The Bridge Season 1 Episode 9 recap
I’m watching this at the family ranch, which is in Texas, so there’s a level of authenticity to this week’s recap.
Flashback to the accident that killed David Tate’s family and turned him into a serial killer. It’s a chicken-and-egg scenario, though. Did he become a killer because of what happened, or did he use it as an excuse to do what he’d always wanted to do?
Dying in a fiery auto accident is my #3 least-preferred way to die (after murdered/stuffed in a deep freeze and shark attack).
The beads explained: As Mrs. Serial Killer is pulled from the pancaked car—which is graphic, by the way, but after Deputy Stokes’ face-removal via shotgun such things have lost some of their impact—her necklace breaks and Tate picks up the scattered beads. I like this sequence so far—no sound but for white noise until it comes in with Tate’s anguished cry. Solid sound editing.
Back in present times, Marco and Sonya are still dealing with Marco’s asshole captain and Sonya thinks Tate is planning something more than everything he’s done so far. Marco races off to check on his family, which seems a little back-tracky because I thought he’d made that leap in the previous episode, thus his panic in the bathroom.
I really love the horse barn on Rich Widow’s ranch.
It’s less loveable when Graciela shows up in an ambush, looking for Shady Ray because of the bugs in the guns he gave her. Enter Totally Badass Cesar, with a shotgun, to save Rich Widow from having her face carved up with a box cutter. Jesus—Graciela really does not f*ck around.
“What do we do now?” asks Rich Widow, immediately after killing Graciela with a godd*mn pitchfork. Graciela is now officially done not f*cking around.
The Bridge is better at the green screen/driving around shots than Justified, but it’s still noticeable. Is it really so much to ask for some actual driving to take place? Anyway, Marco can’t reach his family, but Gus is talking to his punky girl friend and discovers the text “she” sent to meet later is bullsh*t. Trap avoided…?
Ruh-roh, Alma picked up their two little girls, which means they are now with Tate, by extension.
This is where I think The Bridge shines the most—Marco and Sonya working through case details while also dealing with the added layer of Sonya’s Aspergers and what that means for how she handles people and cases. Marco is flying to pieces and she’s like, “He’s going to be good at torturing and killing your family”, and he gets on her for not being able to be reassuring. He still doesn’t know she has Aspergers, technically, but it’s clear she honestly isn’t making the leap between what she knows is the truth and what Marco needs to hear. I love these scenes. These scenes, and anything with Creepy Steven.
Just to make his phone call with Marco extra creepy, Tate smushes a beetle while talking to him. And then he has happy family picnic time with Mrs. Marco and their kids (minus Gus).
Speaking of Creepy Steven. He’s back at that farm place where he left Runaway Hooker. And he’s carrying around the piece of dried human skin that the Raging Lunatic Pimp was carrying when Creepy Steven accidentally killed him while ironing. The only not crazy/creepy/asshole people on this show are Gus and Mrs. Marco, and she’s f*cking a serial killer, so I’m not sure she counts.
I wish I knew where I recognized this preacher/farmer from, but I can’t think of it. He tells Creepy Steven that after his first kill, he couldn’t get enough cheeseburgers. So they’re bonding over murder and food. Yay?
Tate and Mrs. Marco talk about his dead family. He’s promising a surprise after dinner. Don’t go, Mrs. Marco! I’m pretty sure the surprise is your head in a freezer!
Surprise—Tate wired his apartment to blow up. Double surprise—he has a secret Crazy Room, where he keeps all his crazy. Sonya examines the Crazy Room and makes some connection in her Sherlock brain. Apparently Tate is going to blow up Marco’s family in a cabin in the desert.
Meanwhile, at the murder cabin. Alma is starting to have doubts. Instincts—we have them for a reason.
Tate’s plan: Mrs. Marco trapped in the murder cabin with her kids, holding an unpinned grenade.
Goddamn Thomas Wright continues to knock this out of the park. His confession to the Runaway Hooker about killing the Raging Lunatic Pimp is fantastic. The delivery is spot on.
Gus confesses about texting with his friend that wasn’t his friend, and Sonya takes a moment to be offended that he called her a MILF when she doesn’t have any children. Nice touch of levity to break up Gus’s overacting.
Hank takes over texting since Tate doesn’t know Gus et al are onto him via the texts. But Tate’s an ex-Feeb and picks up on the ambush. He gives the set-up “Gus” GPS coordinates.
So Alma is going to blow herself up?
Poor Gus, he’s trying to talk to Sonya and she’s like, “Buzz off, kid.”
Hank and Marco at the murder cabin. They at least get the girls out. And Marco manages to throw away the grenade, saving Mrs. Marco, which seems too easy. So obviously, that was not really Tate’s plan.
Oh yeah, Rich Widow and Cesar! I totally forgot about this part. Look at Rich Widow, taking ownership for her murder by pushing Graciela into the unmarked grave (that she made Cesar dig).
Rich Widow: What happens next?
Cesar: Hopefully nothing. I’m going to take my wife out to dinner and pretend none of this happened.
Tate’s real plan: He T-boned Sonya’s truck and kidnapped Gus. A son for a son?
Attached – Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson attend a gala dinner in Venice a few days ago, and out and about in Venice earlier that day.
