You haven’t heard from me in a while. Last week’s episode of Rubicon, “The Outsider,” didn’t receive a review. I took a sabbatical from TVOvermind to clear my head; I felt my opinions were stagnating. Fortunately, I feel revitalized with the week’s break, and I’m back once again to review Rubicon‘s fifth episode, “Connect the Dots.”
I can’t say I found a lot that stuck out to me about this episode. Compared to tonight’s offering of Mad Men (one of my favorite episodes of television this year), Rubicon just felt like more of the same. Sure, we saw a brief collision of the show’s two storylines (Will and Katherine), but other than that, the episode really only advanced the plot minimally. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means, but compared with the other block of AMC’s programming (which it is doomed to be for the rest of its existence), the episode was simply lackluster.
It was nice to see Michael Gaston (who is, to me, a mix of J.K. Simmons and David Koechner) appear as the elusive Donald Bloom, though I couldn’t help but think of his role on Fringe every time I saw him, possibly because he was a high-ranking government agent in both roles. He was solid in the role, though, which probably explains why he’s twice had such a role.
Kale Ingram was the real star of the episode, though, and his quietly menacing interaction with the always-reliable Will Travers made for some incredibly tense television. I’ve never seen Arliss Howard (who plays Ingram) in anything else before, and he’s quite possibly the best discovery of the entire show. I hope he continues to have such a major role in the series’ future.
The subplot featuring Tanya wasn’t exactly compelling, but it definitely made the weekly “team” subplot fresh again, much like last week’s was. But, come on, it’s time for them to figure this case out already. I don’t even know what it’s about and it’s losing my interest.
What headway we made into the show’s mythology was cut short by Will, who perhaps out of fear told Ed Bancroft to stop his apparently mad conspiracy theorizing, which actually gave the show its first sense of unification so far. Are we supposed to discredit Ed’s findings? It’s still not exactly clear. Even after five episodes, it’s hard to tell where Rubicon is really going at this point. That’s the major qualm about this episode, and the series so far, and might continue to be an issue for the show until it indeed does connect the dots and let us know what’s happening. B-
Follow Us
Interesting. I thought tonight's ep was excellent. I found Episode THREE to be kind of lackluster, which worried me, but I think the past two have been back on track. As for Ed's findings, given that Will is laying out similar connections on his apartment floor at the end, I think we can safely assume we're not meant to discredit them.
Totally agree with you about Arliss Howard – he and Michael Cristofer are outstanding, and I thought tonight's scene with the two of them was outstanding. (By the way, if nothing else, have you not seen Howard in "Full Metal Jacket"?)
I totally LOVE this show!!!! It has depth, complexity and is compelling drama. I think as viewers, we are losing the capacity to watch a show, story and character unfold. We have been conditioned by procedurals to want it all toe resolve in 60 minutes! ugh! the slower "pacing" of this show.. is a refreshing change. It isn't stupid tv. It assumes the viewers intellect, ability to think and wonder.. and asks some seriously disturbing questions about living in the grey zone our world is fast becoming- when good and bad, right and wrong.. are very ambiguous. And, none of this is about Jack Bauer heroics to save the day/ hour. It is about the long slow journey, the very real fear of those who are " in the room" with what they know, and rea
lising they are walking VERY fine lines between trying to keep the world safe, and learning something that will make them dangerous to the very people they seem to be working for/ with.
I think watching Will's path unfold will be a very compelling journey of discovery, awakening, doubt, and betrayal. The essence of the human condition!
I really want to like this show but it's unique tortoise pace, and developing lack of a protagonist is wearing me down (I'll explain later). In addition, the whole Miranda Richardson subplot so far is a useless appendage. The series creators did a fantastic job casting and creating riveting and complex characters but the audience needs an interesting and comprehensible storyline and some action else they will unintentionally fall asleep.
Regarding Will. I am having a hard time seeing him as a protagonist. The man comes across as an automaton, he manipulates others for his own gain, caring little for others welfare, he cuts off a fellow traveler for doing exactly what he asked him to do, he does little to support one of his employees who is having a difficult time on the job and gives her a total bs speech regarding fear. I also want to address that little speech from Will. That was the type of speech one would hear from a dark Sith lord rather than Yoda. Aside from having a nice smile, pleasant nature, and likable face, few of Will's characteristics and actions can be defined as 'good'. One can argue his whole investigation into the death of David is self-serving. It's possibly everything I talked about is the arc of the character and he will resolve his shortfalls in the future, but c'mon…get to it. The anti-hero works on shows like Breaking Bad but not in a tension filled, us-against-them drama. Who's the bad guy here?
Unless I see some sort of crisis that I care about soon, I'm turning off and watching repeats of Dexter.
Personally, I have seen the show as a kind of puzzle, and I have picked up on little minutiae upon second viewing. It's less exciting as a political thriller – yet – and much more interesting as a code waiting to be cracked. That was honestly the analysis I was looking to find here, and I'm certain the show is loaded with Easter eggs if nothing critical to the plot.