With two episodes remaining in season one of CBC's Intelligence, Mary Spalding and Jimmy Reardon seem no closer to unraveling their respective messes. In fact, they seem far more raveled.
Mary's not riding as high as last episode, after her senator ally first orders the investigation on CSIS director Dick Royden to go "black" and then cuts off direct ties with her. Through her proxy, the senator orders Mary to simply watch and wait as Royden moves in on the Asia/Pacific region directorship she'd been promised, until she can turn the suspected double agent. Did I mention, while watching Royden take over the job Mary desperately wants? Nice.
Despite his American distributor getting caught in the DEA plot to catch Reardon, Jimmy seems to be riding higher this episode. His plan to set up an offshore bank to take care of his money laundering woes is working out, though he's put his shipping business up as collateral. Ronnie nags him about ensuring Francine the loose canon won't rat on them, but Jimmy is strangely unconcerned, and his confidence is surprisingly not misplaced.
He stages a drug bust that catches an unsuspecting Francine, but she refuses to inform on her ex-husband in exchange for dropped charges. It's hard to imagine the price Jimmy has paid for that loyalty, but he was definitely confident of it before the test. Still, she did change her mind about her drug purchase when reminded of her family, so there might be a loyal heart in there somewhere.
Loyalty is bought in many ways on this show. Mary has bought Katarina's by reuniting her with her family, so she can now ask her to prostitute herself to Dick Royden in order to position herself as a long-term informant. Stripper Tina's loyalty is harder to discern, but she's another example of swapping sex for intelligence. And coke. The world of intelligence is definitely not a nice one.
Neither, of course, is the criminal world. Michael Reardon really is like a big kid. A big, dumb kid. A big, dumb kid with criminal tendencies. He discovers that his nightclub deal is not exactly legit, and the previous owner has disappeared with Mike's cash payment. He and his associate hunt the guy down at his shrieking mother's apartment.
Mother: Please don't hurt him He's a good boy.Mike: No, he's not a good boy. He's a very bad boy.
He evades them during their fairly pathetic search, but they ambush him later as he tries to escape with the money. Score one for Mike, whose loyalty to Jimmy is one of his only good boy traits.
Article comments
1 - Chet
Wow. I just saw tonight's episode. Haddock is a genius. All season long he's been introducing these little plot threads, dozens of them, leaving them dangling, unresolved until you wonder whether they meant anything at all. Then suddenly, subtly, there's one little twist of the writer's fingers, one flash, and you realize all those threads have been tightly woven into a short little fuse, and you're about to witness one hell of a big explosion.
2 - Diane Kristine
I am equally in awe. And beautifully put, Chet. I'll try to refrain from stealing your words for my review ;-)
3 - Triniman
I haven't watched any of Intelligence but it does look like something I would enjoy. Any word if it will appear on dvd?
4 - Diane Kristine
Nothing announced yet but I'll try to write about it when it is.