In The Dark Season 2 Episode 5 Review: The Unusual Suspects
Jasmine Blu
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Everyone is trapped.
For all of the crazy mishaps of this series, there is the bleak conclusion that nearly every character feels trapped in their circumstances with no real way out.
It's felt often, but on In The Dark Season 2 Episode 5, Darnell gave voice to it when he had his conversation with Murphy toward the end of the hour. Nia, Josiah, the cops, the IRS, all of them are closing in. Can any of them ever know freedom?
The life that they're living is taking a toll on all of them and wearing down all of their relationships too. In the unlikely event that they can escape Nia's wrath, Josiah's hold, the law, and the government, and live to tell about it, it's too late. The core of them has been irreparably broken and scarred.
Every move they make drags them deeper into trouble, and the glimmers of hope that there is something at the end of the tunnel, a lifeboat in the distance, are shattered.
Dark Felix was missing during this installment, and he was back to the fumbling, insecure man who wanted no parts of any of this. It was jarring that the one person who was gung-ho about succumbing to the money laundering up and decided after a swirly that he wanted out this time.
Maybe Felix's plan of reaching to his defense attorney friend would've panned out if he tried it a while back. At that point, they were willing to accept some consequences of their brief stint as money launderers to be free of Nia.
Except, the fact of the matter is, they can't ever escape her. Even if Murphy hadn't dragged them deeper into Nia's operation to save Max, they all would have to deal with Nia's people coming after them. The woman was still running things the last time she was in prison.
It made sense that Murphy would tell Felix since he's the one who is dealing with Sam directly about the drugs. He would've found it eventually. Their reasoning for not telling Jess also was understandable.
But of course, we know no good can come from it. Jess is already unraveling. She's not cut out for this at all, so they don't want to add to her stress. She's also the one most likely to let something slip in a moment of emotion.
Despite her not knowing about the drugs, she ended up proving their point with her emotional moment with Sterling. But it was a bit of a catch-22 since the only reason she was an emotional wreck like that in the first place was because of Murphy and Felix excluding her.
Since the beginning, we've known that Murphy and Felix don't exactly get along. They've begrudgingly become allies, but they haven't exactly become friends. With so much going on with the two of them, I guess it was time for the series to explore the relationship.
The two of them have been keeping secrets from Jess to protect her, so that has them working together more. But Felix's flub with the heroin bricks and the truck getting towed sent him and Murphy on another kooky, absurd caper to cover their asses.
Murphy: Your little plan isn't going to work.
Felix: What, Murphy what are you talking about?
Murphy: We're not just laundering some money.
It would be like them to have it out about their relationship in the back of a van that served as a murder scene. But the two of them hashing out their differences felt a bit redundant, since we, and the two of them, have said why they clash so often many times before.
Murphy has frequently called Felix out on his judgmental behavior, and Felix has mentioned why he has issues with Murphy, most of which were perfectly reasonable.
But, hey, I'm glad they squashed it since there are bigger problems.
And those problems will only escalate since it's still only the two of them dealing with a dead Ben seven days from now. Funny how Felix went from barfing into a backpack after realizing he was in a murder van to cleaning up pools of blood at a crime scene a week later.
Felix, I'm going to need you to not be a little bitch for a second.
Murphy
Felix states that he can't believe Felix did something to them, and Murphy isn't surprised by the alleged betrayal. But with his murder seven days from the current timeline, they haven't given us much on Ben and his interactions with the others.
During the hour, he was skulking around suspiciously in at least two scenes, and then he fell asleep instead of doing his job (again), and that's how Dixie escaped.
Ben doesn't do much, but he does pay attention. He commented on Felix returning without his backpack, and he observes a lot of things happening. Did he have a substance abuse problem?
Chelsea painted him as a screwup who can't hold a job, but they never elaborated what his deal, so what if he found the stash of drugs and used some or sold them?
Felix: I cannot believe Ben did this to us.
Murphy: I can.
Speaking of the drug mishap, Nia knew what she was doing by getting Murphy and the gang into drop-offs. And she knows how green they are, so I wonder if it was a test.
They almost delivered five times the amount of product then was warranted. And their lack of knowledge about this sort of thing is what almost got them caught.
But Dean scratching the paint on the truck and deciding that was enough probable cause to look into the truck and have it towed away was agitating as heck.
But then, Dean is meant to be the most irritating character in the series. Even so, revisiting his daughter did remind viewers that as terrible and disgusting as his choices are, he also feels stuck.
He's months behind in tuition payments for Chloe's school now that he doesn't have drug money lining his pockets. It turns out you can't keep your daughter in a fancy school on a cop salary.
Dean is doing whatever he can to take Nia down, but does it matter? Nothing will be the same for him. He can't escape what he's done to get to this point.
But as much as he's worried that Murphy will tell Chloe who her father is and what he's done, or maybe that she'll manipulate Chloe, he's doing more damage keeping them apart.
One of the reasons Chloe gravitated to Murphy in the first place was because of their shared experiences as blind women, and Murphy was her friend. Chloe doesn't have a lot of freaking friends, and Dean knows this, so separating her from someone who understood her is damaging.
And then, he flips out when she does behave like any other young girl befriending someone and spending time with a classmate. If Dean doesn't ease up on Chloe, it can cost him. He'll be the person to ruin his relationship with her before Murphy ever could.
The dissolution and tests of relationships were all throughout the hour. Darnell is in a precarious position between Nia and Josiah.
He already would've remained at a distance after wanting to get out of the life, then failing to kill Max and lying about it, and keeping his relationship with a cop secret. So there is no way in hell Nia trusts him, and he made himself all the more suspicious inquiring about her new stash house.
He's not in the position to know such things after the things he did, and the timing of Nia's stash house getting raided isn't lost on her either.
We haven't had a big death yet this season (Sorry, Ben doesn't count as far as emotional impact). They've only teased Max's death without pulling the trigger on it.
But a casualty is inevitable, yes? It feels as though that person will be Darnell. After Tyson and Jules, it would be too damn much, but the impact would be there, and he's in dangerous waters. Of course, Tre may end up dead as well.
Murphy: I'm not going to tell anyone. Just make sure we don't go down with the ship.
Darnell: I'd never do that to you guys.
Darnell was a bit heartbroken when he saw that Murphy worked for Nia. He knew all too well how easy it was to get stuck, and though Murphy was too afraid to help, Darnell understood that.
I doubt that he'll try to keep Murphy and the others out of whatever war is happening between Josiah and Nia as best as he can.
And Murphy and Josh have an interesting relationship in that it's not sexually charged. Josh seems so wholesome, and Murphy isn't put off by him, and under other circumstances, their friendship would be cool.
Except, he let it slip that he's investigating Nia thanks to the app. It seems reckless to be listening to work files in a public space.
The importance of the phone reading texts and documents isn't lost, but isn't that why you have headphones?
Josh is such a pure soul, and he's already screwing up at his job, trying to hide his poor sight. It has to come into play.
I can imagine a situation where Murphy has to expose his sight issues to call into question his findings and spare them. I can also see where she can manipulate that situation to keep them off of his radar or gaslight him.
It has to factor into their situation in some way.
Murphy: Your little plan isn't going to work.
Felix: What, Murphy what are you talking about?
Murphy: We're not just laundering some money.
But the biggest reveal of the hour was that Sterling is working with Nia, and she's dating Sam. Some of us have suspected or suggested that she's shady in some way, so yay for us getting it right.
It sucks for Jess, though who has fallen fast and hard for this woman she doesn't even know. Jess is so fragile, and Sterling was right there to take advantage of that.
The worst part about it is Felix and Murphy's efforts to protect Jess by alienating her has pushed her toward Sterling more. So, Sterling is the babysitter, and she's latched onto the "weakest" link of the bunch.
Jess's meltdown seemed to affect Sterling, and it wouldn't be a surprise of her feelings for Jess are real.
Sterling: Hey.
Sam: How's everything going over there?
Sterling: It's all good. You wanna go grab a drink? I can't do my round until Felix finally leaves
Sam: You mean I don't have to share you with Jess tonight?
Sterling: Shut up.
It could be a heck of a complication down the road.
They squeezed Max in there again, you guys. Shoutout to Gene for having the BEST reaction to Max having XL condoms stashed in every single room in his apartment. Gene is a gift, and we deserve more of him.
Max is alive, thanks to Murphy's deal with Nia, but he's also indebted to Nia.
He's in prison, and she still has him dealing her drugs. Somehow, that's scarier than when he was out and about. Max is in two types of prisons now, and it's unfortunate.
How will any of them get out of this? Can they?
This dude has got condoms in every room. Extra large. Yeah, alright.
Gene
Over to you, In the Dark Fanatics! Were you shocked by the Sterling twist? How did Ben screw over Murphy, Felix, and Jess? Should they have kept Jess in the dark?
Hit the comments below.
You can watch In The Dark online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
