Written by Sonja Bennett and Vivian Lin (Or Sonya Blade and Kitana? Choose your fighter), this week’s episode dives into The Secret Life of Levi. There’s a heartfelt story at the core of the episode, but with everything going on in Bonnie, Rainey, and Armie’s lives, it’s hard to connect with any individual characters. And in the end, it felt like there was too much story for the emotion to push through.
Charlie: “I thought you were pepperoni, extra cheese.”
Jesse: “I get that a lot.”
The Case:
Jesse’s friend Levi goes missing the night before an Urban Combat tournament.
Jesse and Rex find Levi’s shoe with blood on it, while Sarah finds a phone in a similar state, outside the gamer café.
Levi’s fiancé Bonnie is afraid he took off, getting cold feet from all the wedding planning.
Charlie takes Rex to Rainey Gill’s home, where Levi’s scent is everywhere – because he’s Rainey’s husband.
Bonnie already knew about this marriage, having found out three days earlier, and after he disappeared she drained their bank account.
With Levi’s blood on the floor of her apartment, it’s not looking good for Bonnie.
But Levi cut his hand on a plate, and Bonnie needs the money – because she’s pregnant.
Meanwhile, it’s learned Levi stole bitcoin from his hacker friends while in Halifax several years earlier, when his mother was dying from cancer. He used the money to pay for her end of life care.
Jesse doesn’t think Levi’s ever been to Halifax. But there’s a lot Jesse doesn’t know about Levi. Like his real name. It’s not Levi Gill. It’s Armie Modi.
Rainey was in on this identity swap. The real Levi Gill disappeared after a boating accident. Armie took his name. Rainey, needing to stay in Canada to access the cancer treatment she needed to survive, agreed he could keep the name. A deal was made.
Jesse finds Armie’s bitcoin stash on a USB under a game in the gamer café.
With Bonnie and Rainey’s help, Jesse identifies Armie’s gamer profile and they have confirmation he is not only still alive but participating in the tournament.
Charlie tracks Armie down to a chop shop he visited earlier in the episode, where Armie is now being held at gunpoint while he plays.
Charlie and Rex perform an epic takedown of the two kidnappers, and the day is saved.
Having returned the remaining bitcoin with interest, Armie gets off with community service and can start fresh with his real name.
Bonnie and Armie offer to pay Rainey’s tuition fees with his tournament winnings, so she can go on to become an oncologist.
Armie proposes to Bonnie again, this time as himself and not Levi, and the reactions from Jesse, Sarah and yes, even somewhat cynical Charlie, might make this the cutest end scene all season.
Random thoughts:
Charlie argues early in the episode that calling esport competitors ‘athletes’ is ridiculous.
They may not run around a field, but the speed at which gamers perform actions with the keyboard and mouse is comparable to a baseball player’s pitching speed. As Matt Weber says in this NBC news article, “The way you talk about a player physically is similar to how you talk about a baseball player.”
So, Charlie, you may want to reconsider your words as you sit there more engrossed in baseball than your friend’s concerns.
The airing of this Urban Combat episode is timed well to coincide with the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie buzz.
Joe’s dad side shows when he calls gamers a strange society, while speaking to someone who is a gamer himself. Jesse manages to keep his response to himself. He’s probably heard it a lot. I like to think he has a secret twitter and later that night tweeted: “I love my boss but for a Gen Xer he can be a total Boomer sometimes.”
A Jesse episode, it didn’t give us a lot of new Jesse background, but it did reinforce his character as a loyal friend. In general, this has been a strong season for Jesse, getting him out of the precinct more, and making him more capable in a more detective-like role. They might have to give him an honorary badge soon. He’s sure honing his skills this season.
The Super Nitro Flip with the video game music may have made me cringe on the first viewing, but on a second viewing I could admit it was fun. And we all need a little fun right now. They did warn us about the extra cheese at the start.
Most epic stunt:
The superman-style takedown. Charlie sure covered some distance in that leap. Go watch it again. It’s insane how far he goes.
Obvious Bad Guy is Obvious:
If a random guy at a gaming café suggests plugging your USB into his laptop (dirty!) he’s probably shady.
Did You Know:
If you recite Konami Code to Siri she calls you a nerd. And a cheater. Mine does it in an Australian accent and it’s hilarious.
I asked a friend to recite it to Alexa, and she got a lesson in cheat codes and easter eggs in video games.
What did you think of The Secret Life of Levi?
