This Sunday is the finale for Rubicon. Here's to hoping for a re-up for season 2.
So Rubicon has finally started to pick up, putting a little umph into the faith I’ve had that the show has what it takes to grow into a real winner and a hit. To read prior Quick Hits for the show, click here on my posts tagged #Rubicon. Here are my Quick Hits for Episode 1.12, “Wayward Sons.”
This episode was a bit unique in how it was shot. Unlike the dark, stuffy character of most of the Rubicon episodes, we were treated to more wide shots showing off views or airy spaces. Even in Katherine’s safe house, it was a light atmosphere. And the shots from the Harbor High, New Jersey field command were sweeping in nature, both in the windowed cafeteria and looking over the gym headquarters. The technology, too, was eye popping, something that had been missing from the old-research library feel of API.
That style of cinema played through to the plot, as well. This was the most ambitious episode since the premiere, with legitimate action and endpoints reached in advance of the finale. True, much of the action remained off-screen, but it was a bit thrilling nonetheless. You had confrontation, an active chase of conspiracy on two fronts, and the great reveal of at least two key elements to the seasons plot arcs.
The scene with Kale and Katherine in the safe house (accompanied by a still useless Maggie) was well done and reflective of the grander vision of the episode. In the first interaction between Kale and Katherine, they played well off each other, particularly as Kale spoke of the show’s namesake. He told the story of Cato the Younger, an opponent of Julius Caesar who, upon Caesar’s legion crossing the Rubicon and with defeat inevitable, took his own life so as to permit his family’s reconcile with Caesar. The parallel, of course, is that Rhumor took his own life as a way out that permitted the escape of his wife Katherine from the consequences of his sins. That’s all well and nice, of course, but the historical accuracy is somewhat dubious. Cato killed himself while on the run in Africa after repeated stands and defeats at the Thirteenth Legion’s hands. The historical record hardly seems to look too kindly on his act, indicating that Cato chose to kill himself rather than to seek mercy and a pardon because of his pride. Historical accuracy aside, there’s a nice element of literary ties therein. And I’m not going to beg accuracy from a show that loves its Mercator Projection Maps.
The style of the episode wasn’t always more poetic, though. In many ways it was simply more cinematic. The way it was shot and the action therein reminded me immediately of two terror-related movies: The Siege
, in which Islamic fundamentalists hold New York hostage in fear, and The Jackal
, in which the criminal justice and intelligence communities track an assassin across the country. I liked both movies and I loved this episode.
Dang, Rubicon is finishing strong. Click on through for my quick hits. Read more…
, a cast of very solid character actors and a storyline and period setting that reeked of promise, it was hard not to be excited for Sunday nights with Boardwalk Empire and AMC’s 
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