The Bridge - Season 2, Episode 2 "Ghost of a Flea" Review

                The theme The Bridge began with is a very common theme that has been done many times, but what it made it so special in the first season of The Bridge is that it was presented very differently in a dark, gritty, but realistic, mature, and intelligent way. The second season of The Bridge may not be quite as good, but it is definitely still very smart and intelligent.

            I thought that this episode was an improvement over the season premiere. I’m not saying that the first needed improvement. I really enjoyed that episode. But I think this episode is more involved, more interesting, more intense, and a better written episode all around.

            One thing I complimented the last episode on was how it gave some of the characters we already know really well more development, like Sonya. Here, we don’t really learn anything new about Sonya, but we do learn a bit about Hank. We learn that Hank is not fond of Sonya spending time with her sister’s killer’s brother. He thinks that because he has the blood of the killer, he is like the killer. I don’t agree with him, but I like that. He is a “good guy”. He is a main character. And I’m glad that he’s not just all-around great person who does nothing wrong. He has views that clash with other people’s views… like everyone else

            I don’t think that it’s a negative aspect of the episode that there wasn’t as much character development one characters we already know, though. We also need development on new characters now that we have introductions to them. We have that one woman that Sonya found on the security cam footage, who we now know is ruthless. We have the police that took Hank and Sonya’s case. We have that one guy that came into the Juarez police department and is investigating the things that happen there… There is plenty of character development in the show.

            And the writing itself is great. The dialogue was fantastic. It was not clichéd. It did not come off as exposition. It was compelling and enthralling. And it is also seemed very “in-the-moment” as if it’s not pre-written and people are actually talking. It helps to tell us what we need to know about the plot and the characters without coming off as just a device for explaining to audience what is going on. And I thought that narrative of this episode was very well thought-out. I felt that in the last episode things were a bit confusing and I had a hard time grasping some elements of the plot, but here it’s set in motion in a way that I was able to piece together what I didn’t get out of the last episode. The events in this episode seem so well and smarty thought-out.

            And of course, as usual, the visual aspect of the episode is great. The cinematography is great as it always has been for this show, and the direction really helps sell the location. All of the camerawork is handled well.

            I really, really enjoyed this episode of The Bridge. From start to finish it never has a dull moment. It is consistent, constant, and paced evenly. The script for it is very mature, intelligent, and smartly thought-out. I hope future episodes of The Bridge are like this one.