Stitchers - 2.0 - Review: “Emotional Evolution”

Stitchers returned to our screens tonight with a beautifully crafted season premiere that tested all of the characters and changed them. Season 1 introduced us to this wild world Kirsten and her friends live in and we witnessed all of them grow and embrace their place within the program. Relationships were born and some were strained, secrets were revealed and kept, friendships were formed and tested, and a team was born and thrived. If all of that was capable of being beautifully portrayed over one season the sky’s the limit for what they will be able to pack into Season 2. If this premiere episode is any indication a lot of amazing moments are yet to come.

When we last left the show Cameron was fighting for his life after putting everything on the line in the hopes of helping Kirsten find out more about who shot at him and critically injured Fisher. What Kirsten found in his mind forever changed her in the most fundamental of ways. The stitch into Cameron effectively healed the damage her father caused. In the critical first minutes of the episode emotions so long denied to Kirsten came back and consumed her as she begged Cameron to come back to her. Last season demanded that Emma Istha guide Kirsten through emotional moments while still keeping her disconnected from her emotions. It was a fine line she had to walk but she delivered and still managed to give viewers just enough heart that we could all root for her. Now that Kirsten’s mind has been mended a whole world of once distant emotions has been reopened for her. Kirsten has to learn how to define a world that once made no sense to her. She has to figure out what her relationship with Cameron will be like and she has to figure out what it means to be a friend to Camille and Linus and even Maggie. All of this also means she can once again fully embrace anger as is shown when she goes to confront Turner and when she confronts Cameron at the end.

Turner started off the episode as mysterious as ever but I never expected the show to kill him off. However, I’m glad that they did because his murder looks to be the catalyst for what I am guessing is going to be the season long arc of who is offing those close to the program. Maggie was cleared of wrong doing but I am curious as to the true context behind Turner’s memory of Maggie wielding a gun. Was it trained on him at the time or someone else? She clearly thinks the team deserves to know something specific about the program and with him gone she’s presumably free to tell them whatever this secret is, but will she? One of the things I love about this show is that they keep the audience in the dark right up until the moment the characters themselves learn the truth. Half the fun of the format of this show is being able to piece together the mysteries along with the team. In television the most obvious answer is usually the right answer but this show likes to keep fans guessing and I love that about the way the writers craft the episodes. This isn’t your typical show that hands out answers freely but they give the audience just enough pieces to keep fans intrigued until the next episode. For now Maggie holds all the cards and until she’s ready to tell the team we are left to speculate and guess. What I do know for sure it that Salli Richardson-Whitfield was brilliant throughout the episode from her confrontation with Turner to the big standoff. She brings strength and power to the role while also allowing Maggie to have her moments of vulnerability. I can’t wait to see how Maggie fits into this whole mysterious puzzle.

One of the more obvious things is that Linus still has feelings for Camille. They ended last season on rocky ground but these two seem on track to at the very least reconcile their friendship. It was very true to Linus as a character that he acknowledged that he was in the wrong and tried to make things right with Camille. Ritesh Rajan brings this innocence to Linus that helped make the apology scene to Camille really connect. The character is awkward but brilliant and while he has a bit of an ego he’s not too proud to admit when he is wrong. Turns out even he was impressed by Camille’s performance under pressure during the stitch into Cameron. Rightfully so because Camille rocked it as Cameron’s backup and did so again during the Ed Clark stitch in this episode. I know the stitch controls belong to Cameron but I hope to see Camille get to guide Kirsten a few times this season. I just hope it’s not under the same dire circumstances presented in the Season 1 finale. Even though Linus may never find himself at the helm of a stitch I thought it was a nice touch that he got to be the hero of the Turner stitch during the standoff. Linus has an important part to play within the team and he proved that in spades in this episode.

Over the course of Season 1 we watched Kirsten’s friendship with Camille grow and evolve. Ultimately they ended up really bonding, well as much as Kirsten was capable of last season, and developed a solid friendship. I’m very curious to watch their friendship evolve and change now that Kirsten is capable of experiencing and expressing real emotions again. While I’m excited to see this happen I believe Camille is equally as excited to explore what their friendship may look like now too. They are very different people yet very similar which could provide for some interesting adventures for them. A Kirsten and Camille adventure is one of my biggest hopes for this season. The dynamic Istha and Allison Scagliotti have always proves to be highly entertaining. Add in Scaglotti’s brilliant delivery of Camille’s sarcastic lines and Istha’s ability to perfectly time Kirsten’s jabs back and the potential for awesomeness is off the charts. If none of my other hopes for the season come true I hope this one does.

Camille struggled to find her place in the team last season. She didn’t have a specific station or any field expertise. Then at the end of the season she found her calling as Cameron’s backup. While I think that’s a good start for her I believe she has so much more potential and I got the distinct impression that Camille is being setup to be able to explore her full potential this season. Personally I think she’d be a great field agent and they did kind of start to setup the potential by having her hang around Fisher at the hospital. Scagliotti proved during her tenure on Warehouse 13 that she is more than capable of handling the physicality of a more action oriented part. I would love to see her take on more field responsibilities. I believe I read or saw something right after Season 1 where Scagliotti said that this may be in the cards for Camille this season. I feel really confident there was some interview where she mentioned this and I’ve been hoping for it to happen ever since. Camille was annoying Fisher like any good future apprentice would. I think Fisher and Camille would be an immensely entertaining duo plus only amazing things can occur from Scagliotti and Damon Dayoub sharing the screen more often this season.

I do enjoy Cameron and Kirsten’s rogue adventures though and the show delivered fun times in this episode as the dynamic duo ditched their security detail (in the most awesome way possible) and set out to find their own answers. The fact that Maggie has now entrusted them with official badges can only mean many more adventures are yet to come. While this adventure led them to getting arrested it did allow them to have a moment of downtime to discuss what Kirsten saw when she was in his head. This was one of the few calmer moments in this fast paced episode and Istha and Kyle Harris made the most of it. A part of me had been hoping Cameron would have remembered that meeting with Kirsten when they were kids but his explanation made perfect sense but at least Kirsten now knows it happened. These two have been crossing paths since they were kids and if two characters were ever meant to end up together one day it is these two. Though I do predict they’ll have a bumpy road along the way before they are in a place to be a couple. This show is lucky to have Istha and Harris in these parts because they have immense chemistry and play off of each other so effortlessly that it elevates their scenes. The scene in Turner’s mystery room when Kirsten was lashing out at Cameron for creating the prototype that was used on Ed Clark was one of the most interesting scenes in this episode because it gave the viewers yet another chance to see Kirsten being forced to deal with life with all these new feelings. She was lashing out at Cameron with a combination of anger and fear and while the old Kirsten would have likely tossed a few snippy remarks at him this scene was full of real emotion. Harris was perfect in his reactions to the acting choices Istha was making and it made their exchange bold and dynamic. I look forward to watching how this relationship evolves over this season.

One evolution that is becoming apparent is how stitches will be like now that Kirsten has healed her mind. The stitches were very different from last season and whether that lasts or not is unknown at this point but I liked how it was changed up. Both Turner and Ed’s stitches were not the norm and probably not the best ones for Kirsten’s first foray back into stitching after her condition was reversed. It was a nice touch for Kirsten to have a bad reaction to that first stitch so that the audience could definitively see the effects of her Temporal Dysplasia being gone. Stitching is still instinctual to her but her body is going to have to learn to be able to handle the stress again. If anyone can power through it Kirsten can as she proves when she continues to stitch to try and help solve Turner’s murder. I love the new stitch suit and think it is a much better design than the suit from last season. It was very intuitive of Cameron to deduce that the suit is more or less only symbolic in helping Kirsten feel stronger. The scene where he reminded her of that during Ed’s risky stitch just proves how well he really knows her. It was also a nice touch for Kirsten to experience the incense across both stitches as it confirmed a singular murderer involved in both instances. Everything that has happened recently is all interconnected and now viewers can begin to piece together the pieces right along with the team. Now the team knows they are essentially being hunted and the big mysterious bad of the series is just bidding his/her time until Kirsten is ready for whatever they want from her. That should make for some stressful times for the team.

This was a brilliant way to start off the season. Several storylines were setup and some from last season were put to rest. The cast returned on point and picked up right where they left off. This episode was dynamic and to some extent game changing. The show is back and better than ever. I don’t know what the writers have in store for this season but I feel confident predicting it will be brilliant and mind blowing.

Don’t miss the next episode airing Tuesday, March 29th on Freeform at 10/9C. Watch the site for an Advance Preview coming this weekend for the next episode!

Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. What were your favorite moments? Do you like that Kirsten can connect with her emotions again? Do you want Camille working in the field? What do you think Linus will do to change his life? Can Cameron and Kirsten overcome their secrets? Who is the big bad gunning for the team?

About the Author - Aimee Hicks

Aimee works for a newspaper in North Carolina and has a BA in Broadcasting and Cinema. She has been a TV lover since before she really understood what TV was. She has a long list of shows that she loves to watch and can be found on twitter (@ahicks83) live tweeting about each new episode whenever she can. If the show is sci-fi, fantasy, comic book based, drama, or action the odds are good she watches it or has at least watched a few episodes of it. She also has a love for comedies 2 Broke Girls and Mom. She was the original creator and co-founder of LOST Video Island (lostvideo.net) which is still operating under the management of the very capable and skilled group she turned it over to.
You can email her at aimee@spoilertv.com.

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