nara

I think his name is Golan Cohen, but I just think of him as Israeli guy.

Don't worry, he will be on Ben's suspect list soon and we'll find out why he's so sure Ben is guilty. I think he actually saw Ben go to Jess's house that night. Perhaps someone fished out the tablet for Matt when they were stealing the jacket? That would have to be one tough tablet to survive the water! I was also very curious about whether Cornell is repeat offender when it comes to fixating on a suspect. That is EXACTLY what I was thinking. The Supercriminal who can hack into phones, cars, etc. Also in this episode, Dave mentioned how smart Matt is. Are we supposed to believe that he a secret computer genious who is stalking Ben? Another similarity to Pretty Little Liars-- the main characters are complete idiots who would have been better off revealing the truth from the beginning rather than lying and trying to investigate everything themselves. Did anyone else notice that Cornell has become less wooden since she revealed to Ben the vmail evidence against him? Kinda reminds me of a former boss who was annoyed by something I did and got more and more annoyed because he kept it in. Once I got him to tell me what was wrong, he was much nicer to me! She seems to be the same way... On the plus side, Natalie finally behaves like a normal person! Stop the presses! Christy--loved the speech on how she can't be angry. It was human and very realistic. However, I don't know what's up with accepting gifts from her clients--seems inappropriate for a married woman to accept expensive gifts from another man. Of course, it's possible that she bought them herself and is just taking revenge on her husband by hinting at an affair. Fits in with the idea that she cannot hate him when his son has just died.

I was thinking the whole time that I like Avram and the cow more than any other characters! I will be seriously pissed if anything happens to them. Is the guy who is after them the same one who shot at them before the boat ride? For some reason, I'm struggling with telling some actors apart in this show, which is making it harder to follow the plot. Also, I'm wondering if Golan being gay will actually matter in the plot...

For a second, I thought there was another child who mysteriously disappeared! Oh well. I like that we finally know why Cornell is focusing on Ben.

I also thought that the moment I saw the Ambassador's necklace! The only thing is that, if she has all the other stones in her safe, why continue to wear one around. I was also under the impression that she put the stone in the breastplate (but I deleted the show off my DVR before I thought to rewatch that scene, so I could be wrong). If that's the case, are there 2 breast plates and 2 competing groups trying to complete a breast plate? If so, Emma could be on one side and Yussef Khalid on another. I do like the idea of competing teams, perhaps one of them trying to do bad things, like raise the antichrist. However, it looks like many people are willing to kill for the cause, so there may not be a clear good vs. bad. BTW, has anyone checked out digdecoded.com? Is it worth it? I saw the promotion for it, but have not had a chance to go there yet

In addition to the flashlight, I think the backyard bum friend knows more about what Ben did that night than he has admitted. Plus, the African American neighbor who hates Ben so much probably saw something too--like Ben going into Jess's house. Between the two of them, they will finally get Ben arrested.

Regarding the flashlight, Ben and the detective had looked in his car for the flashlight and couldn't find it. If he had reported finding it immediately, the fact that Cornell had previously searched the car may have worked in his favor. Of course, he believes that Cornell is not interested in how the evidence exonerates him--and frankly, I think that sentiment is justified--so I guess it's understandable that he does not trust her. I was actually wondering if the flashlight was planted by Cornell to see how he would react to it. Is it me, or is Cornell trying to display some empathy in her conversations with them? Not saying she's successful, but still... How is it possible that Ben still doesn't have a lawyer? I know that the one lawyer was not interested until Ben was arrested, but surely there are others who would want a high-profile client like this. Someone needs to tell the family to stop speaking to the police without a lawyer. Yeesh! Based on the way they're behaving, you'd think that Law & Order hadn't been on for 20+ seasons! Regarding Natalie, I was hoping that someone would think of calling the police to bust a party with underage people getting served alcohol, but of course Ben had to come and threaten to kill someone! I did get the impression that Cornell was exasperated with him regarding his stupidity, rather than seeing it as a sign of his guilt. Maybe that's progress?

My sentiments exactly. Fake Will was horrible. I was hoping they would throw in an "I'm starting to forget the sound of your voice and the look of your face" to explain that travesty. You would not think that casting a Josh Charles type would be that hard.

LOL, that was my same reaction. Remy is the hot one on this show. He should be getting the action! Although I agree that there was a lot about this season that screamed "transition" or "filler", I thought that the disintegration of the Underwood marriage was a very good storyline and critical to the next phase of the show. For it to make sense, they had to show a number of elements: Claire's ambition unleashed, the Russian president kissing her without consequence (oh, how I wanted Frank to push him down the stairs!), the courage of the gay activist/prisoner to stay true to his principles at the cost of his life, the forced resignation, the popularity of Claire feeding her ambition, etc. Therefore, it made sense to make it last the whole season. I am looking forward to Claire's next incarnation, though I think her timing was unfair to the agreement she had with Frank. I actually thought she wasn't bad as an Ambassador and seemed quite tactful and persuasive, until she 1) let her emotions get in the way of diplomacy and 2) was played by the Russian ambassador. She succeeded in winning the support of the Secretary of State and forging the alliance. However, she tried to jump steps by going straight to very visible, international position without having clearly established her credentials. Will she next go after a position that is a good learning and proving ground or will she go to Heather or some TBD Republican candidate and demand to be the VP on the ticket? Also, am I the only one who hoped that America Works would revive somehow?

Yes, it was one of the jewels. I'm sure we'll track down the others by the end of the series I believe that Peter is in Israel to track down the criminal because the crime was committed in the US and affected an influential US politician.

Perhaps they thought her southern accent would serve to call our attention to the fact that no one else has one and asked her to tone it down? Maybe they are trying to make it seem like "this could be any town in America"?

Very intriguing, and a little hard to follow all the threads. Worth continued viewing next week. First of all, did Peter really almost hook up with a girl who reminded him of his daughter? That was strange... I'm guessing that little Josh is meant to be the high priest who will communicate with god using that breastplate thing and the calf will be a sacrifice. Or maybe they are both sacrifices. Purity seems to be important in both cases... Anyway, I look forward to seeing more.

As someone mentioned above, Asher is clearly different from the others in that he isn't scared to death of something, so Prosecutor is separating him from the herd. Or, as the son of someone important, he might be considered to have "the most to lose" and therefore the most amenable to working with the prosecutor for a deal. Asher can talk about what he saw when he arrived at the house the night Sam was killed. He might remember more details when questioned. Also, he can attest to the fact that the trophy that was stolen from him was intact and is now broken, which could lead to the weapon that killed Sam. I do like the idea of Asher having a bigger role. I'm hoping that he doesn't get corrupted, but I wouldn't put money on it.

Not sure what you mean by this trend. Usually it's murdered girls/young women. The Killing, How to Get Away with Murder, Pretty Little Liars, Twisted, Veronica Mars, most episodes of Law & Order SVU, oldie but goodie Twin Peaks, etc. Certainly, there are also shows with murdered boys, but I'm curious as to why you think that's the trend.

Ryan Philippe generally plays bad guys well. Whether or not he is actually the killer, he's meant to look guilty to everyone, and the actor does a great job. I was one of the people who thought he looked too young for the role (even though the character is only 36 or so and Ryan is 40), but he acts well. Re: Melissa Gilbert's son, during the funeral he says he wants Tyler (or something like that). I got the impression that Tyler is a brother who is off at school somewhere. Ben asks if he is back and Melissa Gilbert's character says no and looks flustered. Sounds like the brother might really be back and implicated somehow... I'm an avid viewer of Law & Order and there have been many occasions on that show when the police have bullied people into not consulting with lawyers by suggesting that if they have nothing to hide, they shouldn't need a lawyer. People should ALWAYS have a lawyer with them, especially if you are the last person to see a dead/missing person or if you're the one who found them or if you are involved in any business or personal relationships with them. Apparently Ben doesn't watch enough TV!

While watching this episode, I remember thinking, luckily for Katie Findlay (who plays Rebecca) that at least she's not the dead girl at the center of the mystery like she was in The Killing. Oops!

Bonnie knows. She said at one point that there are things she knows about Frank, which is why she feels he won't reveal her relationship with Asher. My theory is that she is the one that Sam called and that she arrived at the roof in time to see Frank kill Lila. I wonder if Wes's mother (or adopted mother if you buy the Annalise is his mom theory) was murdered. Something about Rebecca's comment made me think it wasn't just a cheap shot, but something she had researched. However, if this is true Wes could either be or not be the killer If he was not the killer, it could explain why he killed Sam--a desire to protect a woman-- when he had previously failed to protect his mother. On the other hand, there's something suspicious about how the initial killing of Sam went down. There were many witnesses to the fact that they were defending themselves. Perhaps Wes was worried that the police would research the suspicious death in his past and link the two. Therefore, he sent the group down a path of cover-up. I assumed that Connor was also positive and lied to Asher because he was in denial.

Will Gardner was my favorite character and the show is not quite the same without him, in my opinion. However, I think it made sense to kill the character when the actor decided to move on. 1) The Will/Alicia relationship was played out. I loved them together, but it was clear for a while that there was more commitment on his end than hers. That storyline had to end. Even if Will moved to another city, got married, etc., there would always be a contingent of us that hoped they would get back together. I think it was good to close off that option so that Alicia could explore new relationships. 2) I think that the shock of the death was good for the show, though I do agree that it would have made more sense for it to have been in the context of Peter's political shennanigans or something related to Lamont Bishop. The death helped the characters put aside their fighting and created an avenue for Diane to reunite with Alicia and Cary.

I really don't believe that Frank ever cheated on Claire. Reverend Wakefield's housekeeper said that Claire's Mount of Venus suggested her husband would not stray from her bed. She was right about everything else she said from the tea leaves and Claire's palm, so I'm inclined to believe her...and to believe it applies to both Frank and Jamie.

Do we think there's any chance that either of the deserters that Claire and Jamie killed could be this Horrocks guy who could clear Jamie?

I don't think I agree that Jamie is only in love with the idea of Claire. While I agree that there are some very basic pieces of information that Jamie does not know about Claire, I think he has gotten to see a lot about her essential character. He's seen the good stuff: the way she defied everyone to help the "possessed" boy, her compassion for the boy nailed to the pillory, her willingness to work with the other women even though it included "warm piss", etc.. He's also seen the bad stuff: drinking too much, jumping to conclusions, sulking when the others don't include her, etc. I think he's seen enough to be actually in love with the woman herself.

Claire was definitely an active participant, but Jamie is the one more knowledgeable about the danger around them. Personally, I don't blame Jamie for what happened, but I can see how he would blame himself and even why Claire would be (temporarily) upset with him. I agree that it was strange that Jamie would leave her alone. In his position, I would have her right by my side every second--even when she needed to go to the bathroom. Or, in a pinch, I would leave the more experienced Murtagh to protect her, rather than young Willie. This is particularly true since she knows she had a tendency to run (e.g., during Sassenach and the Gathering) and is in a terrible state of mind. He would want someone wiser left with her. I assumed it was just a plot device to give her an opportunity to run, and accepted it for that. However, 1) Maybe Jamie doesn't think she wants to be around him right now so he sees this as a way to give her some space, 2) the threat really is so much in the town that she is really safer in the woods. I agree that we don't have enough info about the threat to him yet, and 3) the redcoats generally travel in big enough groups that Claire and Willie can easily hide from them. It isn't as though there are a LOT of deserters wandering around. Regarding Dougal's motivations, I do think he's fond of Jamie (as evidenced by their hug), even if he sees him as a rival, and wants him to be safe and happy. Having Jamie back in Lallybroch would also serve Dougal's political purposes by keeping Jamie away from the seat of power and pushing him back into the Fraser camp. Also, now that he's seen Claire and Jamie together, I don't think he's planning to hit on Claire again. However, if she and Jamie are so torn apart by the events in this episode that he thinks she might be willing, he might give it a casual try.

Slightly off-topic, but I'm really hoping they get back to Leoch soon (in the new episodes). I want to see everyone's (especially Mrs. Fitz) reactions to the marriage of Claire and Jamie and somehow I think that Christmas at Leoch might be fun. We need some happy (non-sex) moments. Even the wedding scene was not really happy and this episode was depressing too.

Here's the thinking. Jamie promised her the protection of his body (plus his clan, etc.) However, at the very first threat to her, he was first careless (not paying attention/pulling her away from the safety of the group to satisfy his sexual desires) and then helpless. If she hadn't first killed one deserter, he would have not been able to kill the other one. The fact that she wasn't raped was due to her own ability to fight, not his. Claire isn't really angry with him, but in her distress over almost being raped and having to kill a man for the first time, she lashes out at the nearest person. Pretty normal reaction.

I do agree on that and I made a similar comment on the Garrison Commander episode thread. :)