Rubicon - "Caught in the Suck"

Tanya (Lauren Hodges) and Miles (Dallas Roberts) get to witness the wonders of information extraction at a undisclosed location.

Photo Credit: AMC

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Rubicon'
Season 1 - Episode 8
"Caught in the Suck"

I so hope that 'Rubicon' gets renewed. I know the ratings aren't that stellar, but this show is fantastic. I would hope that AMC will give the show at least another season. I would really hate to see the main story thread rushed to a conclusion or just left hanging there at the end of the season due to cancellation. This show continues to be a wonderful surprise that's unlike anything on at the moment.

Kale Ingram continues to be awesome. We're slowly learning more and more about who he is. He hired Maggie to spy on Will. That was her primary job and being an office assistant was her cover. When he realizes that she is developing feeling for Will, he come clean. He actually tells Will that he had Maggie going through his stuff. Amazing.

Kale isn't an unfeeling monster, despite his pushing of Ed "down the rabbit hole" of analysis. When Will fires Maggie, Kale tells her that he'll bring her back into API as a translator when a slot opens up. He exposed her spying on Will because he knows that she cares about Will and would eventually supply Kale with false information. He also refers to himself as "Will Traver's guardian angel".

The thing about Kale is that he is a patriot. He wants to protect America and its interest. Atlas McDowell poses a threat to the country and it has it hands in the intelligence community, the military, and the government. It's huge and has it's own agenda and I think Kale will stand by and watch a small group of people control his beloved country for their own interests.

It appears that James Wheeler maybe having doubts about what he, Spangler, and the rest of their little cabal are doing. Katherine's husband was his best friend and he wasn't too pleased with the staged break-in of her house. When he realizes that he is being spied on, he sends that picture of the cabal as young boys to Katherine. On a side note, are we to understand that Wheeler pays his receptionist $500 per daily 3:00 roll in the hay? My, my, these guys are rich.

While Will makes some great connections, thanks to Ed's research, Miles and Tanya are hauled off to God knows where to verify information as an Al-Qaeda operative is interrogated. First of all, the duo are thrown into an incredibly uncomfortable situation as they have to be in the same room as the man is tortured. Due to the classified nature of the information that they are handling, they can't even tell their superiors of what they are witnessing. Spangler lets them know via teleconference that he is very aware of their situation and his appreciation of their work.

The discussions that Tanya and Miles have during their trip is really great material. As Tanya puts it "Why do the bad guys get to believe in God while everyone else is caught in the suck?" Does one's faith justify their actions whether they're a terrorist or a torturer? Speaking of torture, Miles isn't against it because he doesn't think bad people shouldn't be hurt, but because it doesn't work and because of what it does to his own soul.

A connection is made between Tanaz, the woman that was at the Boeck wedding, and target of the drone strike from a few episodes back. The sad thing is that the information was out there for API to make the connection, but the CIA didn't want to expose a possible double agent. No wonder these analyst are so stressed out. They're asked to find answers for people who won't give them all of the clues.

Spangler's acknowledgement to Tanya of her failed drug test and his intentions of retaining her make sense. Even if he hadn't made it clear that Tanya is going to be working there for a very long time (whether this is praise of her talent or more of a Mafia type of once your in, you in for good, is yet to be seen), it make perfect sense that an intelligence firm would work at treating an addict rather than firing him or her. There would be the danger of that a fired employee could reveal classified information out of revenge, but this is also an admission that this is a very stressful job that can push people to their breaking point. They are ordering drone strikes and bearing witness to torture. One would have to be made of stone to not let it get to them. That or just be awesome like Kale Ingram.