“See that’s the problem with amnesiacs, they don’t get the movie references.” – Hank
It’s easy to hate the term “bromance” because, well, it’s a pretty detestable term, but it’s hard not to label the partnership between Hank (Donal Logue) and Britt (Michael Raymond-James) as one. They finish each other’s sentences, they bicker, they occasionally get into real fights, but they always make it work.
In “Missing Persons,” Britt worried that he wasn’t getting enough of a say in the business decisions being made and Hank really, truly offered to try and be less demanding (though he admits he will be condescending). We are still learning about how this partnership functions (it’s important to note, Hank and Britt have only known each other about two years), but it’s little moments of insight like this that point to what makes them such a formidable duo. They honestly care about each. Bromantically.
Yet while the relationship between Hank and Britt is the strongest and most enjoyable element of the show, a female character was the stand-out in “Missing Persons” (much like last week’s Katie-concerned storyline). The revelation that Hank’s sister Steph was the person hiding out in Hank’s attic could have been a letdown, but Karina Logue has brought great things to the role and she was particularly heartbreaking in this most recent episode. In the opening scene, Steph and Britt share a night in where it seems her mental state is becoming somewhat more stable. The excitement on Hank’s face quickly turns to sadness when Steph starts calling to their mother who isn’t in the house.
He has to ignore it as he has his own case-of-the-week to deal with (which we will be getting to shortly), but Steph takes it upon herself to meet some of the neighbors while Hank is away. First she meets Mrs. Eames, Hank’s kindly gardening-enthused next door neighbor who points out the Friendly household across the street. She watches, bemused, as a young girl swings from a swing set on the front porch and approaches. The girl’s name is Elle and she quickly takes a liking to Steph, inviting her to play in her room.
There’s always a high level of tension during film and television scenes where strangers interact with children with no adult supervision. (One example that I always think about is the scene in Con Air where Steve Buscemi’s serial killer character has a tea party with a little girl. My father had seen the movie before I had and only promised to bring me after he made sure that the girl wasn’t harmed. Of course, in hindsight, it would have been ridiculous for Jerry Bruckheimer and Simon West to create a sequence that dark in an otherwise throw-away action movie like Con Air, but it just goes to show how understandable awkward we as a society feel about interactions between children and potentially dangerous strangers). Even though we can assume that Steph is probably pretty safe, once she enters the girl’s house, I was holding my breath and waiting for the girl’s mother to enter the room. Sure, they were just coloring, but what parent wouldn’t assume the worst? And despite Steph’s good intentions (hell, she’s even aware that her behavior is probably somewhat inappropriate), being caught in a situation like that just wouldn’t look good by any means.
I give credit to the cranked-up tension for making the ultimate twist (one that in hindsight, I should have seen coming) appear out of left field: Elle doesn’t exist. She’s just another example of Steph’s increasingly deteriorating mental state, one that her medication just can’t keep up with. When she busts into the Friendly household to make sure Elle is okay, she finds the room that she had spent time coloring outside the lines isn’t a child’s room at all: it’s an older man’s study.
Hank really, really, really wants to take care of her himself, but Steph insists that she isn’t his responsibility. She checks herself into a new assisted living facility and tells Hank to visit her often. And with money always a concern for Hank, he offers to pay the bills, even though the bearer bonds from the Lindus job have to be hidden away until the heat dies down.
The case that he and Britt take on in this episode isn’t likely to help cover any of those bills. It’s another problem that just falls into their laps (an issue that I really don’t have any issue with anymore) when they hit up their favorite diner for some breakfast. A college-aged drifter caused a scene and locked himself in the bathroom. They offer the owner (fun fact: played by the same actor who runs the sewage department on Parks and Recreation) their services to get the kid out in exchange for free breakfast for a week (steak and eggs not included). Using Britt’s lock-picking prowess, they bust into the bathroom and find the kid freaked out because he has no idea who he is.
Without any money or ID, this would seem to be a dead-end kind of case, but John Doe reminds him of when Steph first started having her own mental breakdown and decides to help the kid figure out his identity. The one clue he does have on his person is an anti-malaria pill, which can cause memory loss as a side-effect. Hank and Britt take the kid to the police station to see if they can find any hits on a missing person fitting his description, but when the kid sees a flyer for a female missing person named Jessica Samson, he freaks out and runs away.
With the help of their Lone Gunman-esque band of merry nerds, they determine that John Doe is a college student named Adam Fisher. He had a crush on Jessica and her a plane ticket to visit Cambodia with him. They track down Adam’s parents house and find a tied-up Jessica locked away in the basement. It turns out that she had turned down his offer and his medicated mental state caused him to react in scary ways, leading to her kidnapping.
With Jessica safe, the heroes become worried that the unstable Adam might try and kill himself (likely suicide by cop) over his guilt. He takes Jessica’s roommate hostage which what is later revealed to be a squirt gun and Hank “talks him down.” And just like it’s hard not to feel bad for Steph, it’s hard not to feel the same way for Adam. He really doesn’t understand what he’s doing and Hank of all people can relate to that. But Hank is clear with the kid: don’t take it for granted that his “craziness” will pass. As he knows all too well, for some people it doesn’t.
More thoughts on “Missing Persons”:
- Katie isn’t pretending that everything is okay with Britt as well as Hank told her to. She’s acting very distant and Britt is concerned that it’s because she found the ring. He complained about some of Hank’s bad habits tonight, but relented to keeping their partnership strong. I can’t imagine that when he learns of Hank hiding Katie’s mistake, he’ll be as calm.
- “I do two things well, Steph. The other thing and making you cry.” – Hank
- “It was a French cathedral. It was built in the something something century.” – Hank
- “Half-court shot at best and you know it.” – Britt
- “Kind of wishing I showed up for the S.A.T.’s” – Britt
- “I’m gonna take care of the asshole who did this to her. Me.” – Adam
- Ominous line: “It’s not like before. There was no blood this time.” – Steph
- Terriers is getting pretty god-awful ratings, so if you know anyone with a Nielsen box, please tell them to watch this show. It’s far too good to only last one season.
Some stats and info about Terriers, “Missing Persons”
TV SHOW – Terriers
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 1, Episode 7
AIRED ON – October 20th, 2010
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – FX
GENRE – Drama, Comedy, Crime Dramas
CREATED BY – Ted Griffin
CAST – Donal Logue, Michael Raymond-James, Laura Allen, Kimberly Quinn, Jamie Denbo, Rockmond Dunbar
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.