Three weeks have passed since the events from Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 1.
Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 7 brings us full circle with the scene in the confessional. It makes much more sense now than it did then, especially since John explained precisely what drives his episodes to Hailey.
At this point in the story, as a penultimate episode, it feels like we’re at the end of a very long pilot, don’t you think?
The three-week wrap-up hit home how little has happened so far in Rabbit Hole Season 1.
The gist of it is that John lost his crew and his best friend, gathered a new, unlikely crew, and finally learned he could trust his father. Looking back, it’s been rather exposition heavy, bringing us and the newbies — Homm and Hailey — up to speed.
That said, it’s been an enjoyable ride. The concepts presented in Rabbit Hole have a remarkably prescient tone to them.
We’ve already discussed how data is the most crucial resource in our modern world, and whoever controls it controls the world.
Look what it did for Agent Madi. She got her job back and is heading the John Weir task force.
My initial reaction to that was, genuinely, WTF?!
When reviewing Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 6, I was certain that Hailey was going to be trouble. It turns out that she cares about John and will likely be Valence’s preplacement in his life.
She cares enough about him to believe that she could reach out to Madi with what she’d learned about Crowley and his manipulation of some of the most influential people in government and elsewhere.
I thought for sure Madi wasn’t out to get John. She couldn’t really have seen everything she has so far and still believe he’s the criminal mastermind.
Boss: Agent Madi, this, this file, this case. This is a real game-changer.
Madi: Thank you, sir.
Boss: You can write the script for the rest of your career with this. So I guess my only question for you is, what can I offer you to make you forget this file ever existed?
Madi: Well, I thought you’d never ask. I’d like my old job back in the criminal division. And I’d like to be made the head of the task force that’s tracking down John Weir.
But when she got her hands on something so extreme that she could write her future, she only wanted her old job back and to head the investigation into John.
Surely, that’s a ruse. Madi did look a little perplexed, and it almost seemed like she expected him to say something else and made up her request on the spot. She has been thinking about what it would take to pick up where she left off, but this opportunity could have been taken to another level.
Will heading that investigation give her room to determine if John can help her bring down what she learned about on that USB drive?
If Madi looked at what Homm uncovered with the numbers in that briefcase and still considers John the threat, then Madi deserves whatever she gets.
Because the briefcase that Senator Evers was after holds an embarrassing array of riches to topple people at the highest levels. Or, at the very least, to get them to do your bidding.
Enough of that. Let’s get back to the team and John’s state of mind because we don’t have enough info to understand Madi’s yet.
The editing for “Gilgamesh” went a long way to explain how John processes things he can’t comprehend, but in case that wasn’t enough to do the trick, he also literally explained it to Hailey.
Hailey: Really? You accused Ben of saying he wanted the Data Act to pass.
John: I know.
Hailey: He never said that!
John: I know. But in my mind, there’s a version of him that did.
Hailey: What?
John: It’s how my mind works. It’s complicated. If I can’t find a rational explanation for what’s happening around me, my mind just starts to visualize every other possible scenario until it finds the most logical one. But every now and then, I can’t control it. Miles knew how to pull me out. He knew what to say. But he’s not here right now, so I’m having a little difficult time knowing what’s really real.
While it made for a good quote, and I can understand why he’d have to explain it to Hailey, it does suggest diminished faith in the audience that we wouldn’t get it from the editing.
At times, I welcome the exposition, and at others, I wish they’d give us the benefit of the doubt that John would explain it to Hailey off-camera.
John’s relationship with Hailey has felt somewhat forced and happened very fast, given how reticent he is to trust people — with very good reason. But losing Valence has left him without a tether, and now we understand how lost he can get without one.
All facts point to Valence being dead, and logically, John knew that, too. But there was an infantesimal sliver of hope inside of him he couldn’t ignore, either. Together, they’d achieved the impossible in the past. John worried that by not allowing that hope to breathe, he might be silencing Valence again.
But that hope also sent John’s brain spiraling in a bunch of different ways. It didn’t make sense, just like Crowley’s constant presence doesn’t make sense, and John’s brain had to explore all possibilities in myriad ways.
But John finally has the closure he needs on his relationship with Valence, who never betrayed him and died to protect him. Valence’s goodbye was an unexpected tearjerker and opened the door for John to more fully embrace Hailey.
John was so busy stealthily trying to find out whether Valence was alive or he was being played that he didn’t fully engage with the information from the briefcase.
Homm has repeatedly proven his value, and without him, they wouldn’t have been able to decipher the contents of the briefcase. At least, it would have taken them a lot more time.
The briefcase holds information Crowley needs to conduct business, but how long will it be relevant? Nora claimed the case held info about her, but it was so much more than that, so there’s no way it wasn’t produced elsewhere.
It would seem that cache would only work for a limited time before passwords and accounts would be changed, making it obsolete.
For now, it has done its job relevant to John’s team. Their eyes are wide open to the breadth of Crowley’s influence, and if the Shared Data Act is passed, he’ll be unstoppable.
The only reason John thought Valence was alive was because of how Crowley manipulated Valence’s information to get under John’s skin. He could reach John’s innermost thoughts using personal data, and if the Act passes, anyone in a position of power will be as easily manipulated.
But with only one episode left, how much will be accomplished? It sure feels like this will end on a mother of a cliffhanger. Can our quartet manage to scuttle the Act’s passage in a matter of two days?
There are a lot of dangling threads right now and one episode to tie them up. How far will they get in that process? Are you satisfied with the first season arc? Hit the comments and share your thoughts!
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.