INTELLIGENCE REVIEWS-SEASON TWO

• Review of Season Two, Episode 21: Flipping the Script

  This week, Mary experiences a small mutiny among her snitches, Francine confronts Jimmy about his affair with Lorna, Jimmy considers selling his business, the DEA hit squad proves to have murky underworld connections, and the CIA puts the Blackmire operation in peril. Oh, and CBC has a new promo for the show discussing last week's events, even if you only see it right before the episode starts.

  This was a smooth, slick episode that introduced new elements and turned old ones on their heads. It also featured a quick and vicious fight between Jimmy and Francine. Last week was a tough act to follow, but this one did a nice job in a somewhat quieter way. The episode was directed by Ian Tracey, whose style continues to evolve. His seesawing back and forth between close-quick-and-jazzy and fishbowl-distant POVs has smoothed out considerably, though I miss the disturbingly long-distance shots of Da Vinci's Inquest's "Better Broke than Naked". I'd love to see him do some horror. He has a real knack for cranking up tension out of nowhere into sudden and jolting violence that's brutally realistic. Some of you will remember that Leo's headbutting of Charlie Klotchko on Da Vinci (a perennial crowd-pleasing moment with fans of the show) occurred on Tracey's watch.

  This shows up best in the short, violent scene between Jimmy and Francine when they argue over Jimmy's affair with Lorna. Francine worms the truth out of an uneasy Sweet, who quickly warns Ronnie. Jimmy comes upstairs to find Francine lying on the bed, having sent Stella (who is very subdued this week) downstairs for a sandwich. Francine has a knife, which she shows to Jimmy before threatening to cut her wrist (you ever wish she'd just do it and get it over with?). When Jimmy approaches her, she lunges at him--nearly gets him, too. Whether it’s the camera angle or the fight choreography, it looks like only a few inches. Fortunately, he's too quick for her. He disarms her and manages to get her down on the bed, where he nearly hits her. "What're you doing? Slit your wrists and let Stella come and find you?" he says furiously.

  Francine swears that she'll kill Lorna if Jimmy is still with her: "You heard me? Deal with it!" Poor Stella walks in on this and Jimmy gently tells her to go back downstairs. But Francine has a little bombshell to drop on Jimmy--she's going to leave and take Stella with her. At the end of the ep, a depressed Jimmy tells Bob the news outside the Chickadee, saying, with all sorts of unintended irony, "I just don't see the point, anymore. All I ever wanted was to be a family man." While he's calmer than last week, he seems subdued, even acting like Mary's obedient snitch when she gives him "advice" how to unload the eastern connections in his marijuana business. That won't last, of course, but he needs to get his mojo back quick and pull a fast one on Francine. Francine is quite capable of hurting or even killing Stella just to get back at Jimmy.

  Meanwhile, Bob packs Lorna unceremoniously off (the revolving door image was amusing and very satisfying) with a vague assurance that Jimmy will call her to explain. "Take care. Nice knowing you. Bye-bye," Bob says. Good riddance to bad rubbish, though I'm sure we haven't seen the last of her. I don't suppose we could hope to see Francine whack Lorna and kill two birds with one stone.

  Tracey also does an excellent job of introducing some new American players, who appear to be connected to the alleged DEA kidnap squad still after Jimmy. Some of the dialogue is delivered a little too on-the-nose, especially in the rooftop discussions between Jimmy, Ronnie, Bob and Phan, but since it does its job by firmly establishing these new players in the viewer's mind--while also maintaining considerable mystery about them--that's a minor quibble. Also, while the episode begins with the previous "all of the bad guys are American" simplistic approach, it quickly evolves into a creepy combination of John Le Carré and the X-Files, with a disturbing drug-trade takeover that may have originated all the way down in Central America. The "Americans", as it turns out, don't actually seem to be American, but instead are a Latino gang based in L.A. and originally from Guatemala, involving former army officers. They are hoping to exploit any power vacuum created by Jimmy's disappearance from the drug scene and grab a big chunk of the trade. Their first tactic is to buy up as much product on the street as they can and sell it cheap to undercut the competition. Even Dante is feeling the bite.

  Things turn definitely sinister when René discovers that the supposed "bounty hunters" are in fact working for a more mysterious (and non-law-enforcement) group and he doesn't think that kidnap is precisely what's on their minds. More like assassination. This group appears to be, or is closely connected to, either the new gang or maybe even the Blackmire group, and the bounty hunters are scoping out the club for a strike. But Jimmy isn't completely helpless--René helps Bob set up another motorcycle scout to follow the leader. We'll see who gets who first.

  Tracey seems fascinated by the various connections between the different parties on the show. At one point, Ronnie and Bob even have an overt discussion about this. When Ronnie complains that Bob is a conspiracy nut who thinks everything is connected, Bob shoots back, "That's because everything is connected...If it's real, it ain't paranoia. Get hip to what's in the air. It's called 'atmosphere'. You can smell it; you can taste it; come on, you can see it." This focus on how things fit together in the show's universe really helps in clearing up some players and plotlines that might have been previously foggy. If you're looking for a place to jump into the show, I'd suggest this week or last week.

  Matt Frewer, in particular, seems to be enjoying himself in this episode. Ted is anxiously currying favor with Mary, with that mix of sincerity and bollocks that always keeps you on your toes with him. So, it's highly entertaining when he meets with his criminal counterpart in the Sincere Bollocks department, Dante, and tells him it's in Dante's best interests to agree to a split of Jimmy's eastern drug network (which Jimmy is selling off as part of the switchover to banking) between the Disciples and the Vietnamese (Phan reappears this week). This is to avoid a massive predicted power vacuum once Jimmy leaves. Jimmy's leadership holds a lot of smaller growers together and is far more benign than some of the psychos who want to move in from points further south. But later, a new DEA guy, Bob Gray, shows up in town (played by another Da Vinci alumnus, Dean Marshall, who played Constable Carter). Gray is after the Disciples, because they are expanding south into the U.S. much in the same way that the Guatemalans are moving into Vancouver. It's not clear whether Ted is stalling Gray or willing to help him. Ted also grovels to Mary a lot, though again ("Thanks for listening to me") that's not likely to last.

  Mary, meanwhile, has her hands full with restlessness from above and below. Julianna is bucking the traces: "Katarina doesn't own me and neither do you." Katarina, meanwhile, is complaining that she is losing money by lending Julianna out to Mary full-time: "My deal was for my cooperation. It was not to subsidize the Canadian spy service." So much for gratitude for getting her mother and daughter to Canada.

  Katarina wants reimbursement for Julianna's expenses. Not at all thrilled that Julianna is telling Katarina about her assignment, Mary promises to do "something" though she's not clear what. "A thousand dollars a night," as Katarina suggests, is not within the budget. "A thousand a night? Get real!" Mary snorts. After she walks away, Martin says quietly to Katarina, "Watch yourself. You're walking a thin line." "You, too," Katarina shoots back. "I know what you get from my girls." [sigh] Well, that friendship was fun while it lasted, but I guess it was fated to turn sour at some point.

  Julianna, meanwhile, is pfaffing about with George Brown, the Blackmire group's leader, without informing Mary beforehand. She blows off Mary's objections, to the point that Mary is worried that Julianna will disappear once she reaches Mexico for the conference (mentioned last week). Mary brings her back in line by having her arrested on an Immigration violation and coerces Julianna into signing a contract and becoming a formal informant. But later, Julianna takes off with Brown anyway. I can see a power struggle happening, here.

  Speaking of power struggles, a CIA officer named Cruikshank meets with Mary, claiming that they have a parallel investigation into the Blackmire group and insisting that Mary drop her own investigation (and don't you just know that there probably is no such investigation and Brown still has friends in the CIA). He then utters what sounds an awful lot like a threat, telling her that any operatives inside "will be exposed." I don't have much sympathy for Julianna, who likes the game a little too much. But I do feel sorry for Jimmy, who is getting in very deep. At the rate Jimmy is going, he'll very quickly end up at the center of the Blackmire conspiracy whether the CIA wants him there or not. Furious, Mary stalls Cruikshank and sends Ted to go yell at the FBI, who are obviously sharing confidential intel from CSIS with the CIA.

  Meanwhile, Jimmy is still working the bank deal and subtly getting Blackmire paperwork out of Evans. He meets Evans' new pick for banker--Formby or Hornby, or something. When Evans asks about Hogarty (yes, we've been wondering, too), Jimmy shrugs it off and says Hogarty took a leave. "Probably gone on holidays with that dancer friend of his," Evans says smoothly. "Probably," Jimmy replies deadpan, sliding a look at Ronnie. Ahh, so Hogarty has joined Winston...wherever Winston is.

  ---

  Next week: A Woman Inside: Mary hopes to use Jimmy and Julianna's presence inside the Blackmire group to put CSIS on the world intelligence map and the kidnap plot against Jimmy gets ugly.

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This page was last updated on 11/20/2007