It was only while watching this episode did I realize that The Catch suffers from a huge writing problem. The show keeps relying heavily on the upbeat banter, but the whole thing still reeks of lazy and dumb writing.
The weekly case, as always, was excruciating to watch. I dozed off for a few minutes, so apart from the sex scandal shot on camera, I can’t pin down exactly what the case was about or what Alice and her firm were even asked to do for their client. What a ridiculous snooze-fest this entire subplot was.
The stuff happening at the hotel was indeed a lot better, as is the case every week, but the show kept rushing through so much plot with very little character development in order to reach the Alice/Dao versus Ben/Rhys status quo, only to drag it out once again by hour’s end. Ben repeatedly flipping sides is also becoming increasingly difficult to stomach, and the way this show keeps executing these so-called twists (like in last week’s therapist reveal) continues to disappoint. Were they aiming for a jaw-drop sort of reaction with Ben and Dao being in Alice’s house? Because it hardly even surprised me.
What’s also been missing from this show for the past 8 episodes is some real emotional attachment. Alice losing Ben in the pilot never had the heartbreaking emotional impact it deserved, and that’s what’s making the characters less and less relatable. Despite the writers’ best efforts at reaching for some depth in the Alice/Margot therapy scenes (undeniably the hour’s best moments), they still fall short and instead come off as forced. The fact that Alice spent her two days in therapy giving out specific details and names of her plan to catch Ben and his crew made this entire storyline feel more like a plot contrivance, and what was once filled with potential (after last week’s cliffhanger) is now just an afterthought.
Bits & Scams
– In case you missed it: ABC renewed The Catch for season two despite bad ratings and mediocre reviews. The fact that it’s a Shonda Rhimes show might or might not have a lot do with this unexpected decision.
– How exactly does Margot have all that money that she used to blackmail the therapist? Lazy writing.
– I absolutely love Margot and her snapping at Ben, telling him that he and Rhys deserve each other, was brilliant. I’m actually rooting for her.
– So that guy taps on his phone twice and voila – a link of the video is sent to TMZ? Why do these things bother me so much?
– I can’t believe they got Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) for two scenes and not more than four lines. How weird.
– There needs to be more scenes of Alice kicking ass.
– On a scale of 1 to 10, how dumb is Agent Dao? Just like with this entire show, I can’t pinpoint exactly what irritates me about this character. That smirk on his face perhaps?
– The Danny/Sophie C-subplot is not even worth talking about. What a hilariously lame ending.
– We have a two-hour finale next week. Let’s hope the season ends with a bang.
Catchy Phrases
Alice: He wants me to run away with him. And that’s why I’m here. Because part of me really wants to do it.
Reggie: Maybe it’s different in England, but that was a person, not a package.
Rhys: Yeah, well, “package” was code, and stealing is stealing.
Ben: Except when you steal a person. That is called abduction.
Reggie: And we’re not kidnappers.
Rhys: How do you know unless you’ve tried?
Rhys: Does he not know we’re gangsters?
Reggie: Well, he has the whole gentleman-bandit thing going on.
Margot: What do you want from them?
Alice: I don’t know? Justice? Revenge? It’s probably not the healthiest way of moving on. I should just let it go. I should just move on. But then there’s some tiny, terrible little piece of me that just needs to have been right about him, that he actually is a good person, that he is the man I fell in love with. And that were it not for these other people, he’d be that guy.
Conclusion
A tedious, contrived hour of a show that has yet to impress.
Chris Rating
C