Intruders: The Crossing Place Review

Last episode, we got to watch the sad, final dissolution of Jack and Amy’s marriage. Well, technically it was Rose who dumped his ass for her reincarnated Jazz musician.

This episode, we get to watch everyone go crazy. Not that they had very far to go. Jack decides to vent his spleen on a (really cute) Priest. And then he vents his, uh, fists, on Amy’s boss. Gary decides to leave a (really depressing) final voicemail for his wife. And Jazz guy cannot seem to handle reincarnation, so he is leaning heavily on alcohol to make the transition. Which might not be so bad if it hadn’t been the booze which killed him during Prohibition.

The only people who are not going crazy are Rose and Richard. Richard may be towing the line, but he isn’t doing it with any sort of gusto. Can you really blame Rose for feeling like she can’t find good help these days? In a surprising twist, it turns out that Richard used to have a thing for Amy. Which seems a little convenient if you ask me. I mean, plot wise. We learn a lot about Richard this episode. First that he was carrying that torch for Amy (and who wouldn’t want Mira Sorvino, who is still a fox at 47). Then we find out that the whole reason he helped Marcus was to get money to give his paralyzed brother a better life. Which also seems a little convenient. We have spent the last seven episodes getting to know what a stone cold killer Richard is capable of being. Suddenly he is a warm and cuddly teddy bear, full of emotions and good will and family? Whatever.

I think not. The only thing relevant from his rambling monologue, delivered at his brother’s hospital bedside, was that the show, for once, touched on human nature. When Richard and his brother were younger, he used to pretend he was the good guy when they played (I am not sure what that means, maybe they played cops and robbers?). Yet somehow, in the middle of the game, Richard would always manage a heel turn and end up a bad guy.

And there you have life summed up in a nutshell. Those things other people do which you think make them “bad”? Well, no one is truly bad in their own narrative. Their behavior is always justified; to them. Rose would understand. After all, she burned through Amy’s life with the sole purpose of finding and resurrecting her Jazz musician. Yet the dude in question does not seem to appreciate her efforts. Actually, I would go so far to say that he does not appear to have any redeeming qualities. Heck, he does not even seem to reciprocate Rose’s love for him (and he doesn’t seem like he would be very good in the sack; side note, why do all of the Rose/Amy sex scenes take place on a couch?).

Anywho. This fleeting glimpse into the excavation of human nature does not dig deep. Take, for example, Marcus. He is just plain bad. Like seriously bad. Like almost comically clichéd bad. Like he has been killing little kids for hundreds of years and enjoys bragging about it to homicide detectives. Yeah, I know it does not make sense; sue me. But that was Marcus as Marcus. Now that he is Maddie, he has to be at least moderately careful. Lest someone (anyone) prevent a nine year old with a knife from killing them.

But I have harped on the killer kid thing every single review so far. Accept it as rote. Everything comes to a head this episode at the building that Amy/Rose own. Amy’s boss is there, trying to ransom his daughter away from Marcus. Jack is there, hot on the tail of Gary who has decided the best course of action is to just kill himself. I can only assume the inconsistencies in the plot drove him to it.

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