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“The Fall” recap (2.4): The sky is falling, the sky is falling

Previously on The Fall: Dr. Tanya Reed Smith should have gotten on that elevator. Dr. Tanya Reed Smith should have gotten on that elevator. Dr. Tanya Reed Smith should have gotten on that elevator. Dr. Tanya Reed Smith should have gotten on that elevator. Oh, and teenagers are idiots, men are emotional weaklings and Paul Spector remains creepy as fuck.

DSI Stella Gibson’s hotel room has become a Tyvek suit convention. Since discovering Paul’s break-in and violation of her inner sanctum, she has notified authorities who are now combing over her most private of things. She looks on with horrified resign as they cart off everything she would never want public — her laptop, her dream journal. Stella’s face registers a stoic mix of disgust, embarrassment and rage — so much rage.

Paul is continuing his violation from the comfort of his hotel room. He is loading all of the pages from Stella’s journal he photographed. As far as mentally invasive things go, stealing the contents of the woman who is investigating you’s journal is pretty high on the list. Also up there are touching her undergarments (did that) and seeing her in her most intimate moments (almost did that, if Tanya had gotten on that lift).

Paul is taking smug pleasure in reading even the most mundane offerings in Stella’s journal. An entry about a dream about her and her father comparing how tan each other’s arms are makes him smirk in a way that makes me want to punch him in the face.

Stella arrives at the office and for the first time we see her a bit adrift. She needs a new laptop and asks how to log onto the terminals the mere mortals use. But then, like a switch, she focuses back in. She looks up the artist Henry Fuseli, who painted the work Paul so thoughtfully picked for her new wallpaper.

She quickly comes to the conclusion that Paul is a shit and clearly taunting her with the use of the late 18th Century painting “The Nightmare,” which depicts an incubus atop a sleeping woman. I mean, I’m assuming that’s the conclusion she comes too, because it’s the one I came to.

A towel-clad Paul is giving people a taste of what to expect from Christian Grey. (p.s. I see you in the trailer, Rachel Skarsten.) He’s also watching a video of Katie and her friend singing their fucked up love songs. Serial killers, they’re just like us. They like to watch fanvids on YouTube, too!

ACC Jim Burns arrives sheepishly in Stella’s office. He wants to process what happened. But Stella is like, I have no time for your bruised male ego. She shows him surveillance video that proves Paul was in the room when Burns was there, and might have overheard his name mentioned as a suspect. But Burns is too busy freaking out about whether he heard the bit about his corrupt actions. Of course, Stella is having none of it. This isn’t about your career, asshole, it’s about a string of dead women. Priorities, for fuck’s sake.

Police continue their surveillance on Teenage Mutant Cliché Katie. I find she has become a much, much less interesting character now that her motivations are clear. She isn’t trying to expose or challenge Paul. She is just a dumb teenager in a dumb crush doing dumb things. Yawn.

Burns and Stella are looking over a printout of the Fuseli painting. Stella acknowledges the ravaged sleeping woman is meant to be her. And Burns then notes that the stumpy little demon is Paul. Stella also reveals Paul has read her dream diary, and now her most deeply personal thoughts are known to a misogynistic sociopath. But Burns is only worried about procedural information it might have contained.

OK, quick lesson on how emotions work: When it’s revealed a serial killer might have overheard an argument including sensitive details from your current case, you worry about that case. When revealed a serial killer read a dream journal including sensitive details from your most intimate psyche, you worry about someone’s feelings. Priorities, for fuck’s sake.

The loss and violation Stella feels is palpable. This is a woman whose work is her life, but whose life is none of her work’s business. But now that boundary has been ruptured forever. Her diary in evidence, lost to her. She laments that, “Modern life is such an unholy mix of voyeurism and exhibitionism. People perpetually broadcasting their internal and external selves. My diary is private. It is not intended for publication.” In other words, don’t bother looking Stella up on Facebook or Instagram.

Burns proves his abysmal score on the emotional intelligence test once more by fashioning himself some sort of protector of Stella when he showed up unexpectedly at her door. Stella calls him on it because this is finally a show that calls men on their bullshit about women. He says he came today to apologize, but Stella tells him there is no need. She almost made the same mistake.

Granted, sleeping with a work associate during an active investigation is probably a bad idea for anyone. But, oh, how amazing it would have been. For Stella and Tanya, naturally. Burns can piss off.

Stella confesses that, “We all have physical and emotional needs that can only be met by interaction with another person. The trick is to ask someone appropriate to meet them.” This is probably too long a sentiment to be printed on a T-shirt, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting one.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen entirely too much serial killer nipple this episode. Can Paul please start wearing shirts again. His exposed beady little nub is making me lose faith in humanity. He is Googling Katie’s friend, Daisy. Oh, this is bad. This can only lead to bad.

Meanwhile, in the car ride to Incest Town, Paul’s daughter wonders aloud why she can’t marry her daddy. Sally Ann tells her one day she’ll find her own nice man to marry. But an actual nice man, not a serial killer, right? I thought all parents wanted their children to do better than them in life.

Surveillance continues on Sally Ann and family. For a show that moves fairly slowly, it’s incredible the amount of suspense they’re able to wrest from even the most pedestrian scenes. I watch each weak with a growing knot in my stomach. I’ll even catch myself holding my breath. Like, really, I have to remind myself to breathe sometimes.

The team of detectives goes over their latest findings. They’ve delved into Paul’s history as a bereavement counselor. The couple he counseled who lost their son, and Paul got into it with the street thug (and abusive) father, is mentioned. And it’s also mentioned Paul still works as a freelance counselor. This sets off Stella’s Spidey sense immediately. Like you can practically see the cartoon squiggles of concern emanating from her brain.

She gets up immediately and goes to check on who the bereavement counselor sent to see Annie Brawley is. I cannot tell a lie, at this point I was actively cheering. Paul counseling Annie is one of the most unsettling scenes in a series filled with unsettling scenes. I am unapologetically pleased we won’t have to see another one. Oh, and while we’re on the topic of unsettling things, nice drawing of a bleeding princess holding a bloody knife, kid.

Stella follows her hunch down to its inevitable conclusion. It was Paul who counseled Annie, and he has another appointment scheduled in half an hour. Remember when I said I sometimes forget to breathe during this show? I was blue in the face this entire sequence.

Stella and the team rush to the hospital to keep Paul from seeing Annie, without alerting Paul or alarming Annie. Stella cuts Annie’s haircut short (See what I did there? Sorry, I make bad jokes when I’m nervous), and whisks her out of the room leaving the cute, more-than-likely lesbian PC Hagstrom to deal with Paul.

They manage to give Paul the slip, with minimal suspicion bells going off. But then he sees the hairdresser walking out in the lobby. I know Stella & Company only had a half hour to get things organized, but shouldn’t someone have told the stylist to stay put until the operation was over?

Sally Ann has also shown up to talk about their relationship, so they leave together. Stella and Annie come out of hiding and the explaining of what the hell is happening begins to the poor, bewildered woman.

In the midst of all this, Stella gets a call from cute, actually lesbian PC Ferrington who informs her a body of a woman has been found in the woods near where Paul stole the car. The knot in my stomach tightens: Could this be Rose Stagg?

Annie seems genuinely disappointed about Paul because “he was the most helpful anyone has been.” Stella probes her further. Why did she like him? Why was he helpful? She says he was like a mirror, reflecting her back non-judgmentally. This is interesting, given the show’s love of mirrors and the detective’s earlier description of Paul’s mirroring behavior.

While on the surface this is a cat-and-mouse show about the hunt for a killer, so much simmers underneath about our society and how we see ourselves. What we see. What we want other people to see. What we don’t want other people to see. And it has Gillian Anderson. Jesus, this is a good show.

After, gently but firmly warning Annie to not discuss Paul with anyone, anyone at all, she goes to leave. She also promises to protect her, properly, from now on. And then Annie remembers. She remembers Paul at the bar. She remembers he was there the night she lost her ID. She realizes he is the man who attacked her.

As much as it is problematic to have show after show that depicts horrible violence against women for entertainment, it’s just as important to have shows that allow those victims to be more than faceless plot devices driving home a familiar narrative. The world is, indeed, a scary place. But when the humanity, or lack thereof, of everyone is allowed to be shown in full it becomes a little less so.

Right, I’m sorry, you were wondering about the plot. Good lady detective and bad dude detective (it’s so much more descriptive than their actual names) go to visit Liz Tyler, the wife whose husband Paul had the scuffle with and is now in a safe house for abused women. She tells them about how Paul helped her, and the night he visited unannounced. She admits she wanted something more to happen with him. Oh, honey, you so dodged a bullet there — like Matrix-style bullet dodging.

Stella is driving up to the scene where the unknown woman’s body has been found. On the way she gets updates on the surveillance on Paul and in turn updates Burns. He says really helpful things like, “We must not lose him!” Really? How insightful. They would have never thought that on their own. You are clearly good at your job and deserve a cookie.

Through it all, Gillian manages to make even the ordinary act of looking at a map riveting. Or perhaps it was the thing she did with her tongue. Screencapping this show is the gift that keeps on giving.

But, seriously, you should see my photo folders. Gillian Anderson/Cheekbones. Gillian Anderson/Eyebrow. Gillian Anderson/Lips. OK, now I sound creepy. *backs slowly out of the room and shuts the door.*

Stella arrives on scene and is greeted by PC Ferrington looking all sorts of adorable back in her police uniform. Though, mind you, I’d still rather she be in plainclothes and working more closely with Stella.

She walks her up to where the body is and there Stella is greeted by Merlin. I’d recognize those ears anywhere. They belong to Colin Morgan, from Merlin, and he is the SIO in charge of the case. Though it seems Stella can’t quite place him because she keeps staring at him like, “Oh, I know this guy from somewhere. Something with period costumes. Is it Game of Thrones? Outlander? Maybe it’s Downton Abbey? Shit. He is so familiar.

We’re meant to assume that Stella might have intentions on young, handsome SIO Tom Anderson. But how could she when age appropriate, even more handsome pathologist Reed Smith pulls up in black leather on her motorcycle. I mean, really, this isn’t even a fair fight. Stella promptly turns around and walks toward the hotness.

She asks if Tanya is up for examining the body, given that it may be that of her friend Rose. The unspoken subtext, of course, is a question of whether Tanya is up for the awkwardness of working with the woman whose room she almost went up to the night before. Well, the good news is Tyvek suits hide blushing and regret really well.

As they examine the body it’s still unclear whether the woman is Rose or not. But Tanya notices the absence of a cesarean scar, which Rose had, on the victim’s body. There is relief, which is terrible to say in the presence of someone else’s death. But it’s understandable. Stella looks up to see a snapped rope and realizes the woman was hanging, and more than likely a suicide. Never let the drudgery of Earth-bound horrors prevent you from looking up into the heavens. Especially at a crime scene.

Good Lady Detective and Bad Guy Detective are next off to interview Liz Tyler’s charmer of a husband, James. Dudes with weight benches in the middle of their living rooms are always charming, no? Wait, sorry, the opposite. He continues our man nipple extravaganza by answering the door for them shirtless.

He goes off in an equally charming rage about his ex-wife and Paul and how the female detective should suck a part of his anatomy. She gives it right back, minus the vulgarities about anatomy but with a healthy does of feminist righteousness talking about how women are not possessions. Dude detective tells her, “That’s not helpful” instead of giving her a well-earned high five.

As they leave the house, she gives Bad Detective the whatfor for being a sexist ass and treating her like a damsel in distress. She also kindly invites him to join the 21st Century and maybe pick up a copy of The Feminine Mystique.

Stella has decided to use the poor, unknown woman’s death as a chess piece. She asks Anderson to hold back on releasing detailed information on the case for 12 hours to give them an advantage. As someone who always crosses her Ts and dots her Is, she then goes to see Tom Stagg to tell him of their plan. She also tells him they haven’t given up hope. How Gillian manages to come across simultaneously intensely serene and intensely passionate at all times is a miracle I thank the television gods for daily.

An extra scowly Paul and his family arrive at a kiddie birthday party. He looks around suspiciously because who isn’t suspicious at the sight of brightly colored balloons. The police have received permission to enter his house to set up surveillance and take this visit as their opportunity. So then for the second time this episode I involuntarily hold my breath.

The team enters his house and begins work. The show’s very spare, very effective score adds to my general anxiety. In times of tension it sounds like a racing heartbeat. Or maybe that was just my heart thumping out of my chest. Hard to say. Stella monitors the team as they install cameras.

Bad Dude Detective, who is leading the team apparently, does one good detective thing and finds a drawing Paul’s daughter has done in a drawer. It matches the impression of a drawing found on the letter sent from the killer. But they can’t use it as evidence because they’re only on a surveillance mission. Damn you, series of laws meant to keep order and uphold the rights of individual citizens. Just kidding, I rather like those, even if right now they’re a bit inconvenient.

One of the men goes into the attic and, I kid you not, my TV-watching partner turns to me and says, “Oh my God, what if he falls through the ceiling?” And then, yep, he falls through the ceiling. He crashes onto Paul and Sally Ann’s bed. And that, friends, is what we call a monumental cock up.

Stella has a few choice curse words to add to the situation. She tells them to make it look like a water tank flood and get the hell out. Your headdesk is our headdesk, Stella.

While the effort to catch Paul is fucking up royally, the effort to protect Paul by Katie is going swimmingly. She is spending her spare time making imaginary journals filled with drawings of him and fake entries in different pen colors to give him alibis for the nights of all the murders. She also tells her bestie that “he means everything to me.” See, this is why children under the age of 18 shouldn’t have the Internet. Or phones. Or pens. Or free will. Just kidding. Mostly.

Paul and the family return to a dripping home. He enters alone and stalks through the house in his normal creepy stalking fashion. I’m petrified he’ll find evidence of the intrusion. Like the drawing has been left out. Or a footstep is in the dust. Anything.

Still reeling from the ceiling caving in on her investigation, quite literally, Stella runs into Eastwood moving a potted plant into his office. She asks him about Tom Anderson and he gives her a shitty little smirk when he describes him as, “Young, charismatic, good-looking.”

Stella tells a smallish white lie in response, saying she only saw him in a full forensic mask. She tells Eastwood that he might make a good addition to the team and to look into it for her. He laughs to himself as she leaves because women with their own independent agency and unapologetic sexual desires are just funny, I guess.

Paul continues to be a creeper in his own home, searching for any signs of a disturbance. He knocks some notebooks down from his attic space, which were still sitting there undisturbed. They’re filled with sketches. Have we seen these before? I can’t remember because sometimes I try to forget the scary shit that happens on this show afterward by purging with a half hour of cute cat videos. In theory. Possibly. I’ve said too much.

Stella goes to the mortuary to try to hook up with Reed Smith again clear her head Um, has anyone else noticed the glaring lack of police protection for Stella? The killer was IN HER HOTEL ROOM. He TOUCHED HER THINGS. He INVADED HER PERSONAL SPACE. While she was in the room and everything! But, sure, let her drive alone all over town by herself. This will turn out fine.

Right, sorry, got off on a tangent there. I just don’t want anything to happen to Gillian Anderson’s beautiful face. I’m protective, so sue me. Stella asks Tanya if there is anything new on the woman who turned out not to be Rose. But, for us expert readers between the lines, she is really there to process their Big Lesbian Feelings for each other.

ACC Burns turns up again, talking about how nothing must happen to Spector’s children. What’s notable about the scene isn’t the sentiment, but the reaction of the detectives, particularly Bad Dude Detective. He straightens his clothes and hops to obsequiously. So then I guess he won’t be bragging about how much Burns wants him after he has left the room, then.

To paraphrase a very smart woman we all know: Man in charge of man. Subject man, verb charge, object man. That’s okay. Woman in charge of man. Woman subject, verb charge, man object. That’s not so comfortable for you, is it?

Tanya is finishing up her paperwork and wakes up Stella who has dozed off on her couch. She tells a groggy Stella she looks ready for sleep. They smile at each other sweetly, with real care. And that, my dear, is the start of a beautiful fan-fic.

In a bedroom of self-delusion and misplaced affections, Teenage Mutant Cliché Katie is proving herself to be just that once again. She has been waiting all day by her laptop to see if Paul will video chat her. Finally he does and she is like, “Is there any way I could be even more useful to you as a misogynistic murderer?” He tells her he is glad she is in pain “because other people’s pain gives me pleasure.” Hey, wrong plotline; 50 Shades of Grey doesn’t come out until February.

Then he asks Katie if she is “ready to embrace the darkness?” Um, really? Ready to embrace the darkness? What is this, Serial Killer Drama Class 101? Has any human being actually said that to another human being un-ironically? Apart from Darth Vader talking about The Dark Side?

Katie, being a teenager and a cliché, naturally interprets this the naughty way and starts to take off her shirt. I thank the writers for at least not going entirely there with the show. Instead we get Paul’s manifesto about the essential nature of the world. His ideal world is a place of pain and suffering, grief and despair. So, if you took that song “Love Is All Around?” In Paul’s playlist it’s “Suffering Is All Around” and it’s his No. 1 jam.

Paul says they should get pleasure from suffering, and Katie says the one not completely exasperating thing she has said all season, “I don’t know how to get pleasure from suffering.” Yes, Katie, go with that feeling. Run with that feeling. Run far away from Paul. RUN.

But instead, they plot about how to bring down Katie’s “sexy” friend Daisy. Maybe she’ll get fat. Or maybe some random stranger will throw acid in her face. He tells her other people’s happiness is an affront to him, and they should reduce that happiness whenever possible. He wants her to nurture her envy, her anger. You know, pillow talk.

Man, Katie is going to murder her best friend, isn’t she?

Stella receives a call from Det. Anderson about the unidentified victim. All indications are she took her own life and he reads her very sad suicide note to emphasize the point. What makes us humans do the things we do? When greeted with the seeming indifference of the world, why do some lash outward and some last inward? Lord, what fools these mortals be.

Tanya walks in on Stella in the morgue, leaning against the suicide victim’s body. She asks her what on Earth she is doing, which is a perfectly reasonable question given the circumstances. And Stella replies, “Wondering where Rose is.”

Sweet merciful Zeus, how is it possible there are only two episodes left?

More by Ms. Snarker: @dorothysnarker or dorothysurrenders.com.

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