“Connecting the Dots” was easily my favorite episode of Rubicon to date. Will now realizes he has gotten himself involved in something very dangerous: kill orders, assassins, top-secret C.I.A. files, etc. And for awhile during this ep, it sure seemed like he was gonna do the smart thing and let it drop. But in the end, that’s not how he’s built and not why he entered the business he did.
My favorite moment of the episode, and of the series to date, came after Will had followed Donald Bloom to a restaurant. Though I should say I had an issue with Will’s plan, given that he has a 9-5 job, and obviously wouldn’t be able to do any sort of a thorough all-day tail job. In any event, Will got lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things go) and was able to track him to a restaurant where Bloom had a lunch date with Kale, apparently an ex-lover. The moment where Will spots Kale and Kale spots him right back was truly terrifying. Isn’t this the man responsible for David’s death? Does this mean Will is now going to be targeted? Will panicked and fled. What else could he do?
I also loved the scene right after where a still shaken Will goes to Maggie for information. Will's fear and paranoia are absolutely palpable. James Badge Dale has done a wonderful job with such a taciturn character, able to convey mountains of thought and feeling with nothing more than a look. And poor Maggie has been put right in the middle of something she doesn’t understand. She has Kale grilling her for info on Will, and now vice-versa. It seems she hasn’t chosen a side yet as she’s neglected to inform on either one of them. (Remember, she lied to Kale and didn’t tell him about Will’s problems moving on from David’s death.)
A more fascinating character than Maggie who also seems not to have chosen a side is Kale, himself. Earlier in the season I had assumed he was fully complicit in David’s death. But in his choice not to tell Spangler about the incident with Will, followed by his warning to Will, it seems that Kale may have a genuine concern for our hero’s well being. Moreover, near the end of the episode, we see him spying on Bloom and Spangler. There’s no way of knowing exactly what was going through Kale’s head when he saw them emerge from their secret meeting, but it seems clear that this went on behind his back and that it constitutes some form of betrayal in his mind.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Spangler is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. After his brilliant tie speech and overall political maneuvering last week, we know this man if a force to be reckoned with. And he seems to be one step ahead of Will all the time, getting to David’s Houston file and shredding it before Will can get his hands on it.
The scene between Will and Ed was a powerful one. When Will sees what this conspiracy is doing to Ed, and we get a glimpse of how the “codes cracked him,” he makes the choice to take Ed out of the equation. He lies and tells Ed they’ve been following a dead end. But based on Ed’s reaction, I’m not convinced this will bring him back from the brink as opposed to, say, driving him to suicide. The unexpected benefit to Will is that Spangler was listening, and now views Will as a non-threat.
What I’m wondering is if Will was simply lying for Ed’s sake, or if he had truly planned to stop, himself. If the latter, it’s possible that Kale’s comment about not wanting to see Will involved in any “mayhem” could have convinced Will to get back in the game. Whatever the case, it was both exciting and creepy to see Will constructing his own “connect the dots” puzzle. He is closer than ever to solving this jigsaw, but also closer than ever to losing his mind.
While I’d still like to know more about Miles and Grant as characters I’m really enjoying Tanya. She’s clearly good at her job and, as Will said, was way ahead of the curve on Geogre Beck. Despite her success with Spangler, Will may be right that she’s not cut out for this business. Even her victory drove her to drinking. I’m guessing the blood test Will ordered for her will measure her blood-alcohol level, rather than just testing for actual drugs.
Ms. Rhumor has finally joined the rest of the cast. It appears she may be the next target for assassination by Donald Bloom on orders from Spangler. Unlike Will, who truly lives this life and understands what he’s getting himself into, Katherine is getting herself involved in something she can’t possibly understand and is hopelessly ill equipped to contend with. I'm glad she's finally starting to mesh with the A-plot, but it's taken a bit too long for that to happen.
As far as the conspiracy itself goes, I’m very interested in the cover-up, but remotely intrigued by the thing being covered up. Go codes for assassinations, shredding of documents by API, Will being recorded and followed-that’s all great stuff. But the second I hear about oil I start to roll my eyes. Why is it always about friggin’ oil? Every show, every movie. If there's a conspiracy, dollars to donuts, it's about oil (re: almost every season of 24).Why can’t it be about a shadow government or cheesecake or something? Really, anything would be preferable to oil at this point.
That being said, this episode has me excited to see how these dots will connect down the home stretch of the season.
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