When we last left our hero in The Fugitive, Mike Ferro (Boyd Holbrook), he’d just found out along with the rest of the world that he was the suspect in the subway bombing. And LAPD Counter-Terrorist Bureau chief Clay “Boss” Bryce (Kiefer Sutherland) was just finding out that issuing a gag order was a moot point, thanks to relentless tabloid reporter Pritti Patel (Tiya Sircar). And in a line that just rolls off the tongue, Bryce demanded to know, “Who in the name of Saint Gives-A-Sh*t is Pritti Patel and how fast can we get a muzzle on her?” Yikes. But just then they all found out that the cops are already chasing Mike down.
For some unknown reason, Mike decides to head back down into the subway. But as soon as he gets to the platform, he realizes what a stupid idea that is. All the trains are stopped, and he’s trapped. So as the cop (David Salsa) who spotted him in the ER corners him, Mike ends up locking himself in the driver’s cab of the train. Then he does what anybody else would do and starts driving the train, because of course anybody can just wing that. And as Bryce and his padawans, Womack and Stamell (Genesis Rodriguez, Daniel David Stewart), are driving like crazy topside to get ahead of him, Mike figures out how to uncouple the cars and leave the ER cop behind.
Back at The Daily Score, Pritti’s boss, Jerry (Glenn Howerton), reams her for that latest viral tweet. But just as he fires her, the company’s owner comes busting in. He is thrilled because their “little news company” is now a huge deal. Everyone’s citing The Daily Score as a source– even CNN wants to talk to them. Ooh. And despite Jerry’s justifiable anger and reasonable concern that what Pritti put out there isn’t even true, the owner just shines him on and whisks Pritti away to start doing interviews.
While Bryce’s padawans drop him off at the subway entrance, down below, Mike’s in another jam. As soon as the car hits 50 mph, it stops, and as Bryce moves in on one end and his padawans close in on the other, Bryce calls Mike out. Of course, he makes sure to call him Michaelangelo Ferro and tells him he’s gonna be taking him in. He keeps chatting as he approaches the train, telling Mike how he doesn’t really care if he dies. Everything important in his life was taken from him on 9/11. He also says that he left New York for L.A. to clear his mind, because Lord knows all that smog and unbelievable traffic and crime does wonders for your health. But he assures Mike that no matter what, “this ends right here, right now!”
Only one problem: Mike’s no longer on the train, so Bryce basically wasted that whole monologue. He keeps looking around and spots a ladder. Mike drops down out of it and in the ensuing scuffle, manages to get Bryce’s gun. He trains it on Bryce and tells him he’s not going back to jail for something he didn’t do. He warns Bryce that he’ll shoot, and Bryce reminds him that he doesn’t care if he dies as he rushes him. Mike cold-cocks him with the gun and takes off. And as Bryce’s padawans show up to help him, Bryce tells them to get an alert out. Mike’s armed and dangerous, and should be shot on sight.
Mike stumbles into a utility room with some lockers, and as he changes into one of the uniforms, he accidentally shuts the gun inside the locker. Nice going. Then he finds some shoe polish (because utility workers are meticulous about having shiny boots) and uses it to darken his hair and beard. And meanwhile at one of the local TV stations, Pritti’s getting ready for her closeup. But the news anchor (Edelyn Okano) makes sure to lay down the law: it’s her show, not Pritti’s. And as they go live, Dale (Brian Geraghty), the guy who walked out of the subway with Mike after the bombing, watches the interview from home and realizes they’re after the wrong person.
Soon after, Bryce gives a press conference officially naming “Michaelangelo Jonathan Ferro” (because bad guys always have to have three names, and we absolutely must keep reminding people of Mike’s full name no matter how obnoxious it is) as the prime suspect. Bryce also names Mike’s wife Allison (Natalie Martinez) as a possible accessory. In answering some of the reporters’ questions, Bryce reveals that he and Mike fought, and Mike stole his weapon. Another reporter asks Bryce if he’s too emotionally invested to lead the investigation, given his wife’s death on 9/11. Bryce replies that he’s just the right amount of invested: “100 godd*mned percent.” And as he walks off with his padawans, Mike passes right by them, hiding in plain sight with a bunch of other first responders.
Bryce arrives at the Ferro house, where an officer walks him through what little evidence they’ve found. They dug a few bottles of nail polish remover (aka acetone) out of the trash – acetone neutralizes explosives residue. Hmm. Suspicious. They also looked through the search history on Mike’s laptop and found that he’d been looking up servo motors, which could’ve been used in building the bomb. Also suspicious, but hardly a slam dunk.
Meanwhile, Mike’s daughter, Pearl (Keilani Arellane), is stuck in the principal’s (Andy Buckley) office. Her cell phone rings, and it’s Dale. He explains that he was with Mike in the subway and that he used his phone to try and call her. He says that Mike didn’t do what everyone’s saying he did. Mike’s a hero. He talks to the principal, pretending to be her “uncle,” and he gives Pearl his phone number to give to Mike if he calls, telling her he’ll do whatever he can to help him.
Mike ducks into a bodega to buy a burner phone, but when the cashier (Tre Hall) says he needs to see his ID, Mike tries a snatch and grab. The cashier tackles Mike and puts him in a sleeper hold. Mike manages to get a hold of the “lucky” pocketknife his recently deceased parole officer gave him. Using it, he stabs the guy in the leg. But then, being the nice guy he is, Mike grabs a fifth of whiskey and tosses it at the guy. He tells him to use it on the wound before taking off with the phone.
And in Chicago, poor Allison’s handcuffed to a table and protesting her innocence to the FBI. They ask her about the acetone; she says they were using it to scrub a ring out of the bathtub. Then they ask about the searches for servo motors – she says it was research for Pearl’s robotics project. Then they ask about the “kill it all” text. Turns out it was supposed to be “kill it Allison,” as in good luck on her presentation. The Feds aren’t convinced. As they walk out, Allison asks if she can talk to Pearl and they reply with a very decisive “no!”
Back at Pearl’s school, as soon as the principal leaves the room to get her something to eat, Mike calls Pearl on her cell phone. She tells him that they have arrested Allison and she’s scared that the cops are going to take him away too. She then tells him about Dale, and he assures her that he’s not going back to jail. Then Mike calls Dale, who suggests that they meet up and go to the L.A. Times instead of the police, since they have that annoying shoot-on-sight thing going on. So Mike agrees to meet Dale at the courthouse across from the Times.
***
Some aspects of the show seem to have settled into a groove in these last few episodes, mostly Holbrook’s and Sutherland’s characters. Holbrook has the “nice guy” part of the role down, though he doesn’t get to do much besides gape and look shocked at everything that’s happening to him. As for Sutherland’s role, it’d be easy (and not exactly wrong) to just call Bryce Jack Bauer. I mean, all you have to do is change one word in the agency name and you have “CTU” instead of “CTB.”
But Bryce is different from Jack. This dude’s a lot angrier, with a much saltier bent (even though a lot of the sarcastic humor doesn’t work). And most interestingly, Bryce has a death wish. He even tells Mike he doesn’t care about dying. Which makes him either the best detective to have on the case or the worst. He could end up being a really awesome character if they do it right, but I’m not convinced that’s gonna happen.
As for the rest, it’s still pretty meh. Overall performances are still skewing broad and the writing’s just not as good as it should be. And yet, I’m still interested in finding out how The Fugitive is going to end. I’ll keep hoping the remainder of the series rewards my willingness to stick with it. We’ll see.
Related: The Fugitive Episodes 1-3 Recap
- HOLD YOUR BREATH Spoiler Review - October 8, 2024
- APARTMENT 7A Spoiler Review - September 29, 2024
- SPEAK NO EVIL Spoiler Review - September 17, 2024
