T E L E V I S I O N / Glue 104 - 106 Review

“So, she did what desperate people do. She called on the devil and the devil came.” Hey guys, here’s round three of Glue reviews. Even though I don’t post the episode reviews in a timely order (like episode 4 after it airs, etc), I do watch the shows on the day of. I just don’t get the time to really sit down and flesh out my thoughts…if you could describe these posts as fully fleshed out. So, here’s my low down on episodes 4-6. Episode 4 |  A lot happened in this episode and likewise, a lot didn’t. I think this is the theme of Glue. You take 3 steps forward and 2 steps back per episode. The focus of episode 4 relied heavily on loyalty. Just as Eli asks Ruth, where does it lie for each character? Episode 4 was Tina’s passion for horse riding vs. her skewed sense of commitment to Rob; there was Ruth’s sense of justice and also her duty as a mother. We see Tina throw the race and Ruth chase after the yellow car. I really liked these struggling conflicts that both fall into their characters, especially since the two choices reflect heavily on who they are as a whole. But, I won’t lie. I did get a bit frustrated watching Tina throw the race simply because this is her passion and a sacrifice like this means a sacrifice for her whole career whereas her relationship with Rob is already on a tightrope, incredibly uncertain and unbalanced. It was kind of hinted that at some point, Tina would have to choose between Rob or her future and I like how it was slowly built up, though I would have preferred to see Tina practicing and riding horses more to prove to the audience that she is a very talented jockey and not just have it said through the mouths of other characters. With all narratives (both in the visual and the written), show don’t tell should still apply. There’s more impact and emotional connection. Ruth’s struggle has been stated outright from the get go of the show. Family (her identity as a Roma) vs. Society (her sense of duty and justice). We see her unable to really fulfill the mother role. Throughout the show, it seems her drive for justice overtakes the balance she should have (granted, she doesn’t really try to make much balance for it). And, we see this negligence affect her daughter. She could have nearly been killed if there was a car nearby while she was out on the road—I was holding my breath the whole time in hopes that nothing bad would happen. Ruth can’t raise her daughter on her own because she doesn’t seem to be very aware that she is indeed a mother now. Everything other than the case seems to take a backseat. Other things are brought up with this episode, the biggest one being Ian’s involvement with Cal. At this point in the show, I honestly wondered if perhaps he was the killer. Like he and the other kid from foster care teamed up and killed Cal. Of course, this will be abruptly (not really) resolved in the later course of the series. Problems I’ve had or just general confused questions I’ve had after this episode finished. First off, really? I know I’m up for morally ambiguous characters/villains, but did this have to be applied to Dominic? It felt very left-field and very cliché. I would have preferred if Dominic remained the untrustworthy sideline villain that he is. He didn’t need to have that whole sap story of doing what he does to own the land, etc. And he suddenly loves Ruth???? Where did that come from? How did he go from “I have a contact in the police force, so trust” to “What about us? You were magical, Ruth. I really fell for you” when they had little to no interaction after dispersed sex scenes/morning after scenes/indirect interrogation scenes. Second problem, what is up with that little boy appearing in places so conveniently? Like he just so happened to be at Janine’s house and now he just so happened to be driving a car. Can someone explain? Unless he’s the killer, it seems kind of pointless. Episode 5 |  Since episode 4 recap was a bit long, I’ll try to make this one shorter and it’ll be easy because only two main (actually that’s a lie 3 but I'm leaving the third one for episode 6) thoughts filled the inside of my head. First, did anyone see that Cal and James relationship coming? I sure as hell didn’t. That was why I was so confused when hallucination!Cal was saying how much he loved him and how they were going to get away. To be honest, when that first came up, I thought it was James’ delusions of what he wanted Cal to say, but was never said. Think of a unrequited love on James’ part towards Cal. But, the longer this acid trip progressed, the more I realized that this was indeed very sincere, and very real and it made me so sad because James’ hope for a happy future disappears. Episode 2 then feels a bit of a lie. James wanting to leave, but already realizing that without Cal, it’s pointless. If anyone deserves a break, I think it’s James because he lost more than anymore. Well, maybe not as much as Eli. The second plot point was Rob’s whole internet stalker. Last time, I said that maybe it was Cal messaging from his grave. Wouldn’t that have been something? Instead, we got the girl we’ve seen brief glimpses of throughout the show get her 15 minutes of fame. It’s starting to really irk me with the way the writing has been going for this minor characters. All of sudden we are thrown a load of information about why the girl did what she did, for another girl Rob slept with who was also a traveller and someone it seems to hint that she had an unrequited love for as well. I think it was too big of a bomb to drop without foreshadowing it a bit. There are twists you should have seen coming and then there are twists that are meant for pure shock value and hold nothing else and this was certainly the latter. You can make the backstory as developed as you want, but it doesn’t excuse the poor writing on that front. Episode 6 |  If each episode became more centrally focused on one character, episode 6 was definitely a Tina episode (Tina/Rob but more Tina than anything). We finally learn more of their history, their past and how they met. Despite how destroyed they are now, they did seem to really like one another, maybe not love, but a very intimate like. And I loved how this arc of the story has been handled. Tina is removing herself, with the help of Rob, to get out of her comfort zone and move on. There are some parts of your life that you just have to end despite how great the past used to be and this is what she had to do with Rob. The problem I have regarding this break with Rob and this hop into Eli is that Tina herself does not get a break. She’s jumping from one relationship to the next. I know it was inevitable for her to end up with Eli from the start but girl needs time for herself, to understand herself and who she is as a person now before she dives in again. Tina’s character should not be driven by the relationships she’s with or is going to be with. Episode 6 also gave us more dead characters and more questions. Ian is dead. Janine is dead. Like I hope the last two episodes are done well to resolve the murder or else the writing would have spiraled out of control. You only have 8 episodes and even though suspense is good and all, you have to acknowledge to start dropping in hints and clues or bits of foreshadowing to wrap the whole thing up neatly. Unless, it’s going to be one of those open ended cold cases. My theory is that Ian and the other foster care kid teamed up and killed Cal. Or maybe it was Annie, I’d like to see her more than just comedic relief really. And…that’s it. All three episodes in one very long post. Ratings: ★★★☆☆ G L U E | Mondays, 10PM → E4