"Harry Ambrose just showed up."
This whole season has been about watching Jamie give in to Nick's path, seeing him unravel as he starts to lose the life he created for himself, and the whole thing starts to ramp up leading to the finale. At first, I was looking for this mystery to be solved, but just watching Matt Bomer and Chris Messina interact has been rewarding enough, I would honestly watch a whole show about these two characters alone, especially Nick.
We get confirmation that it was Nick who killed Kyle when he's shown cleaning blood from his nads and clothes Then, he goes home to Leela and tells her he saw a therapist and he'll do everything in his power to get things back to the way they were before. She sees some blood on his ear and though he plays it off, she saves the tissue that will later become evidence.
It seems Kyle told Jamie Nick didn't want him to be afraid of losing everything anymore, but when he realized the message he had to relay was too dangerous he stopped himself, which wasn't the smartest move because even though he wouldn't get them by beating them out of him, Jamie was desperate for answers and went off on him.
Harry blames the pain pill he took for being out cold while Jamie left his house, just another reason to avoid pain meds in his mind. Vic is starting to worry about how involved he's in this case and reminds him most of the things they know would not hold up in court. So Harry tries to get Jamie to turn himself in but he says he doesn't want his life to be over, that he's not a lost cause.
Sonya learns about the connection to Jamie and the New York murder so she goes to see Leela and tells her the details about the grave and Nick and Jamie's plan for her. That night she confronts him, and though he tries to guilt her into staying with him because he stood by her when she cheated, she kicks him out.
So Jamie goes to Harry's house and says he has nowhere else to go, that the fact that Harry acts like he cares and then switches off, really upsets him. He threatens Eli and that's when Ambrose loses it, he seems ready to kill him, and when he lets him go, Jamie seems thrilled to finally meet the real Harry Ambrose, and so does Eli, which is why his mom decides to separate them for a while.
Harry talks to Leela who, at first, can't believe Jamie could do such a thing, she talks about Jamie's dead mother and absent father, about her cheating on Jamie, and says he never gets angry. Honestly, while she was saying that, I was thinking those are the worst kind, never ever getting angry seems a bit unnatural, and dam that was going to inevitably break at some point.
Later, he confesses to her and asks that she not leave his side, but when he shows up at an event for her to sell her products she asks him to leave and he makes a scene which is witnessed by Detective Soto. It's when he sees his breakdown that he's finally on Harry's side, he understands there's a protocol, but now he sees how close to the edge Jamie is and how dangerous that is to everyone around him.
The school principal tries to get him to take a leave of absence because of the investigation but he refuses to leave, he says as long as nothing is proven they have no motive, and you can see how desperate he is, he's already losing his perfect marriage, and if he also loses his job he'll have nothing, which is something that could really push the spiral he's going down on.
Sonya and Harry are seeing each other, though it probably won't get too far. She seems to be able to read him too well, she sees how mixed up he's with the case but she also realizes he hides behind his badge whenever it suits him and that he has a need for everyone else to tell him absolutely everything while he reveals only what's convenient.
They were both a bit obsessed with Jamie, trying to understand what happened. I did love Soya's take on masculinity and how boys are taught vulnerability threatens their manhood, a cultural expectation that's innately traumatizing. But things seem to break off when Harry learns she photographed him naked and vulnerable, and I'm not sure if he was jealous of him or her.
We see a flashback of Nick and Jamie meeting each other at a philosophy class, being the rebellious ones, and becoming inseparable. Nick was always the one who'd spearhead their insane escapades and Jamie was always scared but eventually ended up following him, jumping. Later, he'd explain to Ambrose Nick was always pushing a little too far and eventually, he had to cut him out of his life.
NYPD is digging into Kyle's murder and they have a lot of circumstantial evidence but the only thing that could put Jamie away is Harry, and his behavior has been so suspicious that it makes the case harder to prove. But this doesn't stop Ambrose who agrees to meet him. Jamie says he was doing things wrong because he was trying to go back to the life he'd built for himself but now he wants to embrace the fear and to show Ambrose what's past fear, the same way Nick did for him. He tells them the grave was not for Sonya at first, it was to bury each other, to get closer to death, the same way they used to do when they were younger.
He convinces Ambrose to do it with him, they flip a coin and Harry gets to go first, to ensure he'll dig him up again he gives him a confession to be buried with, but then he says Harry will realize the confession doesn't even matter, which makes it a pretty bad safety net. There's a pipe for air to get in but Jamie pulls it lout last minute so that Harry actually believes he's going to die. After he digs him up he explains it's the only way the exercise can work.
After that Jamie seems happy to have someone to "take under his wing" to guide through "the path", he says he won't be like Nick, he explains why he let him die and that now they have to focus on what's next. But Ambrose was recording their conversation and brings it in as a confession so Vic can arrest Jamie. As soon as he's in jail and learns of what Harry did, Jamie seems to go right back to denial.
The testimony is found inadmissible thanks to Ambrose's tactics and Jamie is let out but he can't go home because Leela got an order of protection against him. Now, he has nothing to lose and seems to have fully embraced Nick's path. He tries to get Emma to do the same but she's doing better, so perhaps that cements his loneliness. Leela is now willing to testify against him for Kyle's murder but he's on a spree that starts with the Police Chief.
I hadn't thought too much about it before, but Emma was in for the mindfuck of her life, having a figure of power, and someone you love at that, fill you up with all those doubts, seems life-altering to me. The fact that she later OD'd on Adderal just makes that case even stronger even if she was already headed that way. Thankfully, after that, it seems her parents got her call for help and were beginning to cut her some slack, something that appears to pull her away from Jamie and his dark thoughts.
"Sometimes the dam breaks."
What did you think these episodes? Let me know in the comments.
