Created by Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Starring Rebecca Breeds, Michael Cudlitz
Thursdays at 10PM on CBS

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“Everybody’s got a game, honey.”

Okay. So… feel free to mark down episode three of Clarice, entitled “Are You Alright?,” as the one where I lost my damn mind. Surprise, kids, we’re doing the seralization I craved! At least in some part. We’ll have to see what happens next week and if the seemingly stand alone conspiracies of the first two episodes intersect.

It’s my guess that they will, which is beyond exciting and exactly what I want most in the world for this show!

We’re back with the original case from the pilot. You know, the “it’s not a serial killer, but please say it is” one? Karl Wellig, their killer, survived his shooting from the pilot and they’re finally about to question him about the murders and offer him the deal he asked Clarice for. The only snag is that he’s actually circling back and recanting - he didn’t kill anyone, and he certainly never asked for a deal. 

The episode plays out as a cat and mouse game, mostly taking place in the interrogation room, as they try to figure out the psychology of Wellig enough to get under his skin and figure out who hired him. It’s a good, old fashion massive conspiracy and Clarice is sinking its teeth into it.

Something that I really loved about this episode is how it’s opening up the trauma conversation across all of the leads - not just Clarice. Certainly, she’s still at the center, but we get to see how every main character involved in the Buffalo Bill case is coping with it. Like, Paul Krendler isn’t a character from The Silence of the Lambs that anyone really loves, but Michael Cudlitz gets so much interesting material that really fleshes him out. He gets to be recentered as a victim of Jame Gumb, even if it’s by degrees of separation. It’s a case that touched everyone, and we’re learning a lot about that fallout. Plus, getting to see Catherine again is outstanding. I’m really excited for when her storyline properly blows up because I think it’s going to be a spectacular exploration when it intersects with Clarice’s. 

Also, Clarice’s father’s death keeps coming up in the flashbacks. Especially in this episode and the previous one, as trigger points for her PTSD. He was a marshal and he was killed while on duty. It’s where we, as the audience, understand that her need and want to be in law enforcement comes from - that he instilled this in her and that she’s traumatized by his death. And that’s a perfectly good place to put Clarice’s childhood pain. It makes sense, and it’s present in both the film and the novel.

However, what hasn’t been mentioned yet in the show is that Clarice is lying about the details of her father’s life, and death. He wasn’t a marshal. He was just a night watchman, without a gun. It’s part of this fictional fabrication that she’s been telling her entire life to keep herself emotionally safe. They haven’t done enough with it within the confines of Clarice, however, for me to say with 100% certainty that they haven’t altered this history. Especially with how they seem to be playing fast and loose with the canon dates, which is understandable.

I can only hope they haven’t altered this aspect of Clarice Starling. It’s such a big part of who she is and what kind of broken person she’s hiding. It’s something Dr. Lecter sees through in the original story, taking the information out of her in one of their quid pro quo exchanges. Give me your old hurt in exchange for new and improved trauma! If they keep it the same, then it’s something that I can see the show using to establish the all too important trust between her and her team. Especially with Agent Esquivel. (As a side note, Lucca De Oliveira is doing some really great work in this episode. I love Tomas more and more with each passing hour of the show.)