The Glades uses an impressive metaphor.
I’ve had some personal run-ins with pain pill addicts myself, and I have to say that “Addicted to Love” really captures an addict’s sense of desperation and need for affection. The episode’s opening scene in a strip bar shows that the episode’s focus is going to be on human affection, and in some capacity, human relationships. The scene also delivers a helping of dead Haitian doctor to kick off the show’s mystery. Jim Longworth and Callie Cargill team up again to unravel a secret drug scandal in a pain clinic and also sort out their relationship troubles.
Their investigation leads to a young woman with a pain pill problem and an attachment to the former Haitian doctor. Longworth and Cargill discover that the Doctor was a “fall man” for a larger scandal set up by a medical company, and that the good doctor was not above accepting sexual favors for drugs. The twist in this episode is that the doctor is sincere about helping his patient and slowly weens her off the drugs with each encounter. This intimacy ignites enraged passion when the young addicts learns he has a daughter in Haiti and that he is their doctor-patient relationship.
From the summary, you can dissect the spine of this episode: dependency. This episode uses drug addicts as a metaphor for human relationships and it particularly applies to Longworth and Cargill. Much of the episode is focused on the two figuring out their relationship and how it relates to Longworth’s blossoming romance with Sam Harper. The Haitian doctor and patient relationship parallels with Longworth and Cargill, as both couples are seeking to help each other and can’t stop helping each other. Why? Because Longworth and Cargill are addicted to each other! Go ahead and place the Captain Obvious Mardi Gras beads around my neck, I don’t care. It’s rare to see crime dramas use the case being investigated as a metaphor for the investigators’ relationship. It’s even more rare when it’s done well! Despite the conflict written in their scenes, there is more than enough sexual tension to make the audience realize that these two are human. And hell, they care about each other.
This added layer of depth really shines when Longworth is given a choice of irreconcilable goods from his other love interest, Sam Harper. She offers to come with her to her new job or to stay here with his team. This scene tests Longworth and we see his visible hesitance at Harper’s offer. Who wouldn’t be hesitant when you are choosing which romance to be addicted to… for life. A lot of shows attempt the metaphor thing, but mostly fail. The King (or queen rather) of this was Buffy. Law and Order: SVU and Bones also try this on occasion, but most of the cases in the episode are designed to make characters disagree on ideas. This show used a case to provide insight into two characters’ past and present romance.
Seeing the use of metaphors, it is not hard to imagine why The Glades earned its second season. The only show that can rival The Glades is Bones and that’s because Bones also cares about developing its characters. Think of The Glades as Bones lite. Don’t misunderstand, that is not an insult. It’s a perfect way to satiate the starved Bones fan.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.