{"id":5736,"date":"2016-07-26T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5736"},"modified":"2016-07-16T11:50:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-16T18:50:01","slug":"mark-watches-terriers-episode-10-asunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/07\/mark-watches-terriers-episode-10-asunder\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Terriers’: Episode 10 – Asunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the tenth episode of\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>, I have to say it again: what the hell did this show just become? If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m beginning to understand\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0as a modern, sunny noir, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willing to be funny and weird in the process while still hitting many of the benchmarks for the genre. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird to call this noir when the two leads are literally the last people you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think of to be the head of these investigations, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely why the show works. Their messy lives are part of the storytelling, not a distraction from it.<\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about messes.<\/p>\n

Britt and Katie<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite that I knew that this couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have lasted long, I really wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready for how painful and heartbreaking it would be to watch Britt discover the truth. Of course, to add insult to injury, Britt learns of his fiance\u00c3\u00a9\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infidelity\u00c2\u00a0at someone else<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wedding<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like rubbing salt in the wound! The wedding exacerbates an already awful issue, partially because Britt has no idea why his complaining about the wedding excess would push Katie into an even more uncomfortable place. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t his fault, of course; every step of the way, Britt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been plunging headlong into a disaster because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been lied to. He approaches Katie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pregnancy with interest and guarded excitement, all without knowing why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s causing her so much stress.<\/p>\n

So it felt like a low blow when Katie told Britt that he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready for commitment or marriage, given that\u00c2\u00a0she<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0was the one who had cheated, not him. But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s related to the self-sabotage issues we saw in Katie earlier when she confided in Hank. If anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not ready for marriage, it seems that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Katie, who unconsciously\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0consciously acted to sabotage her own relationship.<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still the one big unresolved part of this, too. What is Britt gonna do when he discovers that Hank knew pretty much the whole time and actively compelled Katie not to tell the truth?<\/p>\n

Zeitlin<\/b><\/p>\n

I had braced myself for an entire episode focused on Gretchen and Jason\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wedding. Indeed, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Asunder\u00e2\u20ac\u009d seemed like in the first few scenes. I knew it was only a matter of time before Hank found some reason to end up at the wedding hotel, and the spilled drink on Britt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shirt provided that impetus. I knew it was going to be hard to watch this man consistently make terrible,\u00c2\u00a0terrible<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0decisions, too! I KNEW THIS WOULD BE AWKWARD.<\/p>\n

Thus, the way Hank stumbled back into the Zeitlin mystery was an incredible surprise, one that transforms the potentially uncomfortable disaster of Hank at his ex-wife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wedding into\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 jesus, what do you even call this? A spy thriller? It certainly felt like one! And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s yet another reason why\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is so unique. The fact that we can go from humor to crushing introspection to self-hatred to ONE OF THE MOST TENSE SEQUENCES I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122VE EVER SEEN in a single episode is amazing. But it all flows together, too, and\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0only makes the execution all the more impressive.<\/p>\n

So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work through this. We know from Steph (who I miss!!!) that the soil study was bogus. Zeitlin or someone connected to him wanted it to get out. And from what little we see here, Zeitlin has been continuing to snatch up as much vacant and desired property in Ocean Beach as he can. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s covered his tracks well enough, which is why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten away with this as long as he has. But the show introduces Laura Ross here, and I already adore her. It would have been easy to write her as a damsel in distress. Yes, Hank and Britt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tech nerd friends (whose names I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember) help her, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more than capable of doing the job herself. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so goddamn bold to Zeitlin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridiculously satisfying.<\/p>\n

In Zeitlin, we get an antagonist fit for the locale and the tone. In 2016, the kind of re-developing and land grabbing we see in him is still relevant; it actually feels prophetic in a way, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? So, on the one hand, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s believable in a Southern California city like Ocean Beach. Yet he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also unrepentantly evil, something we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see much of in\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is full of degrees of morality, but Mr. Burke and Zeitlin represent something that almost feels otherworldly within this show. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the David vs Goliath trope all over again, which works so well in the long run. Hank and Britt have never been masters a their work, so it ends up feeling rewarding to see them find new ways to go after Zeitlin. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also\u00c2\u00a0terrifying<\/i>. Once he started threatening Ross\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother, I knew he was serious, and I knew he had the means to pull it off.<\/p>\n

Over\u00c2\u00a0what<\/i>, though? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the mystery. Whatever he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing with all that land, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth killing a reporter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother over it. BUT WHY?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m excited to see more of Ross, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe the Zeitlin mystery is back. THIS IS SO EXCITING.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Asunder\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b>
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"