Killer Women - Recap: Semper Fi
Recap and review of Killer Women - Episode 3 - Warrior:
On the one hand, "Warrior" is a better episode than last week's disjointed mess. On the other, each passing week has me more and more convinced that the pilot to Killer Women was a happy fluke. And even then, it's not as if the pilot was all that great in the first place. It was just dumb fun that didn't ask all that much of its audience, and largely worked on that "popcorn procedural" level. But even while "Warrior" does several things well -- from the chemistry between Tricia Helfer and Marc Blucas, to the occasionally affecting story of a decorated veteran who's become a Robin Hood of sorts since returning from Afghanistan -- the show remains mired in plots that are exceedingly difficult to really care about at this stage of the game. Whether it's the possible infidelity of Parker's brother, Billy (Michael Trucco), or the continued politicking of her senator husband in preventing the divorce going through, so much of "Warrior" just feels like a wheel-spinning waste of time. Which is a shame, because the episode almost gets it right. At the very least, this is the closest the series has come to realizing whatever potential it had in the early going.
Credit: ABC
So Molly (Tricia Helfer) is tasked with working alongside an FBI Agent in capturing a woman who's been robbing banks with a scarily even-tempered efficiency. Agent Clarke (Aisha Hinds) doesn't really take a liking to Molly, for whatever reason. She respects the ranger, but it doesn't really appear to go any farther than that, especially once Molly brings in a suspect and doesn't wait for Clarke to arrive before beginning the interrogation. It drives a wedge between the two agents that creates a difficulty in communication, as Clarke appears to suspect that Molly is gunning for glory all her own. Either that, or she just figures Molly has no respect for federal authority. And on that latter notion, Clarke ultimately doesn't turn out to be that far off the mark, given the events of the episode's climax. But then, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, as the investigation is quite a long one. Or rather, it's a very involved investigation, given the nature of the criminal with which they're dealing: Andrea Corbett (Peyton McDavitt), a military veteran who returned from Afghanistan traumatized. She moved back home with her father, but apparently couldn't get past her experiences overseas, a matter that's only made worse by the complete lack of government support for returning heroes. And Andrea is as concrete a "hero," in the military sense, as anyone these characters are likely to meet, having received the Silver Star (the third- highest military award for bravery in combat).
Credit: ABC
Yet Andrea is plagued not only by the lack of government support for veterans ("All we get is bills!" she roars, in one poignant line), but is also perturbed by the seeming indifference of the citizens whose freedoms she and her comrades are defending through their service, recalling how many soldiers have to scrounge up bus fare to get home almost as soon as they step off the plane. And so Andrea goes out of her way to right these wrongs by providing for the veterans in her own way: by robbing banks. Although she's pretty flagrantly breaking the law, Andrea tries to minimize damage where she can. She doesn't harm anyone unless she has to, such as when she shoots a security guard in the leg in order to escape before the police arrive on the scene. But even in that instance, she sneaks into the man's hospital room while he's unconscious, pretending to be his niece, and leaves an envelope full of cash along with the words "I'M SORRY" printed on the front. In many ways, Andrea is part-Robin Hood/part-Tooth Fairy, as she takes the stolen cash, breaks into the homes of wounded veterans, and leaves it under their pillow or by their nightstand. Clarke isn't amused, but Molly feels there's still an obvious moral center at the heart of Andrea's actions, and insists she isn't a bad person -- or even a danger one, really, as she likely would have killed someone by now if she really wanted to (given her exceptional marksmanship, and tremendous calm under pressure).
Credit: ABC
It all comes to a head when Molly deduces that the woman pretending to be the security guard's "niece" is actually Andrea, and so the ranger gives chase along with Agent Clarke. Along with a backup team, they corner Andrea in the hospital parking lot, only for Andrea to take a doctor hostage out of desperation. Clarke, who has a sniper trained on Andrea's location, orders her man to take the shot. But Molly commandeers Clarke's walkie and orders the man to stand down, explaining that Andrea is a decorated war hero. The sniper, sporting a Marine tattoo (an anchor along with the words "Semper Fi"), decides he isn't going to take Andrea out, no matter what Clarke orders, lying over the radio and saying his shot is obstructed. This gives Molly the opening she needs to confront Andrea and plead her case, assuring the former veteran that she isn't a bad person, and that it's not too late for her to have a second chance. Molly adds that she'll do whatever she can to help Andrea once this is all over.
Credit: ABC
Andrea lets the hostage go and briefly turns the gun on herself, but she can't bring herself to pull the trigger. She hands her gun over to Molly, and just like that, the standoff is over. Andrea is taken into custody, and we're treated to a surprising effective montage in which we see Andrea tearfully reuniting with her father during prison visitation, while Molly takes a moment to thank a random soldier disembarking from a bus, saluting him in the process simply as a means of letting him know his service is appreciated. It's kind of trite, but I think it works within the show's left-leaning conservative sensibilities.
Credit: ABC
Yet the rest of the episode doesn't work nearly as well as its Case of the Week. Jake is continuing to contest the divorce by pressing forward with the marriage counseling sessions, which Molly resists at every turn. This puts her into direct conflict with Dan, who thinks Molly should just grit her teeth and barrel through the counseling sessions just to get it over with. While Helfer and Blucas have solid chemistry, I'm still struggling to feel all that invested in their pairing, as none of their quarrels ever seem to stick within a single episode. Beyond the Jake obstacle, the relationship never feels like it's being challenged by any significant conflicts. Of course, some relationships are just fortunate like that, in the sense that certain arguments quickly blow over, while other sore spots don't really stick like they would with a couple less well-matched. But a couple as sarcastically lovey-dovey as this makes for boring TV. Really, the only interesting parts were Molly's emotional reveal of her mother's death from cancer, and the episode cliffhanger in which we learn Dan has been shot. It's inconceivable he'd die at this point, so it feels like a bit of a pointless development, but I like that the show has no real problems with actually having things happen to its main characters, even in the early going. If nothing else, it's a development that's far more interesting than Billy's possible affair with a party planner -- a storyline that feels like it's from a completely different series altogether.
Credit: ABC
"Warrior" is far from perfect, but at the very least, it's a marked improvement over last week's Killer Women. At this rate, I don't feel like I can really ask for any more than that. And hey, I'll take basic competence over the mess that was last week, any day.