Welcome back to Austin where the crew of the one-two-six has returned. Happily, it’s not in as grand of a fashion as last season where we were treated to a four-episode arc of a massive snowstorm. However, we do have some big story arcs brewing so far.
Owen Buys a Motorcycle –
Owen, who looked like he was about to take a big step forward at the end of last season by finally shedding his past, has opted for the classic midlife crisis maneuver of buying a motorcycle. In true Owen fashion he jumps in the culture with both feet and quickly finds himself part of group of “motorcycle enthusiasts.” After dragging Judd to the group’s bar they get clear understanding they’ve walked into lair of an extremist group. Shortly afterwards Owen gets a visit from the FBI.
FBI agent Rose Casey (guest starring 12 Monkeys’ Amanda Schull) informs Owen that he’s gotten himself involved with separatists who want Texas returned to their founding fathers. Amusingly the terrorist group doesn’t get that Texas was originally part of Mexico. To stop a potentially imminent terrorist attack Casey asks Owen to plant a bug in the group’s bar. When Owen goes to do this he’s discovered by Sgt. O’Brien who’s apparently involved with the group.
O’Brien takes Owen to his nephew’s house and explains he’s infiltrated the group to find out what’s happened to his missing nephew. Together they manage to discover where the group’s training base is and find stolen explosives. However, when Owen reports this to the FBI and FBI raids the base they find everything but the explosives. Casey then reveals that O’Brien is actually a founding member of the terrorist group and this may have been an elaborate con to discredit Owen.
Tommy and The Son of a Preacher Man –
Tommy meets Trevor Parks (played by Lucifer’s D.B. Woodside), a recently divorced single father, and she takes a shine to guy after she saves the same twice in 24-hours. After Nancy’s teasing/encouragement she gives him her number and agrees to go on a date with him. Next Sunday Tommy gets a shock when she finds out he’s her congregation’s new Reverend.
This of course leads to the inevitable “you’re going to hell” jokes from Nancy and the urging on of Grace. Reverend Parks charms Tommy and she agrees to go on a date with him. After an erotic dream with the obvious background song Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man, Tommy decides she needs back up on her date and turns it into more of a dinner party. Undeterred, Reverend Parks kisses Tommy and asks her for their next date to be a little more private. Tommy agrees.
The T.K./Carlos… Love Triangle? –
Ok, give the writers credit for this one. Who predicted a sort of love triangle for Carlos and T.K… Now for those you raising your hands, who saw it happening with a woman? So long story short, Carlos is married and we’ve seen the return of a Blake. Unfortunately, it’s not Liv Tyler’s Captain Michelle Blake but rather her little sister Lyndsy Fonseca’s Iris Blake. Iris is in a much better place than last time. She’s gone from homeless to helping the homeless.
Carlos and T.K. attempt to get Iris to agree to a divorce but she seems intent on making it difficult possible. When T.K. confronts her about this, Iris reveals that she would rather get an annulment as she believes it right for Carlos and T.K.’s marriage to be their first. Shortly after, Carlos gets a call. Iris has gone missing near the homeless encampment where she used to live.
Iris is eventually found after making a 911 call to Grace. Iris tells Carlos and a detective that she was kidnapped by a man and held in a room with him. After reviewing footage of the police raid on the area where Iris claimed she was being held, the detective concludes she’s making it up as there’s no evidence of Iris’s captor leaving the only exit before they reach her. Carlos, though fearing Iris has lost touch with reality again, chooses to believe her story and investigates on his own. In doing so he finds one of the few answers to the “locked door mystery.” There was another way out of the room. Carlos finds a tunnel under secret space in the closet where Iris was held and follows it to the end. As episode three ends we’re left with a cliffhanger of Carlos being knocked out by a shovel.
Which brings us to the last of our team. Unfortunately, there’s little to say. Paul and Marjan continue to be criminally under-utilized on the show. We have sadly reached a point with both characters where they could be written out and the show wouldn’t change. Almost the same can be said about Mateo and Nancy whose surprise revelation about their relationship at the end of season three could have made for some interesting in-house drama. But neither has really had much impact. As for Judd and Grace, well they at least get to soldier on in their happy little family bubble while also playing support roles for both the “Tommy dates her preacher” storyline and “Owen is lousy at undercover” storyline.
It's been an interesting start to the fourth season and there are plenty of balls up in the air. So, what are you looking forward to most? How will Owen get out of his new mess? Tommy’s adventure in dating a preacher? What happened to Iris and Carlos? Hoping that something will happen with Marjan, Mateo, Nancy, and Paul? Leave a comment.
