Sunday, August 12, 2018

Glitch, Season 2, Episode 5: Walking Wounded




So we ended on a tense moment last episode with James finding Phil’s bloody clothes in the washing hamper and demanding an explanation from Sarah - she fumbles and finally recounts how she was bleeding heavily from the vagina after her pregnancy and she used this t-shirt to stem the blood. Her heartbreaking recount naturally directs James to get her to the hospital where they focus on making sure Sarah is well and awesome midwife is there to look after her. And free James up to return to shenanigans when suitably reassured that she’s ok

Kirstie has finally tracked down her murderer - it’s policeman Chris’s brother. A man in a wheelchair and with a brain injury after rolling his car when he was 19. Chris insists his brother doesn’t remember anything which is not nearly enough for Kirstie. Chris won’t let her see him and Kirstie accuses him of letting his brother get away with rape and murder.

Which he is. Though this can be described without disabled slurs.

She leaves and calls James who is bemused as to what exactly he can do - he can’t exactly arrest a man for murdering someone who is actually alive. He’s more concerned with whoever killed Elishia since he assumes that a man in a wheelchair isn’t a threat (this is a problematic assumption that infantilises disabled people - it doesn’t take the ability to walk to use a gun).

James briefly holds onto the idea that Owen is the one responsible for the murder of Elishia but finally admits this is way more to do with Kate’s relationship and his inability to get over her than anything else. Perhaps finally leaving that red herring alone he goes to collect Paddy because he wants them all together and safe. Oh James, don’t you know that working with the Risen is like herding cats? He speaks to Beau and learns what Paddy’s up to but also that his step-dad Phil is in town and had a near death experience

James makes a not-entirely-unreasonable-but-still-a-bit-of-a-reach conclusion and tells everyone that Phil is the killer. Because near-death = possession. He also gives Chris a talking to about hiding his rapist brother but with everything else going on he kind of puts a pin in that.

James’s whole demeanour this episode is “seriously?! Now what!”

Of course, everyone has scattered to the four winds. It started with a reasonable assumption that being in public was actually safer than being isolated in a cabin, but they quickly start splitting up

Kirstie tracks down her murderer and tries to confront him about his crimes - but he cannot remember them due to his head injury no matter how she threatens him she doesn’t get an admission or any satisfaction. It’s a moving and painful scene to see her pain and anger and having no real recourse for that - not even the empty satisfaction of screaming in her victimiser’s face.


Charlie for once is off doing his own thing and he decides to wander off alone while there’s a killer on the loose as well. Because of course he does. Charlie’s story doesn’t really add much to his present though - nor really build on anything from the last story. He was a soldier, he came back from the war, he gambled a bit, was robbed, but really raised some money to help found a veteran’s club and build the pub and its kind of unofficial museum to those veterans so they’ll be remembered. He contracted tuberculosis and committed suicide.  It’s nice and moving and emotional and… irrelevant? I mean Kate’s story is her ongoing James issues, Kristie has a goal of hunting down her killer. Paddy is trying to get his money in the correct hands. And Charlie is… Charlie: his knowledge comes with no agenda.

And in a show with so few episodes and so much going on it’s kind of unfortunate to have an episode that adds nothing

All of this is watched by Phil whose scar is magically healing. Being in public seems to be the key to staying safe so he goes to hospital to pick up Sarah and basically ask “hey why haven’t you murdered them all right now?!” Sarah’s clearly torn because she’s looking after a baby and sees to be trying to decide where her priorities are but Phil insists she get on with it: and he wants to help since he’s still around and has done his own task (he clearly expected to be beamed up or something)

Don’t you hate over-achieving co-workers?

Sarah gets with that when Kate comes to visit. Kate has a theory - they’re all Risen because they were murdered - before she realised Charlie wasn’t actually murdered. And yes Kate died of cancer - but while dying she asked Sarah to help her die so she didn’t have to die horribly

She goes to Sarah to ask her about that… and we have a moving scene where Sarah says, yep, Kate asked and she planned to but then couldn’t go through with it. Which she regretted give how utterly horrible Kate’s eventual death from cancer was.

Oh and she plans to shoot Kate but is interrupted before she can.

Kirstie ends up back in the cabin where they’re all hiding out - and Phil is waiting for her. But Chris and James intervene before he can hurt her (and she stabs him in the leg). Which means they’ve now captured Phil who should have some answers. And Chris has saved Kirstie but she makes it clear this in no way makes them equal

Meanwhile Paddy is having fun with the Fitzgerald’s. Mama Fitzgerald’s grandsons kidnap him and lock him in a basement but she apparently thinks this is not exactly what she asked them to do. She frees him, gets him new clothes and nicely asks him about how he knows so much about her secret family history. He reveals more of his secrets and history including the will to leave money to his Aboriginal family and how disgusted and outraged he is that not only was Paddy murdered, the inheritance stolen but also Kalinda and her family were murdered and persecuted by the Fitzgeralds.

He also has a flashback of him beating his son which, along with what grandma recounts, pretty much sums up the awfulness of the family for many generations. He encourages her to change this and make this old wrong right… and she seems to listen to him by her willingness to greet Beau warmly

Whether she’ll go through with this is in question because Sarah finally gets round to murdering a Risen - Paddy. I can’t say I’ll miss him, even remotely

While this is going on - Hysen and William are doing Science in which William remembers that back in Ye Olden Days he also died and came back to life - and before that he was indeed like Elishia

I say again - ANGELS