Frequency - Bleed Over - Review: “Changes Are Coming”

With each passing week, the twisted time web being weaved grows more complex. Every action has an immediate and impactful consequence. Given the stakes, one would think that Raimy and Frank would be willing to pay any price, but it’s becoming evident that Frank is starting to see the bigger implications to what they are doing. Saving his wife is his prime objective, but also ensuring that he doesn’t do anything to further impact Raimy’s future seems to be weighing heavily on him. He understands that they are in this position simply because he’s alive and that is hard for him to deal with. He’s in the ultimate rock meets hard place situation.

At the end of the day, everything Frank does is for his family. Saving Julie isn’t just about saving the woman he loves, but also ensuring that their daughter doesn’t grow up without her. He understands how critical it is for a daughter to have her mother around. He is walking a fine line by trying to stop the Nightingale while not causing too much irreparable damage to the future his daughter lives in. While Raimy’s actions have a less immediate impact on their lives every single thing he does has a direct impact on the time she lives in. While I thoroughly think Frank had the best of intentions in mind by having Raimy (Ada Breker) and Eva (Niki Garcia) play together, somewhere in the far reaches of his mind he had to have been thinking about the possibility of Eva confessing something to his daughter. It panned out for him in the long run, giving them one of their more influential leads so far, but it also ended up backfiring on them as well. The lead they had is now gone tossing them right back to where they were, to begin with. It had to be devastating for Frank to have the murderer in his grasps then to just lose him. Since the Nightingale is now aware that Frank is onto him I can’t help but wonder how that will change things in the future. Is Julie still in danger? Perhaps more so now than before? Will he change his tactics and take aim at Frank himself or even Raimy? A whole array of possibilities emerged from this single event.

It’s interesting to wonder what happened to Eva and her mom in the original timeline. We know that for whatever reason after Frank originally died Nightingale ceased to kill anymore. What we don’t yet know is why Frank’s death was so impactful on Nightingale originally. So, had things remained as they were, theoretically, Eva’s mom would never have been taken and killed by the Nightingale. It’s also possible that Eva would never have become attention obsessed. It’s amazing how one single change to the timeline has such a drastic effect on everything and everyone. On the topic of Eva’s attention obsession, I did find it kind of a jerk move that even after Raimy confessed her mom had also been a Nightingale victim that Eva still kept the act going regarding her own supposed “kidnapping”. When Raimy learned the truth the anger was written all over her face. I felt like Eva’s story was off from the start, and I think Raimy had a vibe too, but she was blinded by the hope of being able to get one step closer to saving her mom. That is a very interesting dynamic especially since the girls now have a shared past thanks to their dad’s. Also, worth noting is that the show has perfect the art of aging the way their actors look. When Eva’s dad, Marco, appeared in both times I easily bought that he was twenty years older. I definitely enjoy watching those little moments where we get to see one character on both sides of the time divide. The casting of the kids versus their adult counterparts has also been particularly well done. I can definitely imagine List having looked very similar to Breker when she was a kid.

Given that this episode dealt heavily with the younger generation there was a lot of interaction between the young actresses and Riley Smith. While it’s been evident from the start that he is at ease working opposite of Breker the addition of Garcia to the mix really helped accent Smith’s genial nature with his younger co-stars. A lot of actors play fathers, but they can’t always capture that quintessential fatherly vibe required to bond with the kids they are working with. Smith does it with such ease that he is very believable as a father. He just has a very soft approach to dealing with this heavy subject matter with the young actresses. He seems to be nurturing their performances instead of trying to overshadow them. He lets them work their performance magic while he stands as a firm expert hand to guide them should they need it. Never once does he try to overpower them in any scene. All of Smith’s scenes with the kids really hit perfectly. I was very impressed by all of those moments because not only did the young actresses stand out, but Smith, whom I was already impressed by for his hard-hitting performances, earned a ton more of my respect for the way he approached working with them.

While Frank is forging a stronger relationship with his young daughter he still has to deal with her adult version as well. He has one daughter yet he’s got to be a father to two. This episode did change the dynamic a bit between Frank and adult Raimy because up until this point Raimy has been feeding Frank information to go and work a case. This time around the prompting came from Frank who guided Raimy in the present. Together they made a real impact on the Nightingale killer which may or may not completely backfire. At least thanks to young Eva they now have their best sketch yet of the killer. Also, I have to note that it was brilliant thinking on Frank’s part to have Raimy describe the sketch from her time. These two are getting very creative in their ability to share information across time.

With so much happening in the past Raimy’s present is in a constant state of flux. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for her to try and make sense of everything that is going on in her life. At any given moment she may be bombarded by a new array of memories that contradict things from her old life. This would screw with the best of minds but in the case of her encounter with Detective Kyle Mosbey (Rob Mayes) it may have literally screwed with her. That was one heck of a memory for time to just hit her with. Mayes has really good chemistry with Peyton List, so I’m excited for the prospect of something developing between their characters. It’ll be a nice temporary distraction for Raimy as she tries to move on from her memories of Daniel. Eventually, I think she and Daniel will somehow find their way back together, but by the time it happens I’m not sure if Raimy will be mentally in a place to be with him. She will have gone on a journey that he hasn’t and be an entirely different person. He was prepared to marry the Raimy he knew, but could he be with this new version of her? It would certainly be interesting to see. It was a nice touch that Raimy started to open up to her dad as she told him about Daniel. Their relationship is changing, but in a good way as they learn to be a team across time.

Another relationship facing fundamental change is the one between Frank and Julie. As the date of her abduction grows nearer he’s doing everything he can to try and save her. At least she’s finally starting to accept the severity of the situation. Given the fact that she’s at the house alone without Frank around and a killer on the loose I think she should have taken him up on his offer of his gun. Devin Kelley and Smith have a really dynamic energy together that allows them to show the love that still exists between their characters despite their separation. Kelley made it clear through her performance that Julie still loves her husband, but just can’t find a way to connect with him right now. These two actors work so well together that it’s easy to see the love Julie and Frank once shared. If they can find a way to save Julie I do think that these two could one day reconcile their troubled relationship.

Frank does get some credit for creativity on how he found a way to get a weapon back in the house. Giving Raimy a knife will either be a brilliant move or a horrific one. This whole situation set up a dramatic event that could play out with young Raimy being in a position to have to defend her mom. There is no way the writers just dropped that little tidbit into the story without plans to follow through on it in the near future. It would be quite a dramatic turn for Raimy to be the one to have to save her mom, but it would have poignant implications for the story as a whole. The Nightingale is aware they are onto him, so I imagine that things are going to start to change at a rapid pace. I hope Frank and Raimy are prepared for the chaos that is surely about to consume their lives.

Given all these changes that are surely coming, they could definitely use someone else helping them out. Considering how entrenched Satch is in the Nightingale case on both sides of the timeline I’m still surprised that he hasn’t been clued in. He’s basically been like a father to Raimy in every iteration of the present. If anyone could be trusted to help them it would be Satch. Mekhi Phifer works so well with both List and Smith that I really hope he’ll get to have deeper scenes with them. Every time Satch and Frank are alone near the radio I keep hoping that Frank will just let everything spill out. Perhaps if at some point Raimy becomes endangered and he can’t reach her he may be forced to do just that. I do think that should Satch ever find out it will be because Frank has no other way to reach Raimy in her time.

This episode was intense, yet they did slip in some lighter moments thanks to Gordo. The drunk scene where Gordo stumbled in on Raimy talking to her dad was hilarious for its awkwardness. That is a conversation that no one wants to have with a friend especially with their dad listening. Lenny Jacobson seemed like he had a ridiculous amount of fun filming that scene. He really went for it and full on sold Gordo’s drunken self. Jacobson has perfect comedic timing that allows him to bring light to some very dark times in Raimy’s life. List and Jacobson are a fun pair who bounce banter off of each other effortlessly. It’s easy to imagine their characters as lifelong friends because they are so at ease together. Even when Gordo is being a complete fool he’s still Raimy’s fool and he plays a very important part in helping her keep her sanity through all of this. If and when Gordo ever finds out what is going on I can’t wait to see his reaction. I think he’d just find it really cool and be annoyed that Raimy kept it from him for so long. I really like the work Jacobson is doing, so I hope the writers find some way to further ensconce Gordo into the core of the story. I still think he’d be an excellent sidekick for Raimy.

Once again I have to commend the writers for their ability to perfectly blend the storylines of the two times. I’m never left wanting more from one side or the other. They give each episode exactly what it requires to properly tell the story they are trying to tell. Stories involving time notoriously get lost focusing too much on one specific moment. The writers here have given the main characters an objective to work towards, which is saving Julie by stopping the Nightingale killer, and that is what drives them. They aren’t trying to cover so many times that the story gets jumbled. The story being told in Frequency is very well mapped out with clear objectives that the audience never has to guess about. Yet, they are smart enough to keep the big story points to themselves dropping them in at the exact points where they can have the biggest and most profound impact on the characters. I can’t commend these writers enough for how relatable they’ve made a story involving complicated time shifts.

The ratings aren’t great, not horrible by CW standards, but enough so that us hardcore Frequency fans should be a little worried. This series with its standout performers and brilliant writers deserves the opportunity to tell its story for a long time to come. Take to your social media and make the argument for why others should watch. Use #Frequency and #GetYourFreqOn when you’re on Twitter and help bring awareness to this brilliant series. It can have a future, but the fans have to help it secure that future.

Be sure to tune into the next all new episode on Wednesday, November 2nd at 9/8C on the CW.

Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. Do you think the Nightingale will change his tactics now? Will they ever let anyone else in on their secret?

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 and has a passion for analyzing performances and theorizing what may happen on her favorite shows. Her interest in television covers just about every genre, but her first love is the sci-fi/fantasy genre. For the 2016/2017 season she will be reviewing Chesapeake Shores, Dark Matter, Frequency, Gilmore Girls, Jessica Jones, Lucifer, and Orphan Black. She will also be handling the Best Scene Polls for Supergirl and previewing several new and returning shows. She also oversees the popular SpoilerTV feature, Performers of the Month (#POTM) which highlights the most outstanding actor and actress from each month. You can email her at aimee@spoilertv.com.

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