For most of this season, we have seen Clarice (Rebecca Breeds)take the hit time and time again, in terms of people not buying into her theories or simply thinking she might be a few sandwiches short of a picnic. In episode 11, “Achilles Heel,” it’s redemption time for Clarice as people begin to realize she was right all along, while at the same time, she finds danger where she least expects it.
With the ViCAP team ready to go public with what they know on the Alastor Pharmaceuticals case, Krendler (Michael Cudlitz) forces Ruth Martin (Jayne Atkinson) to come to terms with the fact that Clarice was right on a few fronts, personal and professional. Krendler handles that fact a lot better than Ruth, who as a mother and political animal knows she’s been trumped and there’s nothing she can do. It serves her well to have Clarice on her side but it still stings, especially hearing Catherine (Marnee Carpenter) is happy in treatment and credits it all to Starling.
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Also, let’s give a big round of applause to the super sleuth with the nerves of steel Julia Lawson (Jen Richards). This case probably doesn’t have a chance to get made without her, and she takes some ridiculous risks in order to do what she feels is right. Things don’t go as smoothly as everyone would like, and a standoff of sorts helps build more tension in an already very tense situation. However, now her life is in danger, and even with some protection, one wonders if she will survive the wrath of those she betrayed.
While attempting to get more information/get under the skin of Joe Hudlin (Raoul Bhaneja), Clarice gets called into a meeting with Alastor CEO Nils Hagen (played wonderfully by Peter McRobbie). It is here Clarice realizes she has missed something, something very important, a blind spot maybe, due to her personal vendetta against Hudlin. In any event, a new player is brought into the mix which is an interesting twist this late in the show’s first season. It works, though, and gives us something more to think about in terms of the overall picture.
The case Agent Ardelia Mapp (Devyn A. Tyler) and Agent Garrett (K.C. Collins) are working, catches the wrong kind of attention at the FBI, and both Garrett and Mapp are maneuvered, quite brilliantly, into a corner that leaves them few choices. This story line has been interesting in how it could affect other things, but this week, it felt a bit forced and flat, even with some solid performances.
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The episode is book-ended of sorts by Clarice’s dreams/flashbacks about her father, who more and more is beginning to look like something less than the saint she remembers him as. Trauma does weird things to the memory, gets you to suppress things you don’t want to remember, and as these memories begin to surface, Clarice begins to question everything. It’s a tough place to be in, but at least she is trying. However, it remains to be seen if these revelations will make her stronger, or truly destroy her still fragile mind. An interesting end to an, for the most part, interesting episode.
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