Game of Silence Review: Back Into the Flames of Hell

Game of Silence is building its central theme around revenge, which has been viewed since the pilot through a lens of brutality and fear. After last week’s intense physical brutality, Gil, Shawn, and Jackson deal with the emotional aspect of their mission. This means confronting the past head on, even if it means going to the one place they swore they’d never end up at agin.

Jackson lies to Marina (again) to spend the day on a road trip with Gil and Shawn. Quitman Youth Detention still exists, but as a privatized jail with new grounds. The guys aren’t on this road trip for the shiny new version, they’ve come back to see their childhood hell. They need irrefutable proof that the warden had their friend Petey murdered, which means they need to walk through the grounds and investigate for themselves. The old Quitman is now abandoned. The place looks like a ghost town, still trashed from the riots, and the faint smell of rubbing alcohol left over from what little clean up there was.

Being back in this place floods the guys with memories. Shawn remembers how Nurse Amy was his only salvation during his time there, hence why they remained close over the years. However Jackson figures out that Nurse Amy’s version of events doesn’t quite line up with what could have realistically happened to Petey, given the basic layout of the property. If Nurse Amy was telling the truth, she would have told the boys that she saw the warden get into the car that drove Petey away to parts unknown.

The guys continue to walk the grounds until they finally make it the house the warden used for his “parties”. Gil shows Shawn and Jackson the bomb shelter he was put in, left alone without food and water for five days. Gil literally can’t even stomach looking at the shelter. What’s worse, markings on the walls of Gil’s dungeon prove that he wasn’t the only one who was left down there. Jackson remembers those days, since he begged the guards to take him instead of Gil.

This still leaves them with the same question of what happened to Petey. At the end of the trail Jackson realizes that warehouses were built on the site of the last place Petey was seen. What they find is that Quitman really hasn’t changed at all. The boys from the detention center are still being forced to do slave labor, it’s just better hidden since the cars and cargo are in Terry Bosch’s name and not Carroll’s.

Terry has Detective Winters in a tight, inescapable grip. If she doesn’t help him get his friend off the hook for a crime, he can’t guarantee her brother’s safety in prison. Terry goes so far as to plant drugs in the detective’s brother’s cell the day of his parole hearing just so he can “protect his investment”.

Marina takes on a new wealthy client named Diana who is being sued by one of her employees for wrongful termination. Diana’s opponent claims she was fired because she got pregnant, but Diana is firm that having a child doesn’t mean fudging reports so it looks like you’re doing work that you aren’t. The story doesn’t further the general revenge storyline, but it does put Marina in a strange place. Never mind that all this time Marina’s had no idea the secrets Jackson has been keeping, but her encounter with this powerhouse of a woman makes Marina think Jackson’s attitude could be a sign of his latent misogynistic attitude surfacing.

While the boys are away, Jessie plays a dangerous game. She volunteers at Carroll’s campaign office to get close to him. She starts by cozying up to his wife CeCe. This interaction gains Jessie an invitation to the Carroll’s home for a fundraising reception. Jessie makes nice with the donors and earns alot of clout because of all the money she has raised. At the end of the night, Jessie finally glimpses what she’s been waiting for. One of Carroll’s dirty little secrets comes to his house-the man who killed Boots. The guys are not happy when they find out what Jessie has been up to. In fact, Gil goes ballistic.  However Jessie may be their best advantage so far, so for now she stays put in the lion’s den. For as confident as Jessie is in her plan, she acknowledges that she has no idea how this all will play out.

This week was a save of emotion and new discoveries. Progress is being made to take down Carroll, but how will it all play out? And given everything we saw of Gil’s experience at Quitman, how much of Gil’s torture is he still holding back?