The Bridge - Recap: A Bridge Too Far

Credit: FX

Tonight, we got the full-fledged reveal. The killer is not Jack Childress, but Kenneth Hastings (Eric Lange), the man with whom Marco's wife has been having an extramarital affair. His real name is revealed to be David Tate, and he has a personal stake in these killings that makes "Vendetta" the most accurately-titled episode of the season so far, as the former FBI agent goes around settling scores with bone-chilling efficiency. To make matters more complicated, Tate's wife was having an affair with Marco (Demian Bichir) at the time of her death in a hit-and-run that also took the life of her and Tate's young son. Marco knows, Sonya (Diane Kruger) knows, and it's only a matter of time until Tate clashes with the pair that put the puzzle together. It's a hell of a twist for The Bridge, as the show moves past the mystery portion of the season and heads into the race for justice. Is this someone the police are even capable of stopping? Or is he so coldly efficient that he'll always remain one step ahead? And what of Alma (Catalina Sandino Moreno)? What are Tate's intentions? These questions are at the forefront of what is the best episode of the season so far.

Credit: Byron Cohen/FX Network

One of the interesting things about the Tate reveal is the disconnect between his identity as the killer, and the motives of the killer as we've come to understand them over the course of the season. The killer that law enforcement has been chasing seemed primarily concerned with illustrating the imbalance between Juarez and El Paso, particularly as it concerns the investigation into murders of Mexican women. Yet here, Tate's primary motive is a personal vendetta. In one of the most chilling moments of the entire series, Tate kills a friend of Daniel Frye's named Santi Jr., getting the drop on him in a public bathroom and exacting his revenge on the young, wealthy playboy. As it turns out, Santi Jr. was the hit-and-run driver that killed Tate's wife and son. Tate reveals this to Santi Jr. and then slits his throat, before leaving the scene of the crime as if nothing happened. As unsettling as this scene is, it sets in motion the process for Marco putting deducing the killer's identity, as he finds the necklace worn by Tate's wife on Santi Jr.'s body.

Credit: FX

Marco realizes now that Tate knows about the affair, and it isn't too far of a logical leap to assume that this is part of Tate's motive: not only to expose someone he perceives to be a crooked cop, but to exact revenge against him by sleeping with Alma. It's also a logical assumption that the connection with Santi Jr. is why Tate chose Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard) to be his intermediary. From there, you could probably guess that Tate didn't appreciate Gedman's fondness for prostitutes and had him killed, although this seems less clear. What does seem clear, however, is that Tate allowed Marco to survive their confrontation in the warehouse a few weeks back so that he might live to see whatever it is Tate has in store for Alma. And say what you will about Sonya's taste in men, but Alma has been completely seduced and taken in by Tate, and while one would assume that the score has been settled (one affair for another), Tate seems to be playing a longer game. And that's somewhat problematic. So much of the show has been built around the killer's grander purpose, and while it might have been too circuitous, there's a certain boldness in the killer's ambition, and in his crusading ways. However, this reveal reduces the killer to an angry, scorned husband who simply wants revenge against the people who took his life from him. And while that's an unmistakably interesting story, I'm not sure if it's as meaty as the choice to have the killer be a crusader with a political statement to make. But then, this episode was so remarkably compelling that it's honestly hard to fault the approach.

Credit: FX

For instance, there are tons of character moments that enrich the world of The Bridge, and the relations these characters share to one another. Sonya has a heart-to-heart with Gus (Carlos Pratts), who is really laying it on thick. They have a talk in which Sonya admits that she's never really been good with people. She stops just short of admitting she's on the spectrum, delving into her past and having what basically amounts to one of her few genuine moments with another human being since the series premiered, as she has a laugh with Gus, who soothes Sonya's despondency over her lack of social skills by stating that she isn't really that different from anyone else. It's a sweet scene that deepens both characters and serves as a mirror to Gus' scene with his father, in which the two bond over women after initially arguing about Marco's shattered marriage. He'd initially cheated on Gus' mother before marrying Alma, and it's a resentment that has never scabbed over for the boy. But Marco wants his son to feel he's able to come to him with anything. It's a heartfelt scene that doesn't exactly mend the fences between the two, but it at least opens a channel for father and son. With all that said, I really hope they aren't planning on hooking up Sonya and Gus, as that would be a bridge too far (pun intended, because it's technically Thursday, which is historically my corniest day of the week). In addition, there's another solid scene in which Tim "Mullet Cop" Cooper complains to Hank (Ted Levine) about the special treatment Sonya receives. It's a brief moment, but it illustrates how shaken Cooper is in the wake of Stokes getting his head blown off last week. Again, it's all in the little character moments.

Credit: Byron Cohen/FX Network

However, not every plotline feels as substantial as the ones above. Charlotte (Annabeth Gish) and Ray (Brian Van Holt) continue to be a drain as I wait for their storyline to pickup. However, I will say one thing that I appreciate about the angle: it appears they're setting up Charlotte to be the next Graciela (Alma Martinez), a crime matriarch in waiting. As the show suggests, all she needs to do is iron up and be less trusting of idiots like Ray. If she had the determination, she could probably get the know-how, and if she got the know-how, she certainly has the resources to make some powerful allies in an industry that lives and dies on powerful connections. Of course, she'll have to get rid of Ray at some point, as he's digging her into a deeper hole with each passing week. Graciela discovers the FBI tracking devices in the guns, which doesn't exactly bode well for Ray. To make matters worse for the guy, Charlotte is growing less and less trusting of him with each week. It stands to reason he'll be a goner sooner rather than later. As for now, Ray's plotline will have to share time with the whole Linder (Thomas M. Wright) saga as the misfires of this series -- although at least Linder has interesting dream sequences, such as tonight, where he hallucinates Fausto Galvan's girlfriend serving him milk before seeing her face abruptly transform into Galvan's. Good times.

Credit: FX

"Vendetta" is a stand-out episode for one of the summer's stand-out series. We still have about four episodes to go, and we already know the killer's identity. That's huge, and it gets me pretty excited to see how the show will choose to use the final handful of episodes. Do we wrap this case up and end the season with the start of a new mystery? Or do we ride this thing straight to the end? Either way, there aren't many shows on TV during the dog days that make storytelling choices as bold as The Bridge.