- Truxton Spangler (Michael Cristofer) has some serious thinking to do in "A Good Day's Work"
This week’s Rubicon episode “A Good Day’s Work” may as well have been called “The One Where the Excrement Full and Truly Hits the Air Blowing Device”…
Well, this sorta changes everything, doesn’t it?
It would seem the dynamics of the show have changed irrevocably after this one. Once Spangler uncovers how deeply Will has burrowed into the Fishers Island cabal and orders his execution, the battle lines are fairly well-drawn.
It’s Will, Kale, Katherine and (possibly) Will’s team against Spangler, Roy, the surviving members of the Legion of Doom and the untold resources of API, Atlas-McDowell and the ridiculous labyrinth of multinational conglomerates and government agencies they control. Not exactly a fair fight, it would seem…
LAST WEEK: Read the Bunker review of last week’s Rubicon episode “In Whom We Trust”
ARCHIVES: Read all of this season’s “Rubicon” reviews
Spangler continues to be the most intriguing, not to mention original, character in “Rubicon,” thanks in no small part to the rumpled authority and strange vocal pauses of Michael Cristofer.
While my initial theory that Spangler wasn’t the ultra-boogeyman he appeared to be seems pretty well blown at this point, he’s no less fascinating. Or conflicted, apparently, about the means he must take to reach his ends.
During a fantastic scene in Will’s office, Spangler seems genuinely sorry about his role in David’s death and just as remorseful that Will is about to meet a similar fate. Of course, that won’t stop him from issuing that order – but it does seem to show he’s not the straight-up monster that he appears to be.
Which leads to a big question left in the aftermath of “A Good Day’s Work” – what part of the conspiracy puzzle is Will still missing? For the most part, Will has pieced together what’s happening: a group of childhood friends, now titans of industry, are using API intelligence and capitalizing on – or possibly even engineering – world catastrophes for huge financial gain.
While money itself could explain all the moves made by Spangler’s Legion (God knows, even the hint of real money will make people do pretty much anything), it’s not just the almighty dollar that’s driving this train, right?
While Spangler’s moral compass is heavily compromised at the very least, is it just a lust for cash that made David, and then Will’s deaths necessary? Is the Legion more of a Brotherhood, prompting a defense of his fellow conspirators as more of a family obligation than a business maneuver? Or is there a deeper ideology or worldview that’s acting as the roadmap for the cabal’s actions?
With all indications now that the upcoming Kateb terrorist attack is somehow tied to the Atlas-McDowell crew, what’s Spangler’s endgame? From his dealings in Washington in “The Outsider” to his handling of all the API investigations so far, Truxton Spangler seems to be a dyed-in-the-wool patriot. While it could all be a skillfully constructed lie, is this group of New York born-and-raised boys really backing a terrorist assault on American soil? I keep thinking there’s one last crucial piece to this tapestry that we’re missing…
Speaking of Kateb, it was engaging to watch Will’s team really ratchet up their game under the pressure of an impending attack.
What would seem to be the toughest part of Rubicon’s bizarro-“24” aesthetic – leaving action off-camera while basically focusing on eggheads thinking (basically, it’s Andy’s football players vs. AV club analogy) – has actually started to work. For weeks, it felt like a tough sell trying to engage the audience and make them invest in the fate of characters we never saw like Kateb or George or Yuri.
But at this stage, it isn’t so much about those characters or what they plan to do that has our attention. It’s the stress their plans and movements put on Will and his team and the toll that takes that holds our focus.
It was rewarding to see Grant make the breakthrough linking the Keyser Soze-esque Kateb to New Jersey’s own Joseph Purcell. We actually care that the stress of coming back to work and an impending terrorist strike has Tanya searching for pills. We enjoy the small hand touch that indicates that the Miles-Julia dinner seemed to work out pretty well.
Too bad they’re all apparently working for Satan. While Spangler’s lure may keep Grant and, to a lesser extent, Tanya under API’s thumb, it should be interesting to see how Will’s “situation” gets spun.
And what about Will’s situation?
I have to admit, by the end of “A Good Day’s Work,” I have no idea where we’re headed with Will. He can’t go back to work. He can’t hide out at Andy’s — especially after kicking her to the curb for her own safety.
I assume Kale has some sort of plan (because Kale is the kind of guy who always has a plan), but other than going to Joe Turner route, where can he go and how can he turn this thing around?
Am I buying that an unsuspecting Will could fight off and eventually kill a longtime spook like Donald Bloom? Not really…but I’ll let it go because I’m genuinely stumped about where all this is going. Where earlier in the season that lack of direction seemed like shoddy construction, the open possibilities now hold a fair amount of intrigue.
Just two episodes left…still a lot of questions to answer, but I’m far more invested – and far more interested – in the answers now.
