You'd think that this wouldn't be the case. The season is well underway and Jessica has just confronted what appears to be her "big bad" for the season. They even have a picture of her. There should be momentum, but before that we have to touch on several of the various sub-plot threads that have been introduced.
The result is very strange. Things do happen in this episode. The status quo is shaken up on a few fronts, but as you're watching it doesn't feel like anything is happening for the longest time.
One of the bigger shake-ups involves Jessica's landlord turning from antagonist to love interest. It's a pretty drastic turn (something even he himself lampshades when Jessica starts to get a little frisky,) but that bonding scene they shared was rather well done. After she saved his kid (who was admittedly being an imbecile) not warming up to her would have been bizarre. His initial reaction was kind of irritating, but at least he owns up to it later.
Speaking of antagonists, Pryce makes a return. He calls out Hogarth on her lackluster efforts regarding the civil suit (rightly so) only to be told that his grudge is about a fragile male ego or something? I'm pretty sure if he were assaulted by a man, his reaction would be the same. That whole speech Hogarth gave was stupid and she should feel stupid for suggesting it.
In fact, Hogarth is one of this season's major flaws. I feel bad for Carrie-Ann Moss. She's turning in a very strong performance, but the character just sucks now as a result of the way she's being written. Given her condition, I feel like I should sympathize, but the script goes out of its way to make sure I don't. It's very bizarre.
Pryce also pays a visit to offer Malcolm a job. He makes a solid pitch, offering Malcolm a chance to help people and to be better appreciated, but the offer is (of course) rebuffed. Enlisting Malcolm would have stung, no doubt, but Pryce is a tricky one and it appears his visit had another purpose, as we'll see later.
This episode also gives us a bit of follow up on Griffin's supposed nefarious intent. While he and Trish are able to sort out the snafu regarding her alleged new beau, he does take a post-coital call where he says that "she doesn't know and he doesn't want her to find out" after she's out of ear shot. Yeah, I smell red herring (that's two in a row!) He's planning to propose or take her on some grand vacation or something innocuous. I can feel it.
Not so innocuous is the killer, who makes a brief appearance at the end of the episode to dispatch of a goon that Pryce enlisted to rob Jessica's office. It's, not surprisingly, quite gruesome and it makes for a more energized finale. The fact that Jessica is now implicated only makes things worse.
The episode as a whole really hammers in the parallel between Jessica and the killer. It's a bit blunt force, but after so many "dark mirror" villains in the MCU, it's nice to see that the connection is being looked at in a more in depth fashion. Normally, it's only given lip service, but the similarities really rattle Jessica as she finds out more about her new adversary. You can especially see it at the end, when Jessica is telling the police, "that's not me" as she's being detained. Obviously, she's saying she didn't do it; but to the viewer, it's equally obvious that she's reminding herself that she's not that person in a more figurative sense.
This episode was a slow burn. Some may appreciate that, while others will think that it's just slow. I do have to say I fall into the latter. It does end on a high enough note to keep the viewer engaged, but I wouldn't mind seeing some of these plot threads come to an end.
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