Take Three: Homecoming

Homecoming: Season 1, Episode 3 “Optics” (B)

Half-hour dramas aren’t all that common, and part of the reason for that is that it’s not possible to cover all that much ground in such a short period of time. This show manages to truly create a feeling of dread over the course of just a few minutes, and this episode revealed darker effects than we might have realized. Shrier has been harping on this theory that they’re not in Florida, and things took a foreboding turn when, as he and Cruz were about to sign out for a trip off site, he decided not to keep going with the forms and instead to make a run for it. Aerial footage following the car driving made their joyride feel especially aimless, and ending up in a ghost town that turned out to be a retirement community was an eerie resolution. The fact that we just saw Cruz laughing with Heidi about it rather than Shrier after the fact makes me think something more disturbing happened in between those two moments. Heidi’s treatment of Anthony was inarguably cruel, which made her asking him about the details of their breakup all the more unsettling since, evidently, whatever medication control they were exerting on the subjects was also used on her. Carrasco seems to be getting closer to the truth, but the fact that she can’t explain her own actions will make putting the pieces together much more difficult. I’m impressed with the commitment to having Colin walk and talk all the time, even ditching his daughter’s birthday party to case the house next door.