Terriers has only gotten better and better as this season has gone on. I not only immensely like the characters, but find them believable and tragic in their own way. This week’s episode, Ring-a-Ding-Ding, combines both an interesting and emotionally impactful narrative with overarching character development, which makes you think about some characters differently. Just as we were starting to become comfortable with the show's dynamic, both in terms of storytelling and character interactions, they change it up and it makes this episode and the entire show stronger.
The episode starts with Hank and the gang at Gretchen and her new fiancés’ engagement party. Hank, as one would assume, feels a bit off about the whole thing. Last week he told Gretchen that he still loves her, but it really isn’t addressed in the episode. Britt finally decided that it is time for him to get married and spends the rest of the episode pondering about popping the question, which is good for Britt. Britt is the most selfless character in the show. He usually has no problem taking one for the team and doesn’t seem to have any real goals as far as his future is concerned, he is obviously in love and the internal monologue, along with some rather funny conversations with Hank, play into his decision making.
The main crux of the episode deals with the two taking on a case for a new client of their lawyer friend, Maggie. A terminal cancer patient is looking for a family heirloom that she wants to leave to her son, so he can use it to purpose to a girl in the future. There seems to be a theme in the episode. What follows is a wild goose chase in almost every sense of the word with the duo running all around San Diego looking for the ring. The husband plays a key role in the resolution, but not in the way you would think. This storyline is both compelling and has some emotional weight to it with our characters, in return, we the audience become emotionally invested in the outcome.
The biggest paradigm shift in the episode actually deals with Britt and Katie’s relationship. Throughout every episode we have seen these two as nothing but strong characters with a strong relationship built around their trust and love. That all goes away. Katie makes a huge mistake and she may not be able to live with the consequences. It was definitely a shocking moment. Her cheating on Britt was eluded to in the episode but with the student, not the professor. Her conversation with Hank at the end of the episode is just gut wrenching. On one hand you want to hate her for what she did, but you cannot help but feel sorry for her. Her actions will have long lasting ramifications for the show, both with Britt and Hanks relationship along with her interactions at school.
While this is all going on Hank and Jason have a conversation that shows that Jason has becomes wise to Hank being the one who has his credit card information. He recognized Britt from earlier in the episode and comes off as a pretty understanding guy. He may have won Hank over in the end and while Hank still wants Gretchen, he might be able to come to terms with losing her. Terriers came out with another strong episode this week and it's one that could quite possibly be their best so far.
