The Bridge - Recap: Hung Like A Horse

"Rio" doesn't disabuse viewers of the notion that the human spirit can be unrelentingly dark, nor does it portray our protagonists as anything less than deeply flawed. But those flaws give them nuance, and really, at the end of the day, these are people who still show considerable competence at their jobs, despite any flaws in their character. So even if we're at odds with who these people are, beneath the surface, there's still a central reason to root for them, and to trust in their ability to get the job done. Of course, this is all just a rambling, circuitous way of saying I really enjoyed "Rio," as the episode found a way to move the character-centric stories forward while not doing damage to the overarching plot of the season (in which the hunt for the serial killer continues in nail-biting fashion). "Rio" is essentially a character study, which not only makes it terrifically engaging, but also crucial to the series in this early stage, as we need to get some semblance of who these people are, outside of the context of the larger problem that needs solving (and a crazed killer making philosophical/political points is one hell of a problem to solve).

Credit: Byron Cohen/FX Network

The cops are following up on the death of the migrants from last week, all of whom were poisoned by the killer's water. All except for one, who was picked up on the side of the road by the killer himself. And now the authorities are in a race against time to prevent her from becoming the killer's next victim. Of course, the killer continues to have vague, somewhat contradictory motives of his own. He phones Daniel Frye (Matthew Lillard) and demands a ransom of $1 million split four ways, for each of the wealthiest men in El Paso. The idea of getting paid for his crimes seems to run contrary to his ideological motives -- assuming his motive actually is to draw attention to the disparity in how crime is treated between El Paso and Juarez. And I'm not sure we know enough at this point to make that leap. The killer, however, continues to be a strangely fascinating figure, identifiable only by his cowboy boots and his technologically-disguised voice. In this instance, he really twists the knife in the police investigation by tying the migrant woman and leaving her out in the desert to bake under the sun, with a live video feed that eventually gets posted to the El Paso Times. He intends to force the police to watch the woman slowly succumb to exposure, and the lack of any identifying markers in the background of the video makes it difficult to tell where, exactly, she is. And the desert is a big place to be lost.

Credit: FX

Yet even while the crime doesn't tell us as much as we'd like to know about our killer, it tells us plenty about the characters investigating the crime. Daniel Frye was a mess before the killer psyched him about with that bomb scare, but he's unraveling even more now. He continues to use drugs, perhaps to deal with the psychological toll the case has taken on him, in addition to the police intending to use him to help them crack the case, since the killer has singled Daniel out as a confidant, of sorts. Daniel has also taken to drinking excessively and hitting on his co-worker, Adriana (Emily Rios) -- and her sister (who, to be fair, started flirting first). He has even more reason than usual to be a mess, as he sees a man shot right in front of him while he and Adriana are out investigating a lead. Daniel is far from perfect, giving Adriana grief about how she got her job at the Times and why she didn't end up pregnant with three kids by age 20, but he's still fighting the good fight: he tries to get the killer to meet face-to-face with him so he can tell the killer's story and maybe bring this entire mess to an end. But the killer isn't having any of it. The only thing Daniel has to show for his efforts by episode's end is the video feed the Times ends up publishing to their website. Basically, the migrant woman isn't long for this world.

Credit: FX

And Marco (Demian Bichir) isn't long for the married life, it seems. In one of the biggest developments of the episode, he visits with Charlotte (Annabeth Gish), who's just buried her husband, the wealthy Karl Millwright (one of the men named in the killer's ransom request). Charlotte has had a rough day, dealing with her stepdaughter's sass and rejecting the suggestion of Karl's partner -- an older Mexican woman -- that they go into business together and keep the underground tunnel running. Marco has also been having a rough go of it, as Sonya (Diane Kruger) reported him for compromising the crime scene by letting Karl's ambulance pass through in the pilot. His attempts to get her to drop the complaint fall on deaf ears, and even if she wanted to drop it, there are other factors to take into consideration, namely that other officers have accused him of accepting money from Charlotte to allow the ambulance to pass. In order to clear his name, he visits Charlotte that night and asks her to sign a paper acknowledging that no payment was made. It's hardly their first interaction, as Marco establishes himself throughout the episode as a warm, trustworthy figure in his encounters with Charlotte, offering condolences over the loss of Karl, and a sympathetic ear to her intimations that her husband wasn't the man she thought he was. Taking all that into account, it shouldn't be that surprising, then, when Charlotte asks Marco to stay ("I'm not tired") and kisses him, at which point Marco sweeps her into his arms in a big kiss. Hell of a way to start an affair, especially when you take the aftermath into consideration: Charlotte goes wandering into the stables after Marco has left, and finds her husband's prized horse hanging, dead. The shady business partner from earlier had been admiring the horse, but it's impossible to believe she'd have done this alone. Could be she has a dangerous host of hired hands, in which case, Marco might have inadvertently gotten himself involved with a woman who isn't likely to be free from danger any time soon.

Credit: FX

Of course, it's not like Sonya is exactly living the safe life either. Her focus in the investigation centers briefly on Steven (Thomas M. Wright), who continues to be too obviously creepy to actually be the killer, even if his regular speaking voice sounds like a non-distorted version of the killer's voice. Steven is still being stalked by the mystery cartel man from last week, and while it's not immediately apparent where this particular storyline is headed, it remains engaging by sheer virtue of the mystery of how it folds into the larger narrative. The whole solution to the killings, and the killer's motive, can't be simple. Not with all these variables in play. Figuring out how they all fit together is part of the fun of this show, even if it's not exactly fun for the detectives. And I have a hard time believing anything is fun for Sonya, who continues to be impenetrably awkward, taking offense at Marco saying that flowers he bought for a coworker's birthday were from the both of them. But while that is one instance where it's kind of silly to be so weirded out, Sonya actually does have a reason to be perturbed by the end of the episode (and not just because Marco's son wouldn't stop ogling her): her one night stand from last week randomly appears at her job to ask her out to dinner, since he didn't have any other way of contacting her. This would be awkward enough, but it's made worse by the presence of her superiors and other colleagues. No wonder she keeps her guard up. But all social developments aside, she remains glued to the case of the killer, waking Lieutenant Wade (Ted Levine) to inform him of the live feed of the killer's latest victim. Sonya thinks this is a lead as to the killer's angle, but it's Wade who makes the grimly astute observation, "He's going to let the desert take her." Let's hope the police can keep that from happening.

Credit: FX

"Rio" is a terrific episode simply for its characterizations, as the performances continue to give us insight into the lives of these characters, and the internalized traits, thoughts and feelings that govern them. The stories could stand to be a little leaner, as any one episode tends to have a lot more going on than is probably necessary. But that's a minor complaint, given how rarely the show feels overstuffed. We're only three weeks in, but the show is still among the most promising new series of the year for how deftly it blends the narrative urgency of a thriller with the nuance of a rich character study.