I always like it when Jake is challenged by someone on Republic of Doyle. Kevin Crocker and Maurice Becker jump immediately to mind as two dudes who’ve rubbed our P.I. hero the wrong way and insulted his intelligence to great effect and made for noteworthy scenes. So I’ve been thrilled with the addition of Vick Saul and Alisha Maracle.
Wednesday’s episode, “The Driver,” was particularly fun because Jake was literally at the beck and call of Alisha, who took insane pleasure in treating Jake like a dog. With Sloan constantly in danger of being killed by Saul if Jake didn’t do the man’s bidding, Jake was instructed to work with Alisha to steal a cache of weapons from Alex Marshall (Justified‘s A.J. Buckley) and deliver them to Saul. I was hoping Buckley would have a little bit more of a role in the episode, but I had to make due with Alex appearing in the latter half sporting a Danny Crowe-esque Southern drawl.
I also had my fingers crossed that Saul and Alisha would stick around for more instalments, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards either. By episode’s end the guns had been captured by the police and Saul’s biggest rival was arrested, clearing the way to him to claim the east coast as his sole criminal domain. The result? He called off the threat on Sloan.
Meanwhile, Leslie is attending her therapy sessions, but it looks like Dr. Ronan may have ulterior motives when it comes to them. I couldn’t help but suspect he was working for someone else when he used his phone to demand all the files the precinct had on Jake. On second thought, Dr. Ronan may be tied to the crooked cop everyone suspects took Brogan’s laptop and wiped it clean of footage clearing Jake in Clark’s murder. Krystin Pellerin turned in a strong performance in Leslie’s scene between she and Brogan. She vowed to find out who tipped him off that she would be at Clark’s and would ensure he’d never get out of prison.
Notes and Quotes
- It was good to see Christian pop up at episode’s end. The announcement that he’s getting married will no doubt lead to a shocking revelation of who his wife-to-be is. Will it be someone from Jake’s past? Probably.
- “Des, let’s go be stupid outdoors.”–Mal
- Did anyone else find the scene with Alisha taping the wire to Jake a little steamy?
- “You’re my bitch today.”–Alisha to Jake
- “Why do I picture you with a whip and one hand and some guy’s pride in the other?”–Jake to Alisha
- “Elaborate, stunjaws!”–Mal to Jake
- Do you think Lola Tash looks a little like Demi Lovato?
Republic of Doyle airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
