In the eleventh episode of\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>, Laura Ross helps Hank close a case that changed his life. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of rape<\/b>.<\/p>\n
If this review seems short, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let that speak to the quality of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sins of the Past.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Just in terms of writing, this is perhaps that tightest, most ambitious script of the season, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy to say that Tim Minear just\u00c2\u00a0kills<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0it. The sheer amount of information \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from the case details to the extensive backstory to the present day resolution \u00e2\u20ac\u201c packed into forty minutes\u00c2\u00a0without<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0seeming crammed is unreal, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. This episode felt like AN ENTIRE SHOW just transpired. You could have dedicated a whole season to this case, but Minear trims it down to a single episode without it feeling like he did so. I mean, are we surprised? Dude wrote some of the best episodes of\u00c2\u00a0The X-Files<\/i>,\u00c2\u00a0Angel<\/i>,\u00c2\u00a0Firefly<\/i>, and\u00c2\u00a0Dollhouse,\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>so yeah.<\/p>\n
But my brevity here is just for my own sake. While I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t triggered while watching this \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was more nervously horrified than anything else – it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very hard for me to linger on rape and stories having to do with it. There\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a scene here that hit a little close to home, though, and I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start there. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great way to talk about how insightful \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sins of the Past\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was, since it finally revealed to us how Hank sabotaged his career and his marriage. Now,\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has always been willing to portray Hank and the other characters as deeply flawed, even if that means that in moments, they aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t particularly likable. In this episode, there are quite a number of these scenes. Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alcoholism is shown in graphic, detail, and we watch him mess up procedure. We watch him pursue a likely suspect in ways that could easily backfire on him and ruin the case.<\/p>\n
And then we watch him berate his wife for not being the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d kind of victim. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a stunning moment that is absolutely portrayed negatively, which I appreciate because it is such a common occurrence. I understood Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frustration because Whitman had been so terribly protected by everyone around him. However, he horrifically miscalculates his wife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicity in the ways that Whitman is not held accountable. Even though we find out that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not\u00c2\u00a0the<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Condo rapist, he still did disgusting things to women while in college, and it was very likely that he violated the consent of numerous women and sexually assaulted them, too.<\/p>\n
None of the reason this happens is ever Gretchen fault, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge reason why she reacts as she does. A victim\u00c2\u00a0always<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has the right to call themselves a victim or a survivor or whether not to; they also get to determine who they tell their story to; they also get to decide if they forgive someone or not. Blaming them for their rapist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of accountability is a losing game. How does Hank know that Gretchen didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t report? How does he know that she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to get Whitman the first time around? Instead, he assumes that\u00c2\u00a0she<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is holding Whitman back. Can you see how dangerous that is? Can you see how Hank continues to assume things about others and then impulsively acts on that, thereby ruining\u00c2\u00a0everything<\/i>? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he did with Gretchen in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pimp Daddy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which adds another level to her anger at him.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Britt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior is so saddening. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Hank, but he\u00c2\u00a0becomes<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0like him once he assumes Gavin is the one Katie had sex with. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an impulsive act that happens while he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s drunk, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disastrous. Yet even in that? Hank still finds a way to hurt his best friend. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprised by that development, but what did Hank expect? That Britt would understand why Hank lied to him?<\/p>\n
Anyway, the scene is set for the next chapter in Britt and Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship, which fits since this episode provided Hank with a\u00c2\u00a0huge<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0amount of closure for him. That story has ended, and Hank now understands why his relationship with Mark and Gretchen suffered so much. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge moment for him, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tragic that his friendship with Britt crumbles so spectacularly just MINUTES later.<\/p>\n
This episode was great. REALLY, REALLY GREAT. I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe how good this show has become.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sins of the Past\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> In the eleventh episode of\u00c2\u00a0Terriers, Laura Ross helps Hank close a case that changed his life. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Terriers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[659],"tags":[660],"class_list":["post-5737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-terriers","tag-mark-watches-terriers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\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\u00a0Mark 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":"