{"id":5738,"date":"2016-07-28T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T15:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5738"},"modified":"2016-07-16T18:28:31","modified_gmt":"2016-07-17T01:28:31","slug":"mark-watches-terriers-episode-12-quid-pro-quo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/07\/mark-watches-terriers-episode-12-quid-pro-quo\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Terriers’: Episode 12 – Quid Pro Quo"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth and penultimate episode of\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>, WHAT THE FUCK. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re intrigued, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well,\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has definitely been the show that most effectively crept up on me and shocked me. It is so weird to think about the pilot episode and realize that Lindus was connected to all of this. THIS IS WHAT BRITT AND HANK UNKNOWINGLY STUMBLED INTO. The escalation we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen over the course of this season has been slow at times, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay. This is like an anthology novel, you know? Vignettes that are part of a greater whole.<\/p>\n

And that greater whole is\u00c2\u00a0terrifying<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/b>Putting the Pieces Together<\/b><\/p>\n

This episode deals in disparate parts and relationships and how they come together. For the bulk of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quid Pro Quo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Laura Ross aids Hank and Britt in collecting all the seemingly nonsensical clues they have about the developments and land grabs across Ocean Beach. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also about the fractured relationships, too. Britt and Hank are forced back together after the events in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sins of the Past.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Katie seeks out Gretchen. Jason deals with Hank\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sudden appearance at his job site. These people matter just as much as the story does, and it makes\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0a better show.<\/p>\n

So let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about those clues, because I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED THIS ENDING. Despite that, let me just say that the mystery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resolution is so believable it hurts. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not a video person (and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay!), I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll repeat what I mentioned there: the San Diego airport has been a problem for a long time. It cannot really expand, and because it is so close to residential neighborhoods just north of downtown, it cannot have flights land beyond a certain hour. Now, I personally enjoy the airport because it is one of the few airports I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever been to that is\u00c2\u00a0very<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0close to the downtown areas of a city. (Billy Bishop airport in Toronto wins, though; I got to fly into it last year when I nearly got stranded in Chicago during a massive snowstorm. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on an island in front of downtown!) (There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a parking garage in San Diego that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the flight path of most planes that land at the airport, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly situated so that if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the top level, it looks like the plane will land on top of your head.) But the very idea of a massive airport situated in a part of town that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s less \u00e2\u20ac\u0153desirable\u00e2\u20ac\u009d makes sense, and it explains why there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a frenzied interest in Zeitlin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans. Seriously, there are\u00c2\u00a0billions<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of dollars to be made off something like this.<\/p>\n

Ocean Beach, which is a very real part of San Diego, is quaint and weird and awesome, and thus, it becomes a character in this conspiracy. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen glimpses of how strange it is, so it makes sense that Hank and Albrecht would want to fight anything that would wipe this odd place off the map. And initially, I understood why Britt entertained the idea of giving in to Zeitlin. He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a native, so the place didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold the same meaning to him. But he was also tired of the way he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been treated. Of course, this narrative worked for me because I believed that he had betrayed Hank, not that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been faking it to double cross Zeitlin. WHOOPS, I WAS WRONG.<\/p>\n

Still, it was a tense and scary experience, especially we all knew what Zeitlin and Burke were capable of. But if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re speaking of capabilities, we also have to address the ways in which Hank and Britt are increasingly willing to do\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, terrible shit. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m mostly referencing Britt here, since his sexual relationship with Ashley is really gross. Granted, the show makes that a certainty, too, since he tricked her into that position while on a job. Yes, he may have been truly attracted to her \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that part \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but his actions are complicated by the role he plays. He was hired to spy on her; a sexual relationship should have been out of bounds.<\/p>\n

Hank, on the other hand, is willing to seek out Jason, despite the hard limit he and Gretchen set on contact with them. And I get\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Hank pursues him. I also admired that Jason was willing to do what he could to expose Zeitlin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans, too! But what of Hank? Does he feel any guilt or shame for getting Jason involved? Or was he just collateral damage? How the fuck is anyone going to deal with this?<\/p>\n

And really, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this penultimate episode means to me. For the entirety of this season,\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has chronicled a mystery and a complex set of characters who have all been pushed to the extremes in a place where that seems so unlikely. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see too many corporate and political thrillers set in a beachside locale like this one, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one reason why this is so special. The livelihood of these people is under attack, but\u00c2\u00a0Terriers<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0personalizes that drama. The infidelity, the lying, the betrayal, and the mistrust is built into the fabric of this story, too. We get it between the main characters, but we also see it in people like Albrecht and Lindus and Zeitlin.<\/p>\n

I honestly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how this will be resolved in just one episode. THIS IS DEEPLY UNFAIR.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quid Pro Quo\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":"