Episode Grade: (7.7/10)
Mike gets Bunny better situated at Anchor Bay while he works on getting Evelyn’s signature on the release papers. Tension is high among members of the force as IA closes in.
Plot (39/50)
In the aftermath of the DA’s death, Evelyn is reluctant to sign the release forms despite pressure from Mike. I was surprised to see the completely muted response outside of Evelyn. There was no outrage among members of the police force nor from the prison guards. I get that everyone’s facing their own problems, but this feels uncharacteristic. For storyline purposes, Evelyn’s response is all that matters at the moment, and so far it isn’t looking good for Mike. He was being more aggressive in his attempts to protect Bunny this episode: he moved him to a better room, he butted heads with Gunner to even the playing field in the yard, and he was effectively patrolling Bunny’s territory on the outside. All of this suggests that Mike doesn’t believe Evelyn will sign those papers anytime soon, and I think Bunny sees through that. Mike is probably betting on luring Milo out and offering him in exchange for Evelyn’s signature, which is as dangerous as it is difficult. Kyle’s drunken downward spiral continues, but he does manage to coincidentally find Iris. She’s been summoned by Milo, and chances are he wants to use her in some capacity to get a hold of his bonds. Elsewhere, the IA investigation into the events of the prison riot closes in on Robert, Ian, and Kyle. Robert found the rat in his crew, but he can’t do anything about it. Instead, it falls onto Mike’s shoulders. I’m interested to see how this plays out because as it stands, they’re in absolutely no position to do anything that draws even more attention to their actions. With Ian and Kyle up next with IA, it seems like someone -likely Kyle- is going to mess things up. Speaking of Ian, what in the world is going on between him and Charlie? Also, is Jacob going to somehow fit into the main plot? Or is he just a means to an end being Mariam’s breakdown as a result of Mike’s negligence of the kid? We’re at that point of the season where the spring is just about as loaded as it can be, so we need to start seeing some major developments occur as early as next episode.
Character Development (12/15)
Just as we get a locked-in Mike, Iris resurfaces. This is going to be problematic because when he begins pushing people around like he’s done with Gunner and Davidson, you better believe they will come back at him with a vengeance as soon as they sense an opening. Iris’ return will be the biggest test of Mike’s character yet, especially if Milo gets her to regain Mike’s trust and then betray him by giving up the location of the bonds. Also, I’m glad someone finally explicitly asks Iris why she would choose to come back to this sort of life if it made her miserable in the first place. The decision is even more dumbfounding when we hear Iris saying that she’s just trying to “get out.” The only way this might start to make sense is if she’s somehow plotting her revenge against Milo. Moving on, Kyle needs to get it together before he royally screws something up. Tracy’s finally starting to make her displeasure known, but she will need to be far more vocal if she wants to save Kyle from himself. Mariam’s patience thus far is unnerving. I get the feeling that something will trigger her into releasing all that pent-up frustration; chances are it’ll be directed towards Mike. Finally, Bunny’s unrelenting pressure on Mike is another indication of his smarts. He knows when he has leverage and he sure knows how to use it to his advantage. There’s a reason Mike is keen on protecting him.
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- “They need some to let them know that the world makes sense… If there’s no bad guy, how the f*** do we get to keep being the good guys, huh?”
- “Quiet is a luxury for peace time.”
- Intervening in the downward spiral of someone you care about is a tricky thing to time: if you’re too early and/or aggressive, you’ll find yourself shut out, but you don’t want to be too late to stop them from free falling either.
Acting (12/15)
Jeremy Renner (Mike), Tobi Bamtefa (Bunny), Taylor Handley (Kyle), and Hugh Dillon (Ian) put in solid performances.
Cinematography (11/15)
- Nothing of note.