mean that she could be crafted into a new big bad after Stinger is brought in. Hopefully, that won’t happen because it’d be great to see Kirsten and Ivy reconcile, but the alternative is a very real possibility. This episode setup that parallels with Maggie’s own backstory with Kate of one-time friends turned mortal enemies.
There was a poignant moment in the aftermath of the epic fight that Maggie and Fisher engaged with against Kate, and that was when Kirsten and Maggie were talking. Kirsten spent most of the episode angry with Maggie. She wants nothing more than to keep the entire team safe and she’s ready and willing to face their anger to do so. Maggie’s only real big fault is that she cares too much about them and will go to extremes to protect them all. She can’t undo her past mistakes, but it seems like she’s doing everything in her power to not repeat them. That started with trying to get things back on track with Kirsten. She doesn’t want to end up in a fight with Kirsten one day, but Kirsten being the forgiving person she is seemed to be willing to let everything go as long as she gets to see her mom. Maggie isn’t one to go back on her promises, so it seems that sometime in the season finale Kirsten and her mom will reunite. Kirsten may never fully forgive Maggie, but she’s willing to put the past behind them and move forward which beautifully highlights just how much she has grown as a person throughout the run of the series. This is the second time this season where Kirsten has forgiven someone with surprising ease, first Cameron and now Maggie. Though, once Kirsten learns about what Maggie and Fisher have been doing with Ivy that could change things again. There are a lot of things to deal with in the season finale and plenty of fuel to power through another season.
The theme of this week’s case was revenge and it seemed to teach them a lot about what matters. Cameron was the dutiful boyfriend standing by Kirsten’s side through everything and that was very admirable. He was in a tough spot himself but chose Kirsten over the job. It was interesting that he didn’t seem at all upset that she and Linus lied to him and went to Ivy’s place. At this point, he’s still sort of walking on eggshells not wanting to make a misstep again and risk losing Kirsten. There is probably very little he wouldn’t agree with in regards to her right now. Honestly, it sort of seems like he has lost a little bit of his backbone. He was the guy who would do absolutely anything to protect Kirsten even at the risk of her anger. Now he’s the guy who is willing to be blind to certain dangerous situations in the name of not losing her. It’s sweet and all, but the best version of Cameron is the one who holds firm to his beliefs and does what is necessary to protect Kirsten regardless of the consequences to their relationship. Hopefully, once this whole honeymoon phase is over he’ll get back to being that guy. Fans may not necessarily like that to happen, but it’s more true to his character than what is going on right now. He and Kirsten can still have a strong loving relationship without him letting her do anything and everything she wants regardless of consequences. Love is a powerful motivator and it can change people, especially when they think they’ve done something to lose the love of their life. That has definitely changed Cameron, but now that they are finally able to make love they’ll be able to work out their tension in the bedroom and get back to their beautiful symbiotic working relationship while on the job.
That was a really nice moment when Kirsten and Cameron were finally able to consummate their relationship. They’ve waited a long time for that moment, and frankly, they needed it. Now they can move onto the next steps of their relationship without that hanging over their heads. They’ve got some major things coming their way in the season finale and they definitely didn’t need that distraction hanging over their heads. Linus came through for them just in time with that filter. They owe him pretty big for that one. The poor guy could definitely use a best buds night with Cameron after everything, so hopefully, Cameron will find some time to carve out away from Kirsten to be there for his friend.
Linus was busy this week between the Ivy confrontation and everything that happened with the case. Getting himself and Camille signed up for All In was not one of his smarter moments. He was clearly a little distracted with everything going on. Putting targets on his back and Camille’s was a nice distraction for him until it cascaded out of control and put all of their loved ones in danger. He’s lucky that Camille was distracted because it seemed like she would have gladly taken him out herself at that point for putting them in that position in the first place.
Camille was put in danger twice in this episode thanks to the case and it seemed to help her get her priorities in line. The first thing she did after the case ended was to go try and win back Amanda. This was a huge surprise because it seemed like Camille and Amanda were done for and that was all in the past. The last time they departed each other’s company there didn’t seem any viable path forward for them. In fact, Amanda made it pretty clear that there wasn’t and that they were over. It seemed like the end. Still, Amanda is extremely important to Camille, so she took a huge risk and threw caution to the wind as she stood in front of a crowded bar and gave a part of herself to all of them. She shared her vocal and instrumental gift with everyone and showed that she was willing to extend herself out of her comfort zone in order to be with Amanda. More importantly, she sang their song, whose words perfectly fit their situation. This song has been pivotal in their relationship as it played over their first kiss and then they each sang parts of it on their first date. This time we got to hear the entire song and listen to Allison Scagliotti’s brilliant rendition of it.
Apparently, Camille delivered her message loud and clear because she got Amanda’s attention. Their gentle touches and love filled eyes said everything. Their reunion should have felt so forced, but the actresses managed to bring the right level of emotion to sell the importance of that kiss and the love that still firmly exists between their characters. Camille and Amanda have a lot of things to work through, but they might just be able to salvage this relationship after all. Kudos to the writers because this reunion seemed impossible and yet they managed to pull it off and do so in a very surprising way. The show definitely managed a major surprise with this particular reunion.
Next week is the season finale, so prepare for what is sure to be a majorly intense ride. Don’t miss the episode when it airs next
Monday, August 14th at 9/8c on Freeform.
Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. What were your favorite parts? Did you expect Maggie’s story to play so prominently in the episode? If you were Kirsten would you ever be able to forgive Ivy? Did Camille and Amanda’s reunion surprise you?
