Courtesy of FX
After weeks of unfortunate serial killer revenge drama, The Bridge rights the ship with a return to plotting and characters that we fell in love with back when the series began.
Let’s bitch it out…
It’s been one month since the events of 1×11 ‘Take The Ride, Pay The Toll’. In that time Marco (Demián Bichir) has more or less gone off the grid, grown a beard and kept himself drunk 24/7.
With two hours left in S1, ‘All About Eva’ returns The Bridge to its roots. Much of this is thanks to the reintroduction of several absent storylines, most notably the return of Linder (Thomas M. Wright). Things kick off when the cotton mouthed man of mystery decides that he wants to marry the woman he helped escape a jealous boyfriend earlier this year. Unfortunately he learns from Bob (Jon Gries) in the opening scene that Eva (Stephanie Sigman) has left the ranch. Naturally this means that she’s (eventually) been kidnapped, an act that prompts Linder to track down Sonya (Diane Kruger), who then recruits a very resistant – and often drunk – Marco.
It’s clearly all part of the transition that’s required to reunite Sonya and Marco and get Marco physically and mentally back to work.The grieving process hangs heavy over ‘All About Eva’ as both of our cops deal with recent losses. It’s up to Sonya to remind Marco of his worth, and how he can recover from the pain of losing his family (apparently Alma and the girls have moved out, as well). There’s a simplicity to the Marco/Sonya scenes, which is a testament to the chemistry crafted between Bichir and Kruger. Despite the awfulness of the last few episodes, I know that I still care about these two because something as innocuous as Sonya confessing to Marco that she doesn’t often find people is emotionally resonant. Both character are damaged now (arguably they always have been) and, like any good cop drama worth its weight, their path to recovery is aligned to their successful partnership.
Which is good, considering that Celia from the Juarez station confides in Marco in the final scene that she can no longer hide the truth about the corruption in the department (nicely – and literally – embodied in the kidnapping and molestation of Eva for one of Juan Carlos Cantu’s Captain Robles’ parties). If Marco is truly going to act – as his promise suggests he will – then he will need all of the help he can get. Should be interesting to see how these ideas clash together in next week’s season finale…
Courtesy of FX
Other Observations:
- The scene in which Linder comes upon the wall of missing Juarez women is very powerful. It’s a reminder of the early hours of the series when The Bridge was still interested in telling stories about life on either side of the border. It also offers a nice visual partner to the final scene as Linder searches alongside a myriad of women for shallow graves in the foothills. The suggestion that the missing women from the wall are buried in these hills is both disturbing and a stark reality of how low priority (women’s) life is valued
- Turning to the stand-alone storylines: Charlotte (Annabeth Gish) seeks out Fausto Galvan (Ramón Franco) to make a proposition regarding the tunnel. As usual contracts surrounding the tunnel are accompanied by threats of violence and sexual groping. Tonight this takes the form of Galvan fingering Charlotte while he describes the acts of violence he recently inflicted on a man he murdered. Quite the charmer
- There are only a few scenes dedicated to Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard) and Adriana (Emily Rios) and, in truth, they don’t tell us much that we don’t already know. Daniel is still recovering from his injuries and Adriana’s family isn’t overly accepting of her sexuality. Annnd that’s about it…
- There’s even less to say about David Tate (Eric Lange). It’s almost anticlimatic when the former G man arrives at the court house, followed immediately by a cut to Marco waking up the next day. At first I thought it might be a flashback to show that Marco had packed a weapon and he was intent on killing Tate, but instead it seems that this scene is intended to provide Marco – and us? – closure. We’ll have to wait and see if we see any more of Eric Lange’s devious villain (fingers crossed we don’t!)
Best Lines:
- Linder (when Bob asks if the chicken seems caffeinated): “Seems like a chicken”
- Fausto (to his henchman when Charlotte shows up with a stolen purse): “You are the worst accountant ever”
- Daniel (mocking Adriana when she admits his fall scared her): “You love me. You just wanna have my babies”
- Sonya (confessing to Marco that she doesn’t often find people): “So don’t tell me you’re not my partner. And don’t send me away”
What are your thoughts on the latest episode of The Bridge? Does it feel like the show many of us preferred earlier in its run? Are you interested in seeing what happens next with Marco, the Captain, Linder and Eva? Is the Frye/Adriana storyline going anywhere? Will Charlotte finally get to interact with the main cast again? Speculate away below
The Bridge airs Wednesdays at 10pm EST on FX