TV Recap & Review: ‘Clarice’ Episode 3 – “Are You Alright?”

clarice tv show
CBS

With the first two episodes of Clarice, the show used the name of a favorite character to try and cover the fact that yes, this is yet another FBI procedural show that we’ve all seen before. In episode 3, “Are you Alright?,” we see a glimmer of hope that the show might try and reach beyond that, although it seems Clarice, the character and the show, still cannot shake the moths.

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The episode begins back in the therapist’s office, and we watch Clarice (Rebecca Breeds) and the therapist (Shawn Doyle) verbally spar back and forth yet again. Both seem more interested in seeing who is smarter than actually getting to the reason they are there. Thankfully, the scene does not drag out because yes, we know Clarice is covering up trauma, but while the doctor gets under her skin a couple of times, she always seems a step ahead of him (see the end of the episode for more on this).

Most of this week’s episode takes place in an interrogation room and while that is another familiar setting, there are a lot of moving parts that at least attempt to escape the usual cliches. However, too many times they fall into tired interrogation techniques, like good cop/bad cop, psych talk, and discovering ‘tells’ in the person they want info from. Clarice, Esquivel (Lucca De Oliveira), and Krendler (Michael Cudlitz) all get a crack at him, with varying degrees of success.

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This is where the show digs into the big conspiracy that seems to run deep, and smacks of The X-Files in terms of switching off between conspiracy and monsters (albeit, these ones are human). It is also a familiar idea and one that will be tough to make interesting. What is still interesting, though, are Clarice’s hallucinations. Buffalo Bill still haunts her, as he should, and the moths she sees everywhere are wonderfully creepy. It will be interesting to see if this part of Clarice continues through the whole season and how they intend to keep it fresh.

Again, that is the problem with this show in general. While there is more of a sense of real danger from different fronts this week, everything still feels far too familiar. From the interrogations to the therapist’s office, to the conspiracies…so many shows have done it and some have done it very well. This will be a constant struggle for Clarice as it continues on in its first season.

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Rebecca Breeds is still solid as Clarice, thankfully, and there are moments this week where I actually felt bad for her. She is under constant scrutiny from so many people that every move causes an eyebrow to be raised, whether warranted or not. When she actually did have moments of hesitation or hallucination, I actually felt sympathy for her, knowing she shouldn’t be in the field yet. She is also truly smarter than most, especially in VICAP, and they all know it.

While still muddied and familiar, “Are You Alright?” had moments that showed promise for the series. It will need to work hard to try and make its own mark in the television world, just as Clarice tries to work hard to keep it all together and be functional under almost impossible circumstances.


Check out all of our coverage for ‘Clarice’ here!

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