When I learned PoI was paying a visit to our very own Lone Star State this week, I was happy as a clam at high tide. Not because I expected CBS to actually fly the cast and crew to Texas or even show some half-assed establishing location shots. No, I just always enjoy the way those from outside the state choose to represent us.
In all fairness, last night's episode "Bad Code" didn't go quite as far into redneck stereotyping as I feared (I really expected some racism against Carter, which Reese would've dealt with by breaking 20 guys' kneecaps). The only discernible difference between this episode and any other was the vaguely yellow tint (Traffic has so much to answer for) and the amount of camouflage worn.
Oh, and we also found out Root's true identity, which was kind of important.
This week's episode jumps back and forth between present day and 1991, when a 15-year old girl named Hanna Frey went missing. Reese is convinced she's Root, and insists Carter accompany him to Bishop, TX, her last known whereabouts. Fusco gets to hunt up why Corwin was in NYC. Oh, and look after Bear the dog. I'm glad Bear is sticking around, and enjoyed the Turner & Hooch-ness of his and Fusco's interactions.
The sinister Solicitor General is also looking into Corwin, and his man on the inside at NYPD isn't too worried about Fusco's competency level, though he mentions Corwin used to work for someone named Denton Weeks. The SG tells him not to sweat Weeks, which means he's probably showing up soon.
Then it's on to Bishop, TX, where Carter is a bit taken aback at the menfolk cleaning their hunting rifles in a hotel parking lot (it's the start of deer season, city slicker!). She next tries to talk the chief out of Hanna's file, but she craps out and Reese has to sneak in and nab it. They go to the library where she went missing (right after playing "Oregon Trail") and talk to librarian Barbara Russell, who tells them she also checked out Flowers for Algernon. They talk to Hanna's dad next, he still believes it was Cody Grayson, the punk ass kid who was obsessed with her. Cody is a current barfly, and after the obligatory bar brawl (and a ridiculously easy credit check) the two discover someone opened a bank account in Hanna's name two years after her disappearance.
In Maryland, Root continues her post-human ranting. She's also kidnapped the aforementioned Mr. Weeks, a White House lawyer, threatening to kill him if he doesn't tell her where the Machine is or if Finch doesn't show her how it works. When Root leaves momentarily, Weeks tells Finch they have to stop her, and so Finch helps Weeks escape and incapacitate Root. This turns out to be the slightly lesser of two evils, as Weeks pointedly asks what Finch knows about the Machine's location. Stupidly, Finch reassures Weeks the Machine is safe from remote access, which the latter is happy to hear, since he's the only one who knows the servers' location. He's about the reward Finch with a bullet when Root tases him, bro.
