S1.E11: Reciprocity

[Trini]

Season finale:

Alec and Marisa are close to finding the culprit of the church bombing. Kylie gets an interview with the FBI, but is pulled into the investigation. Rose tracks down a witness. Phoebe and Rizwan make a discovery that sheds light on the truth.

Airdate: February 19, 2024

Edited February 19 by Trini

[AnimeMania]

Ben Cotton as Wes Banning
Garry Chalk as Bob Caswith
Steven Roberts as James Belfast 
Matthew MacCaull as Agent Dennis MacKay
Kareem Malcolm as Harrison
James Tupper as Senator Kevin Sanford
Karen David as Rose Dinshaw
Dalmar Abuzeid as Young Alec
Roark Critchlow as Douglas
Jesse Stretch as Jeff
Micah Kelpin as Makeup Artist (Carmen)
Millan Tesfazgi as Natalie Price
Thomas Nicholson as Roger Silmar
Vladimir Raiman as Russian Man #1
Bulat Nasibullin as Russian Man #2
Francisca Dennis as Teresa Brewer
Hiro Thomas as Kid

[Trini]

Ugh - they really had to ruin a pretty decent ending with a downer Season 2 tease.

Anyway -- a few good things: Bombing mystery is solved, so we can move on from that. Got rid of one assistant - should have been both, but, baby steps. Rose is back! Kylie's got a job at the FBI, which is what I figured would happen.

Not related to this episode; but if they actually show Alec in the classroom more, that might be a better place for the behavioral theory exposition next season.

Willing to give this show a second chance -- if they actually revamp a few things.

[AnimeMania]

I liked the reason for the church bombing, but I didn't like that someone so smart would just commit a murder and then be stupid enough to confess to a crime.

[cfinboston]

Rose knowing literally everyone in the intelligence world is almost like the tech gurus on police procedurals who can hack into every computer system within three seconds. "Oh this guy who nobody has spoken to in twenty years... Found him!"

Did anyone else catch that Alec plans to go to the Senator's fundraiser and he says "I just need a tuxedo" but then he's not wearing one?

Kylie ostensibly hates cops and even hesitates to date one but she's interviewing with the FBI?

What did they do with Natalie's body? Two highly trained military men couldn't come up with anything beyond a church bombing happening two days later and they inexplicably rely on nobody saying she wasn't there? I can understand there being all sorts of scientific concepts behind faulty memory but that makes zero sense. 

Marissa's house was a crime scene but it's entirely undisturbed. 

No political opposition researchers or reporters found the mistress but the assistants do and she willingly talks to them despite having been paid off.

The final scene, Rose sees the ankle holster on the man's leg, but ankle holsters are typically worn inside the leg for an easier draw. 

 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, cfinboston said:

What did they do with Natalie's body?

I just assumed they put Natalie's body inside the church , the fire/explosion would make it hard to identify, let alone do an autopsy for a cause of death.

[cfinboston]

59 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I just assumed they put Natalie's body inside the church , the fire/explosion would make it hard to identify, let alone do an autopsy for a cause of death.

So they hid a dead body for two days and managed to get it to the church while nobody notices she's missing? She'd also organized the meeting at the church so her absence seems like it would be obvious. Rather than people thinking she was there, it makes more sense that they'd notice she was gone. 

 

 

 

[seacliffsal]

Bombing a church to hide a death that they may have been able to get ruled as an accident?  None of this makes sense to me nor the fact that there was a 20 year gap between the event and solving it without new forensic evidence being produced.  And why wasn't Marissa sitting at the front of the church with family (or even the second row) as she was a long-term relationship with Jace?  Why were the assistants acting as private detectives (it seems a lot to ask of 'assistants')?  Why did his sister get out of her car when she clearly was in a deserted location (interview in a super secret hideout?)?  

I like a lot about this show, but there were many, many weaknesses in this episode.

[cfinboston]

37 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

 

I like a lot about this show, but there were many, many weaknesses in this episode.

The other part I just realized is when they go to the parole hearing, the bomber is apparently scared into tanking his case and immediately says he'll do it again. If the FBI agent was "Mathias" wouldn't that mean he was there and wouldn't Marissa have seen him? 

[12catcrazy]

Jace we hardly knew ye. 

Yup, lots of stupid stuff which is pretty illogical (and maybe irrational).  That being said it felt like they were getting a feel for this show, and unfortunately from the teaser ending it looks like it's going to go in the idiotic direction of something like The Equalizer or NCIS:LA  with guns blazing and the 110 lb woman who can kick international ass and then be grabbed by evil agents of T.H.R.U.S.H. or KAOS or ???     In the name of all that is good and holy, can they not make a TV show that is about intelligent people solving crimes without all this over-the-top idiocy?

So I will try next season's episode and if it looks like what they are teasing, I will be done.  I really like the main characters but don't want to watch yet another overly violent action TV show.  

[jabRI]

On 2/20/2024 at 6:09 PM, cfinboston said:

The other part I just realized is when they go to the parole hearing, the bomber is apparently scared into tanking his case and immediately says he'll do it again. If the FBI agent was "Mathias" wouldn't that mean he was there and wouldn't Marissa have seen him? 

From what I recall when they checked videos ...because of course cameras are everywhere... he was just a shadow figure with a big coat and a nefarious cane or hat, something sinister like that.

[cfinboston]

1 hour ago, jabRI said:

From what I recall when they checked videos ...because of course cameras are everywhere... he was just a shadow figure with a big coat and a nefarious cane or hat, something sinister like that.

It's a parole hearing which is presumably in a prison. No way could he just walk in unnoticed. Additionally, they'd have visitor logs which Marissa would have reviewed. 

[mythoughtis]

On 2/20/2024 at 4:27 PM, seacliffsal said:

And why wasn't Marissa sitting at the front of the church with family (or even the second row) as she was a long-term relationship with Jace? 

I found this odd too.  I thought she  was pregnant with his child?   

[cfinboston]

On 2/24/2024 at 2:21 PM, mythoughtis said:

I found this odd too.  I thought she  was pregnant with his child?   

The last two episodes they were arguing over him even having closet space. She made that big show of telling him he could keep clothes there. She definitely wasn't pregnant and the relationship couldn't have been going on that long if she only recently even told Alec about it. 

[ribboninthesky1]

Like others, I enjoyed the season until this episode.  The church bombing resolution was convoluted, and it didn't have to be.  And with Rose's kidnapping as a finale, I suspect there might be a change in tone for season 2? Or at least, for a number of episodes. 

I was mostly fine with this season's set up: I didn't mind the assistants, but I wasn't a fan of Kylie and felt like the show didn't know what to do with her. I found it amusing that they showed her to be kind of dumb in the finale, and YET! She's officially in the FBI.  Hopefully, not in the field. 

All of the melodrama around Jace's death when it felt like we rarely saw him and the lack of chemistry with Marissa...ok, show.  They would have been better off just being co-workers, but I guess they needed him in her house somehow. 

Edited February 29 by ribboninthesky1

[TV Anonymous]

So the super secret ex-CIA agent who knew how to used weapons and knew how to fight three men could not change a flat tire? LMFAO!