This week’s episode is called “Connect the Dots,” a phrase I cannot hear without immediately tacking on “la la la la.” That has nothing to do with anything but my pop culture-addled brain.
If last week focused on getting to know Truxton Spangler a little better, this week brings us closer to the enigma that is Kale Ingram, though not very close to figuring him out. (In fact, you can’t spell “Kale Ingram” without “enigma.” Did I just blow your mind?) Who the hell is this guy? He seems to get all the great lines, and somehow delivers each one with such careful precision that you might think everything he says is some sort of code.
“I have the immune system of a hydra.”
“So much darkness, so many shadows.”
“I would hate to see you involved in any mayhem.”
That last line in particular is a huge deal, as it intimates that there IS mayhem afoot.
We know that Ingram knew Donald Bloom in Beirut, as they both worked on the assassination case from the 80s, the one with the crossword puzzle go code that Ed Bancroft wrote. Ingram and Bloom also had a thing going on back then. It appears that Ingram recommended Bloom for his current assignment, but it’s not clear what this assignment is. Bloom refers to all the traveling he’s been doing, “stitching together this very complicated operation,” but is it another assassination?
Theory #1: Bloom engineered the train crash that killed David Hadas. The crossword puzzle clue was about four-leaf clovers, which as a go code could easily refer to the highly superstitious David. How it also relates to Tom Rhumor is unclear right now. And how David’s death requires all that globetrotting is also unclear, unless part of the operation involves leaving a false trail of bread crumbs to keep Will confused.
Theory #2: Bloom’s new gig has something to do with the Yuri Popovich/George Boeck case, again as some sort of false trail. I don’t think this case is a red herring, but “stitching together” to me means fabrication, that they’re creating something that they want to be seen to deflect attention from the stuff they don’t want to be seen.
How does my theory relate to Tanya’s analysis that Boeck is the one they want to follow? Maybe this was a way to test her ability. Ingram plants the idea in Will’s head that Tanya’s a bit off, so Will gives her the opportunity to show her stuff, and her analysis winds up being accepted without question by Spangler. I think Tanya expected more of a fight, particularly as Grant and Miles completely tear into her, so Spangler’s immediate OK strikes her — and me — as a little suspicious.
As for Tanya’s drinking problem…I don’t know. I did like Ingram’s “free spirit/too free with her spirits” wordplay. (He really does get all the great lines.) I find myself less interested in everyone’s private life. Maggie’s husband, Miles’ marriage, Tanya’s drinking — something feels off about all of it, as though these character issues are tacked on to make them more interesting to us, but I’m starting to wonder whether they drag the story down. But maybe it’s too early to tell.
I liked the scene between Will and Maggie even less. Were they trying to build sexual tension where there really shouldn’t be any? Though I was glad that Will wound up not saying anything, particularly since Maggie reports to Ingram. Way to use that paranoia for good, Will.
Speaking of . . . did Will tell Ed Bancroft to stand down and stop trying to connect the dots because he’s concerned about Ed’s welfare? Ed did look like he was one step away from the deep end at the beginning of the episode, and was positively manic when Will went to visit him later. Or did Will think Ed’s house was maybe bugged and was only saying “stand down” to throw whoever’s following him off the trail? It could be both, but I’m inclined to think it’s more the former, that Will wants to protect Ed. It’s true that Will is paranoid and suspicious of everyone and everythign, but had that visit taken place AFTER the charity function, AFTER Ingram says “avoid the mayhem” then I’d be more willing to buy that Will thinks Ed’s place is bugged. Even though Ed’s place could still be bugged.
What I liked about this scene, actually, was the way it suggested not just that the work of dot-connecting can lead a person to madness, but that the pressure to find the RIGHT pattern creates the risk of seeing ANY pattern — or in other words, trying to connect the dots could lead to creating dots that shouldn’t be there. If it’s supposed to be a picture of a daisy, but you want it to be an elephant, you’re going to put more dots in there to make the picture come out the way you want it to. I’m not saying that this is what Ed’s doing, but his whole “JFK was assassinated in Dallas, not Houston, but Texas has oil” comes close. And I think we’re supposed to believe that Will will maintain a clearer head, as he works with his own dots at the end of the episode.
And we find out that Spangler is responsible not only for destroying the copy of “The Houston Problem” (that title makes me chuckle), but also for the guys tailing Will, and now that he’s heard Will telling Ed to back off, he wants the focus to shift to Katherine (presumably based on the information given by James Wheeler concerning her inquiries about the townhouse and MRQ Alternatives). I loved, loved that it was Ingram shadowing Spangler. It indicates that Ingram only knows some of the stuff that Spangler does — he recommended Bloom to Spangler, but maybe didn’t know why. And I think he was tipped off that something was off when he spotted Will obviously tailing Bloom. The plot, it thickens. I love it.
I also liked that Katherine and Will finally meet, sort of. Obviously there’s a connection between what Will’s investigating and what Katherine’s investigating, but their meeting confirms it, even if we still don’t know what the connection is. I’m looking forward to watching how this unfolds.
So if MRQ Alternatives doesn’t make clothing anymore, what DO they do? Katherine’s exchange with the foreman or whatever was the first time I was frustrated by this show. She asks a direct question, “What do you make,” the foreman answers, “Well, we used to make clothes,” and Katherine doesn’t follow up on that. Gah! But then she finds a newspaper clipping about the death of a professor having been ruled as suicide and wonders, as we do, just what exactly Tom was keeping that clipping for.
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