It turns out that Alisa had tried to make contact with Jess a few years back, but suffice it to say, it didn't go well.
This look at a younger and slightly less cynical and closed off Jess proved to be one of the major highlights of the episode. She's hardly happy go lucky, and she seems to have no qualms with stealing or breaking things, but she does seem to be in much better spirits. It was nice to see, though it only adds to the tragedy that is set to come later on, both in the episode and in Jess' overall story.
Even in these seemingly brighter times, Jess' life has some degree of darkness. Her falling out with Trish is appropriately heart-wrenching, but it makes their mending of fences at the episode's end that much more heartwarming.
Speaking of heartwarming, Jess' relationship provides more than a few crowning moments. It's impressive as the character is only introduced this episode, but the two had great chemistry and it really sells the bond that the two had developed. Had it not worked, the downer ending wouldn't have worked, but it does so very well as a result.
Some of the "origins' are a little on the nose. Did we really need to see how Jessica got her jacket? The bit about the "Alias" name worked better, if only because it works as a retroactive tribute to the guy.
I said before that the reveal about Jess' connection to Alisa expanded the parallel, but this episode takes it further by showing that Alisa is hardly a monster. While she does kill people, it's out of desperation and/or her newfound uncontrollable anger. She's rightly horrified by what she did and willingly goes back into seclusion for further testing because she knows that she's not in a place to reconnect with her daughter just yet. There are also several scenes that involve her about to give in to the rage, only to take a mental step back and keep it in check. It makes the antagonist much more three dimensional and sympathetic.
Acting wise, pretty much everyone hit it out of the park. Ritter was fantastic and McTeer also shined throughout. They deserve massive kudos for their performances here.
For those who wanted to see a follow up to the cliffhanger from the previous episode, we do get about a minute of story set in the present. Alisa asks Jessica for forgiveness (one can assume that this was her telling Jess the story though there's very little voice-over and you have to wonder how she knows about events she wasn't there for, but I think the MST3K rule applies.) Jess....does not grant it. If you were interested to see how this reunion would play out after the wham line, Jess throwing her mother across the room only increases that anticipation.
This was likely the season's best and could stand as a contender for the show's best episode to date. It's not without flaws, but everything it does, it does really well. There was a lot of great character moments and development, I already cited the acting but it bears repeating, and the episode moved along at a smooth pace. It never felt rushed or like it was dragging. I highly enjoyed this one.
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