The Bridge - Recap: The Last of Us

Credit: FX

In many ways, this is an episode about repair, of burned bridges rebuilt, connections reforged, and lives reassembled. To this end, there isn't much of a plot beyond the reintroduced focus on the disappearing girls of Juarez, as Eva (Stephanie Sigman) is abducted after stupidly returning to Juarez following Linder's (Thomas M. Wright) risky mission to smuggle her out. Juarez is a character itself, a city of vibrancy and danger, with all the potent grip of a drug, as Eva is unmistakably drawn back by the promise of a factory job. In returning, she makes herself vulnerable to a mysterious figure driving a car with Texas plates, as she is quickly taken hostage. In an instant, all of Linder's hard work is rendered null and void, and the episode lingers on the introverted smuggler tacking a photo of his "intended" to a wall of missing girls in Juarez, in what is one of the most poignant, understated images of the entire series so far. It doesn't particularly bother me that so much of the overarching plot here relies on Eva putting herself in danger for little gain, since I would imagine that much of the purpose behind that decision is to illustrate the hold the city has over people, in addition to the general observation that people don't always make the right choices, even those who should know better -- a theme that frequently recurs throughout the series. It's hard to know just yet what will become of Eva, but I like the renewed focus on the missing girls of Juarez, and how that plotline brings our characters back into each other's orbit.

Credit: FX

The central theme of repair makes for some truly remarkable character work from the show's two leads. There have been few scenes on TV this year as quietly riveting as Sonya (Diane Kruger) having to say goodbye to her late sister's truck, a symbol of a tragedy that has become a scar for the detective. However, some wounds are still fresh, as is the case with Marco (Demian Bichir), who has taken to sleeping all day in his son's old bed when he isn't busy getting black-out drunk to dull the pain of his loss. It's here that the show finds its most emotionally potent material, as Marco rejects Sonya's attempts at reestablishing a connection, saying that she's not a normal person, and that Sonya lacks the capacity to recognize when she needs to just leave a person alone. For her part, Sonya isn't keen on giving up, and this is not only because of her sense of guilt over what happened to Gus, nor is it necessarily because she needs Marco to come back and help them with the Juarez case. No, it's because Sonya has genuinely grown to care about Marco. Despite his frequent intimations that they aren't partners and never have been, Marco can't shake Sonya from his life, because she won't allow herself to be shaken away. After intercepting him at a bar, where he's once again drinking his troubles away, Sonya makes it her mission to see him safely home, explaining that it isn't often that she finds people in her life. When connections such as these come her way, she refuses to just let them go. Sonya is someone committed to doing the work to make a connection in her life, no matter how damaging the process turnes out to be. It's tremendous stuff from both Kruger and Bichir. Marco drunkenly laments the loss of Gus and wonders why Tate is allowed to continue living, while Sonya reflects on what a good kid Gus was, making sure to take care to see that Marco doesn't lose himself to his grief. Will he ever get over the loss? Of course not. But Sonya knows that there is life at the end of the tunnel, even if that life is a fraction of what it once was before the loss. Marco may not have his son, nor his wife and daughters (who have left), but he still has Sonya.

Credit: FX

The episode also gives us a further window into the show's best non-Marco/Sonya pairing, Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard) and Adriana (Emily Rios). Frye has made a considerable recovery following his near death at the hands of Tate, and he's none the less sarcastic and wry than he was before, joking with Adriana and generally being his usual self. But Adriana is facing issues with her family as a result of her sexuality. As a lesbian, Adriana is rejected by the people with whom she feels she should be closest, prompting her to find sanctuary in her uncommon friendship with Frye. They're both outliers when it comes to the meaningful connections in their lives, as Frye doesn't really have any friends other than Adriana, and Adriana doesn't really have anyone that understands and accepts her other than Frye. The show nurtures this connection throughout the episode, and hopefully the series gets to pay off the goodwill built with this pairing at some point down the line.

Credit: FX

With that said, I'm still not entirely sold on the storyline with Charlotte (Annabeth Gish), although, for once, it feels like it's beginning to fit in a bit better with all the other storylines in the series. In meeting with crime lord Fausto Galvan (Ramon Franco), Charlotte completes her transformation from meek housewife to aspiring criminal matriarch, as she makes a deal with Galvan for him to use her tunnel for smuggling purposes as long as she gets a cut of the profits. It should be interesting to see how this story links with the rest of the overarching plot of the series, as this suddenly feels more integral than the last several weeks of seemingly aimless plotting, where Charlotte is concerned. Perhaps it'll tie in via the corrupt cops story? The corruption of police officials has always been a key point of the series, and we get more of it tonight, with the secretary at Marco's office going as far as to confront him at his house to announce that she's tired of turning a blind eye to all the wrongdoing. Marco invites her in, having managed to come out of his alcoholic depression thanks to Sonya, and it finally seems like Marco will get back to doing what he does best: cracking cases and putting an end to crime, no matter the cost. It's hard not to be excited about how the show will wrap up its first season. While not perfect, The Bridge has remained unmistakably compelling throughout.