If you were waiting for the Stephen King-like supernatural aspect of this show, this episode is it. With the investigation virtually turned upside down after the murder of Terry Maitland and the older Peterson brother, Ralph Anderson calls in unusual reinforcements to continue the investigation—because it’s far from over.
Of course, as we know, a strange figure was seen standing outside of the courthouse when Mailtand’s murder took place and within the midst of chaos, he stood completely still, as if he was taking everything in all at once. This shot is insanely important in the show’s entirety because it opens a whole new story-line up to the viewers along with a handful of new questions that arise for the investigation. Before this shot, I was hesitant to keep watching considering the entire show so far was mostly just your standard police procedural of “you did this, here’s the evidence, and we got you”. But my opinion changed when I took a closer look at the figure because his face was visibly mangled, even with his hood on.
Not long after the courthouse incident, Ralph Anderson is called to a case by the barn, where investigators notice an interesting residue left behind with the clothing Terry Maitland was apparently wearing the day he “murdered” Frankie. This raises an abundance of more questions for Anderson, which is when his character goes under massive development for the show. In the beginning, Anderson seemed like the average pig of a cop, who only cared about catching the bad guy and looking like the hero. Not anymore. Now, with the new evidence of clothing and strange, sticky residue left behind with it, Terry’s last words of innocence, and the figure at the courthouse, he’s unsure of what to think. One thing he knows for sure is that something bigger is happening around them, and he’s going to get to the bottom of it.
I loved this episode the most out of the first two because of the character development between first episode Ralph and third episode Ralph. He grew on me because of the way the show portrayed his depressing life of police work and lonely home with his wife. Not long ago, Ralph’s son had passed away so as the viewer we get to see the soft, emotional side to his reasoning for treating Terry so aggressively in the first episode.
As Ralph’s character develops, so does the investigation. Since new questions have arisen that are beyond a normal person’s brain comprehension, reinforcements are called to the police station. One reinforcement is Holly Gibney, and she’s smarter than you think. She is introduced to the show while her character is on the phone and she’s continually naming the make, model, and details of cars passing on the street. Every single car.
That night she meets with Alec Pelley, a retired state trooper who was called to the case by Howie, the lawyer. This is Alec’s, and our, first time meeting Holly and seeing how she as a person maneuvers through daily life. The book that this series is from hints that she may be on the autism spectrum and I’d agree in the sense that she doesn’t socially interact like someone who is not on the spectrum. Social cues are missed, as well as her sentence structure being extremely stiff. Although she’s a bit strange, her strangeness is needed in this case as she is invited to become one of their new private investigators.
GBI agent Yunis Sablo soon calls Ralph Anderson with compelling news about fingerprints that were found in the barn with Terry’s clothing. The fingerprints were Terry’s, but they seemed to be that of an older Terry. As if whatever had created these fingerprints was slowly wasting away or corroding.
Holly Gibney starts her investigation strong by following leads to Dayton, Ohio where Terry Maitland and his family had visited Terry’s father on their vacation weeks before. She finds out that two young girls were found murdered near where Maitland’s father was staying, and he was investigated for that matter. When she finds this out along with the evidence that someone had already been arrested for the two girls murders, she is the first person in the show to use the word “doppelganger” and explain that Terry may have had a twin, not biologically connected, who had committed the crime. This is exactly what I wanted someone to say while I was watching everything play out.
I should add that towards the end of the episode, Ralph Anderson, though he’s on leave for the courthouse shooting, meets with Glory Maitland and her daughter, Jessa. Jessa has been having recurring dreams about a man who visits her and tells her to give Anderson messages to stop the investigation or someone will get hurt. Ralph talks to Jessa, letting her know that what she’s seeing is valid and concerning all while trying to find out who this man is. Ralph tells Jessa that the man should stop coming to her if she were to tell him to give Ralph the message directly to which she responds, “I don’t think you want that”, which is terrifying to hear from a child.