Star-Crossed episode 12 review: This Trick May Chance To Scathe You

This review contains spoilers.

1.12 This Trick May Chance To Scathe You

Star-Crossed has so far been a series not really preoccupied with its mildly interesting sci-fi elements as much as its various relationships but now, in the penultimate outing before next week’s finale, this episode really upped the action. From the first moments, we were told that the mission of the hour was to find and recover the Suvek, a bomb the Trags are going to use to spark the looming war, and the episode doesn’t really let up from this point. It’s the energy injection the season needed, coming at exactly the right time, and next week promises to be an adequately entertaining finale.

Which is all we could have hoped for, really, with the last few episodes showing a marked improvement compared to the muddled early days of the show. There’s now something definite to root for, whether that’s the doomed love triangle between Grayson, Emery and Roman or the sweet romance between Drake and Taylor, and each of the personal stories more or less links into the overarching themes the show set out to cover. We seem to be headed for a big disaster, with absolutely everyone involved in the fallout, and that’s as good a way as any to end the first series. 

Ambition was never the problem, but long-term execution of Star-Crossed’s many ideas seemed like more of a challenge. Episodes like this, in which the different character relationships are put on hold for a spell, are good for seeing how strong all of those smaller elements are, and the ensemble cast have definitely become a good little group of characters. I’m still not feeling the apparent love between Emery and Roman, though I suspect that has more to do with personal taste than anything the show is doing wrong, but supporting characters like Drake and Sophia have inexplicably become the things worth tuning in for each week.

And the series has been smart in positioning the kids to be relatively alone in their final battle, with adults either dismissing their previous warnings or holding on to their own agendas. Castor, though apparently taken out by Teri this week, was one of those untrustworthy adults and, with Grayson now the de facto leader of the Red Hawks, there isn’t a whole lot of power left among the older characters. It’s easy to forget these people are supposed to be teenagers, given the usual age discrepancy of the actors and general life and death nature of what they’re getting up to, but making them the only ones who can save the world feels necessary.

I’m starting to wonder whether we’ll ever get to visit the Atrian Narnia that more and more people seem to be disappearing to, but the fact that Saroya has now bid farewell to Drake suggests that we might get some more information soon. Remember, Roman’s half-brother is also currently residing there, and it seems like he might be the thing that brings peace between the Trags and the now defensive Red Hawks. With Taylor pregnant, it makes sense for the only other known half-human/half-Atrian child to pop back into the story but, then again, since we’re not going to see Draylor become parents anytime soon, maybe this is being saved?

Which, let’s face it, probably means that the story will never be resolved. A second season isn’t likely at this stage and, if not for those loose ends that the showrunners could be saving for more episodes, next week’s showdown will most likely be a nice closing hour for the series. As we leave things this week, Roman is mortally wounded, Teri edging back over to the heroes’ side, Grayson’s delivery of the Suvek intercepted by (an alive!) Zoe and, though they weren’t in the episode, Julia, Eric and Taylor poised to join the fight.

Could the supporting characters end up saving the day, since Roman is out of commission until further notice? See you next week to find out!

Read Caroline’s review of the previous episode, Give Me A Torch, here.

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