Escape from Shit Mountain

Yikes. I don't want to give anything away, but this episode was true edge-of-your-seat material. Natasha is fantastic as her character gets personally wrapped up in making sense of yet another set of twisted criminal circumstances. The comic relief moments between Charlie and "Morty" were much appreciated and provided respite from the intensity of the overall plot. Great acting and directing, as usual. Since this is the penultimate episode in Season 1, I get the impression that one story thread that seemed not to connect to the plotline will somehow be resolved in the final episode. I am really looking forward to this as well as the entire next season.

There may be a certain expectation, on the part of viewers, for showrunners to keep their most expertly crafted -arrows- in the holster until the very end of the season, but still: this beauty of an episode, with its daring, even experimental narrative structure, truly left me in awe. And while criticism was often directed towards Charlie being reckless and unprepared when confronting the culprits, they here go their own, completely unexpected way of showing her vulnerability as a young woman on the run. Anyone claims -I saw that coming-, well, you know the answer to that^^

Here's me hoping to succeed in not spoiling too much when I say that chapter 9 of this little gem of a crime series has gorgeous cinematography and a lovely setting (Fargo & The Shining come to mind), yet another round of impeccable guest actors (boy do I love JGL in THAT nasty role for a change!), amazing, positively mind-boggling storytelling, and the already signature slick humour mostly transported by the witty dialogue of the main character.

To me, this is Rian Johnson at his finest and one (way too short, or so it feels) hour of unmitigated enjoyment for crime buffs.