Mikes Film Talk

Last week in Stitchers by the end of the episode Marta opened her eyes and in this week’s episode I See You, Marta is still a thread running through the show. This segment does not address the sudden awakening of the prior stitcher but the show opens with Cameron reliving the stitch where she ended up in a coma.

After waking up from his disturbing dream/nightmare Cameron calls Kirsten full of good cheer and asking about how her medical exam went. While on the phone, he notices that his neighbor, who lives in his old flat, has kept another of Cameron’s magazine. Annoyed, he goes down to his old apartment, where the neighbor Robert has never changed the name on the door, finds it open and goes in. He discovers his missing magazine and his neighbor’s dead body.

Detective Fisher and the police show up, along with Kirsten, to investigate the crime scene. Fisher tells Cameron that it looks like “an execution,” with two shots to the back. Cameron immediately thinks of the mob and as Quincy question him, it turns out that who ever killed Robert may have thought he was Cameron.

Kirsten volunteers to stitch into Robert’s brain and see what got him killed. Camille and Linus meet for the first time since “hooking up” in last week’s episode and he is confused at her attitude. Since he assumed that they were now an item he tried repeatedly to contact her. She says, “Needy lover never looks good on anyone.” After some verbal jousting, Linus attempts to set up another date and Alison blows him off.

The stitch goes ahead, despite an almost overbearing attitude of caution from Cameron, shades of Marta again, and the show takes on a sort of Rear Window aspect when she discovers a telescope aimed at his neighbors windows that is glowing. It looks like Robert was a peeping Tom and it might have been the cause of his death.

As the investigation continues, the stitcher team set up in Cameron’s apartment which is just over Robert’s. Linus hooks up the telescope to a monitor and Kirsten mans the lens trying to find clues about who murdered the former tenant. Cameron reveals the footage of what went wrong with Marta’s stitch. The team learn that Robert was not a voyeur but a good samaritan who saw his neighbors problems and helped them out; buying a struggling artist’s first painting and buying groceries for another.

Someone enters the stitchers lab and Maggie notices that two of the security cameras go offline. She goes to investigate and finds two team members coming out of the elevator with dinner for a late night. As Maggie questions the technicians, a figure crossed over to the lift and gets on. It appears that someone is interested in the secret program and later is seen watching the team at Cameron’s apartment.

Kirsten goes into Robert’s mind once more. This time the deceased man’s brain is about to pass the safe time period where she can access data. With the clock ticking, Kirsten grabs the telescope and forces historical memories to replay and she sees the killer.

She and Cameron go to gather clues while waiting for Fisher to arrive and they spot the murderer in a van, that is being used to traffic young women, and when she sees him Kirsten repeats his earlier sign language message of “I see you.” He attempts to run her down and Kirsten stands immobile with a challenging sneer on her face until Cameron lunges in and moves her away from the speeding van.

Like the previous episode, the title is again used effectively throughout the show. Kirsten “sees” the real Cameron, at the end of the episode, as well as why he feels responsible for Marta’s fate. Linus and Alison “see” each other and Linus is still confused about the state of them as an item. Of course the main “I see you,” moment is two-fold. Kirsten seeing the killer and the shadowy figure seeing her and the rest of the stitcher team.

Ishta still rocks as Kirsten, allowing her character to “grow” with each episode. Each subsequent stitch where she learns more emotions gives her more dimension, and Kyle Harris’ Cameron continues to arc logically. The interaction between Scagliotti and Rajan works well as they have great chemistry.

The humor in this episode is still spot on and the gag about Kirsten being addicted to voyeurism, “I can stop anytime I want,” she answers flippantly, is followed with Fisher denying that all cops love donuts and then getting excited about a chocolate glazed one. Although earlier the rush to arrest the neighbor who “murdered” his girlfriend, spraying “blood” all over the wall, was also quite amusing and pushed the plot along nicely.

Great writing and immersive plots, along with the actor’s performances, continue to make the compulsive viewing. Stitchers airs Tuesdays as part of the ABC Family schedule.