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

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“We always end up going home.”

Clarice is back with a bang, and it’s here to stay for the whole of June - which is beyond exciting, given the potential revelations at the end of “Motherless Child,” and what they might do for the canon of the series and title character. 

It is now, ten episodes into the series, that the consequences of Jame Gumb’s actions come home to roost. And it’s more than in the psychological way the show has been exploring thus far. Catherine overcomes her trauma-induced agoraphobia to finally track down Lila Gumb, Jame’s mother. She finds her first at church bingo, before she follows her home and confronts her. After a back and forth concerning who Lila thinks Catherine is (a reporter), Catherine accidentally knocks Lila out with a head injury. She drags the older woman into the house, and hopes she hasn’t actually killed her. 

Eventually, Lila wakes up and pulls a gun on Catherine. But Catherin just wants information on why Jame was the way he was - why he did this to her and ruined her life in such a particular and painful way. But Lila can’t provide her the answers she’s looking for, which Catherine doesn't really believe. Despite not being around people since Clarice saved her from Gumb’s well, Catherine is quick on her feet and is able to get the gun from Lila. She revists her line of questioning with their roles reversed. 

When Ruth realizes her daughter is gone, she calls Krendler and Clarice. Krendler because he was with her when everything with Buffalo Bill was happening, and Clarice because she was the one with Catherine. Of course Starling knows exactly who Catherine has gone to see, even if she’s not sure where Gumb’s mother is currently living. In order to try and pinpoint where Lila Gumb might be, Clarice and Ardelia pull back out all the evidence from the Buffalo Bill case. All the objects that hold Clarice’s trauma are laid bare and, within them, she finds her answer.

Clarice goes alone to find Catherine, which her psychiatrist notes as her operating procedure even when it is at her own expense. What results is three women, hurt and forever changed by the actions of one person. A mother whose parents were killed by her own son, a woman who was taken and almost killed, and the woman who stopped him. Clarice is able to get through to Catherine before she takes her away from the Gumb family home. 

Clarice then turns Catherine into the police because she’s been living in such an insulated trauma tunnel, and she recognizes that Catherine Martin needs to know there are consequences to her actions. And I think this is the only way this aspect of Catherine and Clarice’s interlocking story could end - or at least be tied up for now. Catherine’s character arc really embodies the idea of “hurt people, hurt people” and this episode is the culmination of all her pain and resentment. But also all the kindness that Clarice can give her. 

As Clarice recounts everything to her doctor, she continues to relate her upbringing after her father’s death to Jame’s - something she brought up when trying to reassure Lila in the house. But then something about Clarice’s memory of her “perfect day” with her dad... changes. It’s something the show’s been dancing around and playing with - Clarice and her repressed memories. That she’s holding back so much to protect herself, and that maybe her relationship with her father isn’t nearly as clear as she once thought. 

And that, coupled with the rest of the VICAP team convincing Julia to get more information for them, is leading into two very interesting storylines for the next month. The character driven, personal one with Clarice, and the physical one that’s related to the conspiracy. I think Clarice is doing a great job of balancing everything to keep it interesting, without leaning on one thing too much. Which is all I can ever ask for from a show like this, so I’m loving it!