Contributor: John Keegan
Written by Alex Berger
Directed by J. Miller Tobin
For quite some time, I’ve been suspecting that Annie’s current wayward direction has been the result of careful manipulation by Arthur, all for the goal of uncovering the conspiracy behind Jai’s death (and whatever Jai was investigating). This is another episode that reinforces that theory, even as it digs the hole deeper if the writers haven’t been planning such a thing all along.
For now, she is acting on her own; beyond Lena, she’s keeping everything else close to vest. I imagine it won’t be long before Auggie is drawn into her web. Lena, in particular, makes me wonder if she’s part of the overall plan. She facilitates Annie’s trip to Cuba, and makes it very clear that Annie is doing exactly what she should be doing to get under Simon’s guard. It seems impossible that Lena wouldn’t know the endgame in this scenario.
Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that Annie is becoming personally invested. I continue to believe that this is also what Arthur and/or Lena intended: to use Annie’s relative lack of experience in this type of operation to push her in this direction. The danger to Annie is extremely high, but it’s really the only way for Annie to convince Simon that she is sincere.
Simon has chosen Annie over his handler, which is a huge step. He’s made the first step towards switching sides, and it’s all for her. Meanwhile, Arthur continues to push Auggie’s buttons, which only drives him to find out that Jai had a safehouse. I can’t imagine that this wouldn’t push Annie and Auggie to the same endpoint before much longer. While this could lead to an unfortunate short-term conflict, the two of them trust each other so much that I can’t see them being on different sides for long. Which, in my theory, is entirely the intention.
All of which ties back into Arthur’s hesitation, and then rejection, of the Ambassadorship. There was the strong implication that Arthur had something that he couldn’t leave unfinished, and that was more important to him than this opportunity. What could that be? The logical answer is the investigation into Jai’s death, and all that appears to be connection to that mission. It fits the overall theory, and also does much to make Arthur’s third season arc a lot more intriguing.
The wild card at the moment is Joan. What does she know? It seemed like she was in on the gambit at the end of the previous episode, but she didn’t seem to have much of a clue this time around. Is she being manipulated, too? That would play into the conflict between Joan and Lena that has been bubbling under the surface, so perhaps that makes sense. As usual, it all comes down to many of these events and choices being linked together.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Score: 8/10