Wow, what an end to this episode. Terriers has been a rather good show that seemed to have came out of nowhere. The characters are solid and the story is usually pretty good. This week we are presented with not only the best episode of the series, but also one of the most meaningful and engrossing.
Flustercluck does not start out letting you know that the story is about to change, but instead presents Hank's problem with his house and solves the mystery. It seems that Hank has a sister and she is... a bit off. This is probably the only negative I have about the episode as the story with his sister is never really developed, which could be by design, but makes the whole thread feels a bit unnecessary. The information we do get however is interesting and we are left wondering how a MIT graduate seems to have lost her way so much.
Hank and Britt are visited by Lindus’ wife, yeah the guy they framed, and she tells them that he has begged them to come visit him in jail, giving them a nice lump of cash just so they will consider it. The two eventually decide to hear what the guy has to say, but it is not what they thought it was. The duo obviously enjoy mocking Lindus while he is locked up and they take every chance to dig the proverbial knife in deeper. The way that Lindus gets them to help him is both interesting and not cliché. He is not your typical criminal and we are given a glimpse of a much larger and scary criminal network that the duo has made themselves targets off.
Britt and Hank work together on a job and one can’t help but be reminded of great heist films like Ocean’s Eleven with the degree of planning the, usually inept, private eyes pull off. Hanks mission to find the man who killed his friend is wrapped up in the Lindus storyline and ultimately he finds himself closer, but not at, the truth.
This episode would have been very strong up to this point, but it's the last ten minutes that makes it great. The duo finds themselves forced to kidnap an out on bail Lindus because they know he has more information. They come into possession of some pretty important documents and then Lindus makes a run for it, gets ran over by a car, and is subsequently taken to Hank's house. The man has obviously developed a concussion, but he can’t go to the police because he will be right back in jail. Hank is forced to deal with Lindus, his sister, and his ex-partner and in the confusion…Lindus dies. TV tropes would lead you to believe that he can’t be dead and that they will find a way to bring him back…nope, he’s dead, and Hank and Britt are screwed.
There is a real feeling of "Well, what the hell are they going to do now?" and it works for the show. In killing Lindus and putting Hank and Britt in a terrible situation the show proves that it will not always be a safe by the books story and that there will be some twists. I cannot wait for the next episode.
