S01.E11 Achilles Heel

[AimingforYoko]

Quote

Clarice zeroes in on the entity behind the River Murders, Alastor Pharmaceuticals. When Julia informs ViCAP of the impending sale of the company, ViCAP rushes to Alastor to prevent the purging of any incriminating evidence. Also, Clarice questions Alastor CEO Nils Hagen, who quickly changes the subject to Clarice's relationship with his son, Tyson.

I always wondered why they would figure Hudlin was the big bad. Hudlin's a fixer, fixers get paid by the big bads.

I knew they wouldn't kill Julia, but it was still pretty tense.

And Kal Penn is back from sabbatical.

[Cotypubby]

This episode was better than the last few! Very tense, I knew Hudlin wouldn’t be the Big Bad, he never seemed like the one who was actually running everything, just the guy who’s called to get things done. I also like how Catherine’s story is at least tying into the main plot now, instead of being a completely separate entity.

I like how the filmmakers are bringing in Demme’s style of close up faces looking straight into the camera. It’s not an angle often seen in movies/TV. 

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, AimingforYoko said:

And Kal Penn is back from sabbatical.

Yes! Welcome back, Penn :).

I liked seeing the team working together again here as they did. 

[RunningMarket]

Nils Hagen was sufficiently skin-crawling creepy. Although, the phone call with "blackmail" to the AG left me cold. So what if it becomes public knowledge of what Catherine did with Gumb? Would anyone really blame her? That could easily be spun in her favour.

Loved that Kal Penn was back. I laughed at "Seems a missed a few things."

[IndiaCat]

3 hours ago, RunningMarket said:

 

Nils Hagen was sufficiently skin-crawling creepy. Although, the phone call with "blackmail" to the AG left me cold. So what if it becomes public knowledge of what Catherine did with Gumb? Would anyone really blame her? That could easily be spun in her favour.

 

I wish TV writers would stop with the “she’ll press charges” talk. Victims don’t press charges. Victims complain. The police decide whether to arrest. Prosecutors decide whether to bring charges. Gumb could go to the police and report that Catherine hurt her along with the B&E, but the prosecutor would decide whether to charge Catherine - which they might not, given Catherine’s past and the fact she’s already in a psych facility. As you say, pretty weak blackmail.

Also, going forward, could somebody please turn on the lights? Government offices were/are more likely to be overly bright than dim, especially back in the era of big overhead fluorescent bulbs. 

[tennisgurl]

This was an intense episode, I feel like the conspiracy plot is finally starting to come together. The guy playing the Big Bad is seriously creepy, not surprising at all that Hudlin is just a fixer to a much scarier guy. His son must seriously worship his dad if he hasn't picked up on his dads obvious supervillain tendencies, if he isn't secretly working with him in his sketchiness. 

Nice to see Kal Penn back, and the return of some much needed comic relief with the agents. "That's not how that works." 

Some very interesting cinematography and camera work this week, although I still wish they would turn on a light every now and then. Looks like Clarice saw some moths when she was getting pulled into whatever illegal activities her dad was up to, always with the moths. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

I'm confused about Clarice's Dad.

Did he have a second job? In her memory, his gun belt changed to a meter-reading tool.

[Simba122504]

On 6/11/2021 at 3:10 PM, IndiaCat said:

I wish TV writers would stop with the “she’ll press charges” talk. Victims don’t press charges. Victims complain. The police decide whether to arrest. Prosecutors decide whether to bring charges. Gumb could go to the police and report that Catherine hurt her along with the B&E, but the prosecutor would decide whether to charge Catherine - which they might not, given Catherine’s past and the fact she’s already in a psych facility. As you say, pretty weak blackmail.

Also, going forward, could somebody please turn on the lights? Government offices were/are more likely to be overly bright than dim, especially back in the era of big overhead fluorescent bulbs. 

Maybe it's really a haunted house?  And that's the big bad. 

[Grrarrggh]

On 6/11/2021 at 12:32 PM, RunningMarket said:

Nils Hagen was sufficiently skin-crawling creepy. Although, the phone call with "blackmail" to the AG left me cold. So what if it becomes public knowledge of what Catherine did with Gumb? Would anyone really blame her? That could easily be spun in her favour.

Seriously? This was back when Monica Lewinsky wasn't a victim but a nightly joke. A woman in power is going to be taken down no matter who they have to hurt.