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

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“You’d be surprised how much our past trauma informs who we’re drawn to.”

I’ve got to say that despite CBS seemingly doing everything in their power, scheduling-wise, to make Clarice feel poorly paced… I think that if you were to watch the series at a normal rate, the pacing would be pretty pitch perfect. Now, I don’t think it’s a thing CBS is actually doing on purpose or anything, it’s just the result of how the rollout of this less than traditional series (for the network in terms of length) has gone. I think it’s a testament to how well the show is written, directed, and performed. As we grow closer and closer to the close of the first season (hopefully not the last), I’ve only grown more enamored by the skill involved. 

Clarice is back to seeing Dr. Li after the doctor’s hypnosis was immensely helpful in uncovering the identity of Hudlin. Clarice feels like she can trust Dr. Li to help her deal with her personal and work-related trauma, even going so far as to agree to actually take the doctor’s advice in regards to where they end up landing. If Clarice will actually leave the FBI, should the doctor suggest it, remains to be seen, however. 

But Starling is prompted to visit Dr. Li because of an apparent suicide that she thinks is related to Hudlin and the grand conspiracy - not to mention she feels connected to the dead woman in question. Carolina was a medical student from Yugoslavia, whose husband was killed in a civil war. She jumped from a bridge and died on impact when she hit the iced-over river below. She left behind her wedding ring and a bank routing number, written in Hebrew, on a gum wrapper. A mystery for the team to uncover.  

Despite Krendler putting the kibosh on VICAP investigating Hudlin, the team remains unconvinced, sussing out the ways that they think Carolina might be related to the river murders and the drug trials. Unbeknownst to them, however, Krendler is not taking kindly to being blackmailed. Instead, he’s taking matters into his own hands to try and prove that Hudlin is the man Clarice believes him to.

On the other side of things, outside of the VICAP storyline, Ardelia is being simultaneously recognized and shoved into the corner for her work. She’s passed over for the DNA taskforce, but they’re using her research and work to get the funding and as the base for what they’re doing. Instead of leading the team, she’s asked to basically be the assistant to the white guy who was chosen to run the taskforce. Disillusioned by the truth she didn’t want to see before, she finally decides to join the Black Coalition.

So, the episode comes to a head with two different meetings–one between the Black Coalition and one of the VICAP team–which I think will hold a lot of power in both the last stretch of season one, but also in the future of the series and the alliances made within the FBI.

On a more technical note, I found myself really loving the way that Deborah Kampmeier directed the sequence and shots of Carolina dying. Which is so oddly specific, but it felt very different from other deaths in the show. The visual language of it, as it’s being told to Dr. Li by Clarice, gives you a lot to process. Clarice has this picture of Carolina in her mind, the idea and feeling that she’s connecting with so strongly.

Which feels like a great time to add into the conversation about Clarice that so much of this series is directed by women. Of the 9 episodes we have information for, only two of them weren’t directed by a woman (and were, in fact, directed by a single man). The other 7 episodes were directed by four different women, including the pilot which set the visual language for the show as a whole. Those are some stellar numbers for behind-the-camera gender equality–especially on a crime show, which is even more traditionally dominated by men. 

As we move into the final stretch of the season, I’m absolutely dying to see how much of the conspiracy will actually wrap up. How far down does the rabbit hole go? Will we actually get there soon? And, once there, will Clarice and company be able to find their way out?