I was still able to mostly follow what was happening, but I did need to go back and refresh my own memory. I knew that Lewis killed a person (that much is made obvious by the opening scenes where he's washing blood off his hands) but the who and the why initially escaped me. I also glossed over who Morty was and how he was connected. The episode outright states that he knows who "Agent Orange" is and thus gives us all the motivation we need for Frank to bust into his house and try to glean it from him.
There is a bit of a twist, this time around, though. Where Frank would otherwise just kill people who got in his way, he's less inclined to do the same to soldiers who are just doing their jobs.
When one soldier accosts him as he's leaving the premises, Frank makes a concerted effort to convince the guy to just leave. It doesn't work and Frank is forced to wound him. While Frank does lament the situation, he ends the conversation by saying that he's just going to kill everyone next time. It kind of seems like he missed the point of the whole thing, but at least it was nice to try and give Frank some more nuance and complexity to his approach.
Sadly, the same can't be said for the show's villains. It turns out that Russo is largely motivated by money and Rawlins aka Agent Orange is after Frank because....Frank emasculated him? Granted, it's just a theory thrown out by Russo during a conversation, but there's no effort to refute it or provide a more solid reasoning. It just seems so flimsy.
Conversely, Lewis is a much more compelling character. He hasn't fallen to "villain" yet, though we do see him building a bomb for some as of yet undetermined purpose, but he has more depth and pathos than either of the show's two "big bads" so far. He's still off doing his own thing, but I do hope that his character arc crosses paths with the main one at some point. While his story has still been compelling in its own right, it seems like a waste to just have it off completely independent of the show's main narrative.
On a similar note, Sam and Madani continue to operate on the sidelines. They are given a small quest, of sorts, as Madani suspects that her office is bugged. It is. The plus side is that they know about it, the down side is that they're unsure of what to do now.
Oddly enough, the idea of using this to their advantage never comes up. You'd think they'd use this to throw the people listening off track. Give them false info or make it sound like you know less than you actually do. If nothing else, start trolling them. Have debates about whether or not Iron Man is naked under the armor or play some country music. There are certainly options.
Not surprisingly, this episode suffered from schedule slip. As a result, it was hard to get too invested in what's happening. The details of the conspiracy are foggy so I'm just kind of going along just because. Thankfully, Lewis' arc is present to give the show a bit more umph. We'll see how things progress from here, as we move closer to the first season's end.
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