S01.E17: Stranger Beside You

[Trini]

The NYPD dives into a case surrounding a famous mommy blogger, whose husband was mysteriously stabbed just days after their baby was born. Meanwhile, Bright finds his way back to Eve, but can't shake his paranoia that there's more to her than meets the eye. To help ease his nerves, Ainsley helps him do some investigating and uncovers a secret she has been keeping.

Airdate: March 23, 2020

[LadyOracle]

It was good episode. Glad we finally put to rest who was the girl in the box and our suspicions regarding Eve. I was relieved when everything was revealed regarding Eve, because I thought that meant we longer would have to see her.

But no, she's here to stay - at least until the next episode. Malcolm should know a relationship built off murder, lies and secrets will absolutely not work!

Case of the week was decent. What bothered me was that Dani told Bright to go protect The Influencer Mom and baby from the killer and she would sit and watch over the other woman. Um....I thought Dani was the cop and Bright was just the profiler, who's never armed. That scene shouldve been re-written.

I know it was considered a joke, but it was not funny for JT to tell Bright that he hope his baby doesn't turn out like him. It was was poor joke with very poor timing.

Dr. Tanaka was funny as usual. Loved how she covered Brights body with her own even though her save was so many seconds too late. Lol Cant blame a girl though.

[redfish]

"Have we ruled out the baby." Oh Martin, never change.

Watching Gil bitch that if they had his car they would arrive faster was classic. At least the show is maintaining some continuity.

Come on show, Edrissa is the one for Malcolm. She literally saved him from a cork bullet.

For a second, when Malcolm was struggling with that perp I thought he would kill him with the knife.

[Roxie]

10 minutes ago, redfish said:

Watching Gil bitch that if they had his car they would arrive faster was classic.

Best line of the episode!  Is there any chance Gil will get the LeMans back in at least some of its glory?

[AnimeMania]

Just wondered why the champagne bottle didn't still have the gold foil and the wire cage around it to hold the cork in place.

Still Team Edrissa! Ride 'em Cowgirl!

[CoyoteBlue]

Alessa, you BEAT that man's head in! Go, girl! You get 'em down, you make them STAY down. Eff some 'one smack and then turn your back on the guy while you check on Bright' BS some other minor female character might have tried. You know the score.

[Lady Calypso]

So, the Girl In the Box and Eve connection is revealed. Good, I'm glad, because that means that we can progress that story to find out what happened. This will be good for both Malcolm and Eve individually, but Eve's right; this will likely destroy any sort of relationship that they would have tried to have. I mean, Malcolm probably would have screwed it up, just because he's nowhere ready to be in a serious relationship until he deals with his personal demons, but now it's definitely not going to be with Eve. 

I do like Eve so I hope she gets peace after this. 

I liked the case a lot. I like the twists that they threw in. I should have figured it out with the abusive husband and Nina not being Alessia's child but Kristine and Lucas', but I genuinely didn't. 

But, I like how that story concluded and it had some really strong moments. Even though...yeah, Dani should have been the one to go to help Alessia, not Malcolm. She's the cop with the gun! 

Plus, we find out that JT is going to have a baby! Cool!

I do like how Jessica and Ainsley were worried about Malcolm after the Eve reveal. But then they also disappeared right after that. 

I had a good chuckle at Martin's "Are we sure it's not the baby?" line, Gil's comment about getting to the scene faster in his own car, and Edrissa tackling Malcolm a second too late when the cork whizzed past him instead of hitting him. 

[vibeology]

Alessa going out to dump all her fake pregnancy gear while she's got a babynapper on the loose and her husband had just been murdered is a wild choice. Put that under your bed and wait a few weeks. Made for a good act break I guess but it's not recognizable human behavior.

[saber5055]

So Malcolm saw the box-woman sister in the back of the car AND in the box? Was she dead both times? Why was she put in the box after being in the car, wouldn't Dad have put the body somewhere besides in his own basement?

Not that it matters since I don't care about the box woman or the sister or Eve. Heh, I guess two of those are the same person.

Malcolm must have graduated first in Brawl Fighting 101 at the FBI academy, he's a pretty bad-ass fighter for looking like a Moma's Boy.

Although he was real fine looking at the end, at home all casual.

Dad continues to be my fav character. Kudos to whomever writes his dialogue.

[Mari]

9 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

She also should have listened to Bright when he wanted a background check on Eve.  Bright knows how to read people.

Yes.  This bugged me.  Really bugged me.

Bright is from a very wealthy family, and his father is famous for his medical skill and infamous for his grotesque hobby.  Absolutely, Malcolm, Ainsley, and Jessica should do background checks before they get involved with someone.  

 

Can't say I've invested too much in the Malcolm/Eve relationship, yet, but the idea that "the only way we can save our relationship is if we stop looking" is also ridiculous.  What?  How does that even pretend to make sense?

[saber5055]

3 hours ago, Mari said:

the idea that "the only way we can save our relationship is if we stop looking" is also ridiculous.  What?  How does that even pretend to make sense?

I know. I was all "What the what" when Bright said that. Like, let's not talk about this major big huge issue -- your dead sister and my dad who killed her -- and it will just go away, disappear, and we'll live happily ever after.

Like that could ever happen never.

Edited March 25, 2020 by saber5055

[Mari]

Exactly!  Big, huge issue that you both feel passionately about, and you think it's just going to go away?  Since Malcolm is obviously horrified and traumatized by his Dad's killing, and wanted to help find Eve's sister, just like Eve wanted to do--wouldn't it be more likely to be something they bonded over?  

(Sarcasm font engaged.) But, no, let's ignore it.  That'll totally work.  It's not at all obvious that this will tear you apart and cause bigger problems later in the season, or early next season. 

[tennisgurl]

Oh yeah, Eve is box women's sister! Congrats on everyone who called that right when she showed up, they really nailed it! I kind of agree with Eve that them being together romantically could end very badly, with all the history and Eve starting their relationship by deceiving him (even if it was for understandable reasons) but I dont think it would have to end up a disaster! It could bring them together, who knows? I am glad that the girl in the box mystery has at least made some real momentum, we know who she is, just not what exactly Martin did to her. I mean, he presumably killed her, but not the details or what else Malcolm is forgetting. 

Of course, Eve would have to take a number after Edrissa, who is always looking for reasons to jump on Malcolm...I am professionally! When corks are popping out of corpses! And I suppose Dani as well, we know Martin ships it! 

Yeah Alissa, hit him again! Dont just knock the bad guy out once, make damn sure he is down, there is nothing worse than when the bad guy dramatically rises up after you think that they were down. Double tap! The case of the week was good, lots of twists and turns, although I suspected the husband when he said that his wife was a "good girl" which is a weird thing for a grown man to say about his also fully grown wife. Everyone seemed to be on the "husband was sleeping with the hot nanny" train, so I knew it would be more complicated than that. 

"Have we ruled out the baby?" See, this is why we cant stop visiting you Martin. And Gil complaining about his car, got a fair few chuckles this week. Dani really should have run that background check, Malcolm practically has a sixth sense with people, if he senses something is off, something could very possibly be off. 

TJ is going to be a dad! Good for him!

[CoyoteBlue]

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

So Malcolm saw the box-woman sister in the back of the car AND in the box? Was she dead both times? Why was she put in the box after being in the car, wouldn't Dad have put the body somewhere besides in his own basement?

I thought she was alive in the box and then once Malcolm saw her, Martin took both of them "camping" to get rid of her and see if he could get Malcolm to kill her / kill Malcolm if he couldn't get him to keep quiet.

[Trini]

Don't have much to add; glad we're finally making some progress with Girl in the Box. Edrissa is always great.

I might be the only one who noticed but I was kinda amused that the props person had muffins that were too big for that muffin pan! /random details

[Regalbegal]

This episode felt pretty anticlimactic.  The acting across the board was strong (even the actress playing Eve stepped it up), but there was so much speculation almost from the time she appeared that Eve was related to box girl that the revelation didn't pack any punch.  I kept hoping for another shoe to drop (e.g., Eve plotting to embezzle money from the family, break Malcom's heart, get Jessica convicted, or the girl in the box is still alive etc) to keep it interesting. 

On 3/24/2020 at 6:07 AM, Lady Calypso said:

This will be good for both Malcolm and Eve individually, but Eve's right; this will likely destroy any sort of relationship that they would have tried to have.

Son of serial killer + sister of woman serial killer murdered may be 10+ on the dysfunctional relationship scale, but I can see why living with a daily reminder of his father's guilt would be catnip to Malcom, given his compulsion to punish himself. 

It is nice in these uncertain times that we can count on Malcom to get his ass kicked nearly every week. 

So, apparently Martin is a Malcom/Dani shipper, hmm? 

Edited March 25, 2020 by Regalbegal
typo

[saber5055]

What, wait ... so how did Eve know her sis was put in the box/trunk? Last week she went down into Mom's basement and got into that trunk. Was "girl in the box" public knowledge or did Malcolm tell her he was having dreams about a girl in a box ... and if so, why would she think that was her sis given all the other murders Dad did. Surely there are more unsolved ones since Dad isn't coming clean about this particular one.

[Roxie]

41 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

What, wait ... so how did Eve know her sis was put in the box/trunk?

Maybe she recognized the bracelet (necklace) that Jessica displayed on the news?  Don't remember if we saw Malcolm tell her anything about the box.

[saber5055]

Red Riding Hood: "Grandma, there are sure a lot of big empty wooden boxes and trunks in your house."

Grandma: "All the better to store bodies in, my lovely."

[eyesopen]

On 3/23/2020 at 7:51 PM, LadyOracle said:

Dr. Tanaka was funny as usual. Loved how she covered Brights body with her own even though her save was so many seconds too late. Lol Cant blame a girl though.

I agree, 😄 Edrisa was great.  Wish we could see more of her, but that would mean less screen time for another character, and…I’m not sure who to reduce.  If I had to make that semi hard decision I would reduce time for Dani, or JT or Ains, have only one detective around, have only one kid of the Surgeon around.

Did you guys notice how Edrisa stopped Malcolm with her hand from moving closer to the body because of her warning about er the DB’s gases was going to make it very likely the cork was going to pop.  Her hand was the top of her chest.  Then Gil said Edrisa your hand... and you see her hand had traveled down a bit to the middle of Malcolm’s chest.  Haha, Edrisa feeling on her crush Malcolm, copping a feel on him and Gil warning her.  Good stuff.  And of course later getting to jump on his bones was awesome for her, too.

[foxfreakinmulder]

I wonder if now Malcolm will want to find the girl in the box body to bring closure to Eve and her family? I can see it now, Malcolm will ask his dad where she's buried and of course daddy will want to meet little sis.

Did I hear Malcolm right, did he say he had been dating Eve for 2 weeks? Because she had a key to his apartment so that relationship moved along really fast.

[saber5055]

13 minutes ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Did I hear Malcolm right, did he say he had been dating Eve for 2 weeks? Because she had a key to his apartment so that relationship moved along really fast.

I guess she had to be there to cuff him into his bed at night. I'm using my imagination for the rest.

[Morrigan2575]

I liked this episode and, I'm surprised by how much I liked Eve/Malcolm.

[Roxie]

16 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I liked this episode and, I'm surprised by how much I liked Eve/Malcolm.

I’m a nope on this one. There’s just something about her I don’t like. 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I liked this episode and, I'm surprised by how much I liked Eve/Malcolm.

They're cute and all together, but I don't see how it could ever be long term. The whole 'your dad killed my sister' thing being one big hurdle out of several.

[eyesopen]

10 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

I wonder if now Malcolm will want to find the girl in the box body to bring closure to Eve and her family? I can see it now, Malcolm will ask his dad where she's buried and of course daddy will want to meet little sis.

Did I hear Malcolm right, did he say he had been dating Eve for 2 weeks? Because she had a key to his apartment so that relationship moved along really fast.

I haven't been watching the show from the start, so I'm not sure, but isn't Malcolm having night terrors because Girl-Box keeps saying find me?  And yes, Malcolm would want to give closure to Eve.  Sadly, Eve's mom won't know because she died.

I don't think Dad would give up location of body.  It doesn't seem most serial killers do that.

[nodorothyparker]

Finally catching up on this.  The murder of the week wasn't terrible, but the ending of it felt pretty pat.  The woman who faked a pregnancy for likes on social media to the point of deciding NOW to chuck her fake belly into the river gets a happy ending with the baby because bio dad turned out to be a murderer and bio mom doesn't seem to care either way?  Sure sure.

I was thinking too that Eve must have pieced all of the Sister Sophie=girl in the box because of the bracelet pics Jessica put out in the media, but didn't Eve befriend Jessica well before that?  I suppose that could have all been on the up and up with Eve wanting grant money from Jessica's foundation and she then saw an opportunity to ingratiate herself with this family she thought just maybe there might be a connection to, but without the bracelet that's still a whole lot of conjecture and coincidence.  Given that they're a pretty wealthy family and how infamous Martin still is, you'd think they'd be background checking everyone who comes into their orbit with any regularity as a matter of course.  In their very particular case, the pros who questioned it seem almost naive to the kind of weird or opportunistic a family like the Whitlys would attract.  I'm also almost a little surprised at this point that they don't have more problems with groupies or other victim family members looking for closure. 

But seriously, what was that putting in "years" of effort to get close to the family and getting right up to the finish line to then want to "never mind" the whole thing?  Eve is probably right though that they're going to have a tough time making a go of it now that they know: I mean, how good is she going to be, really, knowing that Malcolm visits the same Dear Old Dad who murdered her sister every couple of days?  Malcolm is a victim in this too, and maybe they can bond over that but it's also always going to be between them.  It was interesting to see Malcolm finally have the most coherent memory he's had of the whole thing.

[catherinejane]

i was confused by the surrogacy thing? I swear blogger mom said it was her eggs. But then why would it not have been her husbands sperm too? why bio dads sperm (and if bio dad was an accident, how would they know already it was his?)