After two episodes that focused on developing Hank and Britt as characters, "Fustercluck" dives back into the mythology, or rather, the over-arcing story for the first season. Lindus returns to the fold. The search for Mickey's killer returns. Hank is less depressed and near-relapse because he has too much work to focus on. "Fustercluck" contains a ton of set-up for the rest of the season, and is the best episode of the season. Also, the title of the episode might be the greatest episode title of all-time.
Essentially, the Lindus story established in the pilot completely reverses itself in this episode. His wife visits Hank and Britt, hands them 1000 dollars and tells the two to visit her husband if they want to keep the cash. After briefly "interrogating" Lindus for his transgressions in the pilot, Lindus tells the two what he wants. Lindus wants to keep his wife and son safe because they are innocent of the mess Lindus is in. Men want Lindus dead. The police have enough evidence to lock Lindus away for a long time. The problem for Lindus is, Hank and Britt don't trust him. Lindus wants the two PIs to break into his office and steal a quarter-million of his own cash.
Hank and Britt talk with Mrs. Lindus about the break-in. The two guys will get 40% of the money. While Hank and Britt really don't trust Lindus, mostly because they framed the man for a murder he actually did commit (you have to watch the show), Hank agrees to do the job because Mrs. Lindus promises Hank that she'll deliver the name of the man who killed Mickey.
Hank and Britt commit a smooth and IMPRESSIVE break-in. I feel like Ted Griffin's Ocean's Eleven days returned for the robbery sequence. They get the money. Hank gets the name but the guy just took the fall for the crime. Before Lindus, free on bail, can flee the country in his private jet, Hank and Britt kidnap him. To make a long story short, Lindus dies by episode's end. Uh-oh. Before he dies, from getting hit by a car, Lindus tells Hank that the company Mickey used to work for put the hit on Mickey because of secretive papers that the company thought Mickey's daughter had. There are many layers to the situation Hank and Britt find themselves in. Not even knew what they were getting themselves with the simple 'let's plant the gun in Lindus' house.' Now, Hank's former partner suspects the two of kidnapping Lindus and he arrives at Hank's house just as Lindus dies.
It was an action-packed forty-some minutes of television. The show also introduced Hank's sister, Stephanie. She's a brilliant woman suffering from a mental illness. She's going to be important and she might cause more problems for Hank than he already has. Hank's sort of responsible for two men's deaths in as many weeks (though the timeline in the episode was a few weeks later). The insanity he finds himself in could have disastrous effects in the long run. Hank's a man who will do anything for his own personal gain so I wonder where the writers take the character as the story gets deeper and Hank comes closer to discovering the actual man or men behind his friend's death. He was ready to inflict pain on the patsy before he realized Lindus lied to him.
Terriers is a smart television show. At the end of last week's episode, we saw a mysterious figure crawl into Hank's attic. This week, near the end of the heist, Britt notices a black SUV parked outside--an SUV that arrived after the heist started. A man noticed Britt and Hank spying on the construction site. The three top writers on the show don't have reputations of spoon-feeding the audience. The network, FX, also doesn't air shows that spoon-feed the audience or hold their hands. The black SUV is definitely coming back.
Some other thoughts:
-I keep waiting for Tim Minear's first episode and I think episode five will be Minear's. Based on the previews, the episode seems like it's in Minear's wheelhouse. Hopefully he directed whatever episode he wrote.
-Terriers is probably my favorite new show of the season. Hawaii Five-O is, surprisingly, another new show I really like so far.
-Jon Worley wrote "Fustercluck." It appears that "Fustercluck" is his first television script. Michael Offer directed the episode.
SCREENPLAY OF THE DAY
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles--"Pilot"--Written By Josh Friedman
http://www.leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Terminator_-_The_Sarah_Connor_Chronicles_1x01_-_Pilot.pdf
THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK
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