This show isn’t getting any more interesting, though I guess it’s better that the current focus is on some sort of widespread criminal conspiracy rather than on a depraved serial killer. I do tend to prefer that kind of storyline, even though this psychological profiler premise is something I knew coming in. Krendler is doing a better job of trusting Clarice’s instincts even if he acknowledges that he doesn’t have the authority to go with the decision he wants to make, and we also saw more of his relationship with the attorney general when she called to warn him that they might not be able to keep the VICAP operation running all that long. Ruth is struggling to defend what she’s doing and having a hard time at home reaching her daughter, and those stresses are likely to push her to get results even if they’re not as definitive as they should. What Karl Wellig being killed while in custody means in a positive way is that the entire team saw it happen and realizes the dangers that only Clarice suspected. I see now that actor Kris Holden-Ried, who played Wellig, is probably most familiar to me from his series regular role as a far more well-intentioned operative in “Departure.” Claiming to have merely been a repairman rather than a hitman inspired a good bit of acting from Krendler and Tomas, not that it got them all that far. Ardelia being present, even if she’s in the wrong division, should help Clarice in the long run since she has an ally who isn’t blinded by chauvinism and is more than capable of advocating for her right to be taken seriously and treated fairly.
