"We are not your family, we are just a group of people tragically bound to you by blood."
Malcolm seems to be pining over Eve, and though I understand she's special and he's not really used to having that kind of relationships, they were actually together for a hot minute, so maybe it's a little too much, at least when we're talking about her personally and not what she represents. He says she broke up with him via voicemail, though I was pretty sure that was more than clear the last time they saw each other in person.
But that will be forgiven, since, as I imagined, Eve shows up dead, which is the first step in Malcolm actually catching Nicholas Endicott. Tom Payne was so great here, the scene where he asks Edrisa to tell him what she knows over his girlfriend's dead body was quite heartbreaking. He was considering accepting that her death was ruled a suicide since he didn't know what had happened during the time he didn't see her, but when he learns she's been dead for weeks, he knows she never made it out of town, and she would've never stopped digging into her sister's murder.
When he tells Jessica, she's heartbroken and enraged, which only gets worse when she learns her new boyfriend's to blame Eve's death. And though Gil denies it, I think there's some truth in the question of why she's attracted to these men and why they're attracted to her. But before the heartbreak, we get to see her on a mission to get the truth and there's nothing like Jessica on fire and I love seeing that, especially when it includes confronting Martin.
"Never bet against your mother, darling."
When they get to the prison, Ainsley's already there, they figure out the information Sophie gave Martin was what helped him get the deal of the century concerning his prison perks, not by making a deal with the government but by making one with Endicott. Which makes sense, I don't know exactly why I hadn't considered it before, but it is weird that such a hated character gets such privileges.
He tells them what Sophie told him, that no one can say no to Endicott if they want to live, and that means doing everything he says, even if it turns you into a monster. We can't really be sure it's the full truth since it would make no sense for him to be so reticent to talk, but alas, the comment about Jessica always saying yes was kinda funny, if aggravating.
Given the profile, Malcolm assumes Endicott doesn't get his nads dirty, so they hope to find the killer and make him turn on Nicholas, something Martin says is impossible. Edrisa is already getting pressured into ruling Eve's death a suicide which only confirms their suspicions. The killer is smart though since the cause of death is drowning, only she was drowned in a different body of water and then thrown into the river.
Gil has a source that used to be a contract killer, and he's the one that points them to the Nightingale. They draw her out by going to her next kill and intercepting her, she denies killing Eve but says whoever did it probably had to get very close to her to make it seem like a suicide. Honestly, I'm not sure that theory tracks, but it does give them another starting point and they go to her apartment, something I have no idea why they hadn't thought of before.
They realize he'd been watching her/them from the floor above for a while, and realize he's the man posing as Martin's new guard (what this means for the regular one worries me). Thye get to the prison when he was about to kill The Surgeon for talking, just in time to watch Martin sink his thumbs into his eye sockets as revenge for making his son suffer (who said this serial killer wasn't sweet?). He'll, of course, be killed before he can be interrogated, or Endicott's profile wouldn't make sense.
Now, there were a couple of scenes that had very cheesy writing. I love this show, but sometimes it's so inconsistent. The moment where Martin gets renewed strength by Malcolm calling him "dad", and Jessica and Gil's romantic scene, both had me rolling my eyes. Jessica wanting to keep Gil at bay so Malcolm wouldn't lose him does make sense, but someone saying you're good enough just isn't romantic or realistic, and in a romance-scene, I'd expect it to be at least one of those two things.
The cherry on top is the team barging into Malcolm's house to arrest him for killing Eve's murderer, it was probably all theater for whoever is watching them so that Endicott thinks his plan of framing him worked and they'll try to solve it on the down-low, but I'm sure there were better ways to handle it and that forensic evidence doesn't work that fast (maybe I'm just watching too much Line of Duty). Sometimes, I overlook some of the antics because so much of the show is awesome, but others, it feels like they're trying to see how much they can get away with. Maybe it's just me but I constantly feel the need to know what goes on in some writers' rooms and maybe rant to a person or two (or ten).
I'm still very much looking forward to the finale, I just hope they pull it together. This frustration, of course, comes from love. When a show is just bad I don't even bother. But when a show with such potential is so inconsistent I have to say I get a little bit annoyed. It won't make me stop liking the show but I can't help hoping they get the memo at some point. Hopefully, we'll get to see an improvement in that area with a second season. Because, no matter my qualms, this show is definitely something special.
"Another romantic swing and a miss for you."
What did you think about this episode? I look forward to your comments.
