Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Shintaro Shimosawa
Directed by Janice Cooke
I liked the fact that Bridget, who gets all of the focus this episode surprisingly, acknowledges what a mess her twin sister left behind when she “died.” It seemed like she was understating things. Bridget spends the entirety of this episode walking on egg shells around people, always fearful that Gemma will expose her secret to someone close to her. The other shoe is going to eventually drop, but for now, Gemma is going to put Bridget through the wringer. Bridget may not want to face the consequences of Siobhan’s lies, but she put herself in that position so she’s going to have to suffer. Like I said in the review for the previous episode, I think this is Siobhan’s ultimate intent. She wants Bridget to accept blame, even if it’s mostly false, for her sins while she gets to live it up in a foreign city as payback for all the times she had to deal with Bridget’s drug addict issues in the past. For now, Bridget is trying to fix all of the problems in Siobhan’s life. Could the unintended consequence be that Bridget turns into a clone of Siobhan?
Right now, Bridget is playing meek. She’s in a constant position of weakness, scared that Gemma will expose her for the fraud that she is and that she killed Siobhan. Every time it seems she is making headway on her relationships with Andrew or Juliet, there’s something to undermine it. It may be that Gemma is doing this to spite Siobhan because Henry had an affair and impregnated her. Bridget is there and there is no other scapegoat. It certainly doesn’t help matters that Bridget looks exactly like Siobhan. Bridget currently feels overwhelmed and alone and she had no other choice but to reveal her true identity to Gemma. So we get an idea of how she reacts when she’s backed into a corner.
I think the best defense for her in this situation is to become as ruthless as Siobhan has been. She may want to fix all of the problems in her sister’s life, but what is that going to buy her in the end? The people inside the Martin circle will still probably react like Gemma does here. They won’t go to the extreme of asking Bridget to seduce and sleep with Henry just so they get caught in the act (which did give the middle of the episode some much-needed tension), but there may be no limit to what everyone does with that information. Juliet was looking for any way to bring Siobhan down and Bridget can’t explain her way out of every situation. Bridget needs to find a way to operate within a position of strength and the only way I can see that happening is if she can adopt some aspects of Siobhan’s persona. If that’s not in her and she can’t find any other solution, then there’s no way to get out of the situation without someone getting hurt.
It was talky and a bit convoluted, but certainly much better than the material presented in previous episodes. I felt invited to look into Bridget’s head space and often wondered where the plot was going. While the final image of the episode was a tiny bit confusing, the marriage between Gemma and Henry was exposed for its false pretenses and what the potential fallout may be. That could potentially be a juicy plot to develop as the season goes along. There’s a give-and-take between Bridget and Andrew that invites tension to that plotline. They seem more comfortable with each other, but it’s clear Andrew wants to be the one in charge of the relationship, as demonstrated by his insistence on correcting Juliet’s problems. The rebellious teen who has problems with her stepmother is a staple of many dramas so the writers will have to find a fresher perspective on the situation before it wears on viewers.
The threat of Agent Machado gets a cursory mention here, but he remains a chip Gemma can play as leverage over Bridget in future situations. It would be better to show the mob boss as a greater, more active threat to Bridget than has been shown by now. Here, they continue to torture Malcolm in an almost joyfully sadistic manner. It felt like they were just on a different show altogether. The episode doesn’t quite come together in the end, though it’s an indication that there is something to work with and develop for the future.
Grade: 7/10