American Crime - Season Three Episode Six - Review: The Dark Side

Episode Six of season three picked up the pace again and was a waste improvement over last week very slow outing. The show dug a lot deeper into the messed up lives of our protagonists and explored all of their dark sides. The episode was written by Steve Harper and directed by Ramsey Nickell.

I knew the moment Sandra Oh joined the American Crime cast her role would be so much more than the two scenes shown in the first 2 episodes. Episode six gave her character Abi Tanaka so many more layers and brought up a ancient question: Is it worth doing a bad thing for the greater good?
The conversation in the dinner between Abi and Kimara was outstanding, the writing, acting and the message their conversation send were so powerful that it gave me goosebumps. Can't wait to see how Kimara will handle this moral dilemma.

Jeanette had a smaller role in this episode as we saw glimpses of her adjusting to her new life. I find her story inspiring and so important to be told. It is important for people to be aware of how frustrating it is for older women to start living their life after escaping the housewife life and to see how little support the system is giving them. This story should encourage young people to never settle for a housewife life, cause you never know what tomorrow can bring. The interaction between Jeanette and her sister Raelyn showed shadows of entitlement and ignorance from Jeanette's side. She really doesn't understand the outside world and seems like a puppy thrown out on the street with no direction.

Shae's life at her camera studio wasn't turning out to be the big win she was expected it to be. The job was tiring her out and the money was bad. She even contemplated to return to prostitution.
I really didn't see the violent encounter with Traci coming. Traci stabbing Shae and her bleeding out in front of our eyes was completely petrifying. Shae ending up in the river where everything started this season was just overwhelmingly sad. My emotions on this haven't settled yet and I'm so eager to see how they will handle her death in the upcoming episodes.

Meanwhile, things got even weirder between Clair and Nicholas Coates. At a double date, things swiftly escalated when Nicholas started pushing Clair's boundaries and trying to embarrass Clair in front of their friends. Timothy Hudson is an extremely talented actor and so hating Nicholas is all his doing. He really puts the douche into douchebag this season and he infuriates me beyond reason. But then there is the part of me that also feels for him knowing that the burden on his back is about to break him. The words coming out is mouth are the result of long-term frustration and fear of being unable to take care of his wife and kid. A very interesting reveal that happened within this episode is that Nicholas is impotent and that he isn't Nicki's biological father. This fact certainly adds to his frustrations as he has to feel emasculated by the fact that he can't father a child and that he isn't a successful CEO on his own.

I was surprised to see that the "bullying" gave results and inspired Clair to start working for home. That sadly resulted in her steamrolling Gabrielle out of her room so Clair could turn it into a study. Gabrielle is still a major mystery to me. Not sure if Clair is telling the true about Gabrielle's abusive past and self-destructive ways. Either way, Gabrilles gathered enough strength to send her son Yves a letter.
P.S. Loved seeing Lauren Bowel as Helen, one of Clair and Nick's friends.

Another very strong outing in American Crime's third season ended with Shae's body in the river, such a shame. What were your thoughts on Episode Six? As always feel free too share your thoughts and theories about how season 3 will end down below in the comment section. Till next week.