In this week's episode, "Who Goes There," Rust and Marty begin the manhunt for their lead suspect, Reggie Ledoux. I'm beginning to think the writers get a kick out of building anticipation, and then giving us long, boring sequences of nitty-gritty detective work. Despite my boredom, I think it's a clever move on their part. Anyway, the last thing we see in Episode 3 is a man (I assume Reggie Ledoux), wearing his underwear and a gas mask (like in "Breaking Bad," except way more ominous than early Walter White) ... oh, and he's also carrying a machete?
It seemed like we'd finally get to meet Ledoux in Episode 4, but it turns out that was just a tease because finding people who are trying to hide is actually not that easy!
Russ and Marty go back to the prison again to interview the victim's ex-husband, Charlie. Here is where we start to find some clues about the prime suspect (who was in prison with Charlie). CLUE ONE: He's a "chemist." He makes drugs (ah! That's why he was wearing the scary mask!) CLUE TWO: Charlie had shown pictures of his ex-wife to Ledoux, so this is how Ledoux could have targeted her as his victim. CLUE THREE: Ledoux had spoken to Charlie about devil worshippers further south, and about all the crazy horrible stuff they did, like sacrificing children. CLUE FOUR: Charlie states that "Reggie is crazy, for real." Looks like this might be our guy, but who knows?!
Charlie also mentions that Ledoux had another friend in prison, so Rust and Marty leave immediately to go find this guy. But NOT before Rust tells Charlie that it's basically his fault that his ex-wife is dead and makes Charlie cry.
Cut to personal life drama: We see that Marty's "other woman," Lisa, is a court stenographer (ah! That's how they met!) Lisa publicly confronts Marty about the crazy scene he made the previous week, and says he can't treat her that way (yeah, probably wasn't a good idea to show up at Lisa's and confront the man she took home, Marty). Marty, in true misogynist fashion, basically tells her that she's just being a crazy woman and that he doesn't even want to have the conversation.
Back to the case! Marty and Russ brief the rest of the police about the suspect. They then go to interview Ledoux's friend's mom. Of course, she hasn't seen her son in a while, BUT he does have a stripper ex-girlfriend, Kelsey, who's around! They go to the strip club and talk to the stripper, but she is not very forthcoming.
Back to personal stuff: Marty's wife has left him. It turns out that Lisa showed up at their house and told her everything. Marty calls Lisa and tells her she's a "whore" and that he will "skullf*ck her." Real classy, Marty.
At this point, we flash forward to the future for a moment, where Marty says something that might be important. CLUE FIVE: He mentions that it's the detectives curse to have the solution right under your nose, but to be paying attention to the wrong clues. Now, I don't know if he is referring to his family situation in some way, or actual detective work. But perhaps this means Reggie Ledoux is a dead end?
Obviously, Marty gets really drunk after his wife leaves him and decides to follow Kelsey the stripper after her shift ends. She leads him to a crazy rave in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana. Oh! Look who she led him to! Her ex-boyfriend! Drunken Marty pulls his gun on the guy and interrogates him. Marty finds out the following: (CLUE SIX) Ledoux only cooks for one client now. It's a bike gang called the Iron Crusaders.
Feeling confident about having attained valuable information, drunk Marty then confronts Maggie at the hospital while she's working. He tries to apologize. When he discovers that she's not hearing it, he gets really angry. Finally, Rust comes to the hospital to drag Marty away, and they head to a bar to get even drunker and talk about women problems (although Rust, on multiple occasions, tells Marty he is stupid for having such an obvious affair and doesn't even really want to hear about it).
They get back on the Ledoux track and Marty tells Rust about the bike gang. Small world! Rust has actually WORKED with that bike gang before when he was undercover dealing with narcotics in Texas! Rust suggests that he goes undercover again, and that they don't tell anyone else they're doing this. He says they should cut a drug deal with the biker gang, and use that to get information about Ledoux's whereabouts. Marty reluctantly agrees.
MORE PERSONAL STUFF: Rust goes to talk to Maggie about the importance of family, etc. He tells her that people make mistakes all the time, that we're not even really geared to be in relationships. Maggie is pissed. She makes a biting remark and Rust leaves, upset. Rust then tells Marty the talk went okay, that he doesn't think she'll end up asking for a divorce (although, we do know that future Marty IS divorced).
Ah, finally. A tense scene. Rust goes to meet up with one of the biker guys. He finds the guy he's looking for and begins to make a deal to find Ledoux. However, the biker guy wants Rust to help with a hold up before he will give over this information. Biker guy needs to know he can trust Rust. Rust tries to get out of it, but there's no use. This is the only way.
The plan is to go to the projects, a predominantly black area, and steal a bunch of drugs. The white supremacist biker guys plan to go in in cop uniforms (despite having long biker beards and looking nothing whatsoever like cops).
Rust apparently has no choice but to go along with the plan. They manage to break into the house and find the drugs. But then one of the biker dudes shoots one of the drug dealers, and all hell breaks loose. It becomes a complete shootout.
Rust drags his biker guy through the projects (the last 6 minutes of this episode was apparently all one take), and they finally get to Marty (Rust had called him previously and told him where to be). Rust starts interrogating the biker for information, but he doesn't provide anything valuable, and then the episode ends.
Well, we don't get much new information from this episode, but it does display how long it actually takes to find suspects, etc. It doesn't just happen in the blink of an eye, like on most detective shows. Even though it can be boring, it's a fascinating stylistic choice. It feels very realistic. Hopefully next week we get to meet Reggie Ledoux, but let's not hold our breath on that one!
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