Created by Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
Starring Rebecca Breeds, Michael Cudlitz
Thursdays at 10PM on CBS

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“You know hate? It’s a lot to carry.”

With Clarice’s repressed memory coming to the surface for her to finally take a good, long look at, and the VICAP team getting into the process of bringing down Alastor, we start what I assume is the penultimate episode of the first season of Clarice. 

I say this based on two pieces of general and long-recognized knowledge held by little ol’ me. The first is an understanding of “typical” episode orders from networks (and cable, since this series is following more that model). The second, however, comes from a pattern across all of network television where the showrunners (or creator, if they’re different) end up writing the first and last episodes of any given season. And guess who’s credited with writing episode thirteen of Clarice? Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman, series creators and writers of the pilot.

So, with all that in mind, there’s a lot going on in episode twelve. A lot. Clarice sees Dr. Li, trying to convince her to help Clairce get this haunting memory of her dad (the twisted truth of her last “Perfect Day”) up to the surface of her subconscious. Dr. Li’s response is essentially that Clarice already has that memory - that it’s not about getting it, but dealing with it - the rage that previous doctor’s had been worried about rears its head.

Then, despite Nils Hagen’s blackmail attempt, Ruth refuses to bend over and drop the case against Alastor. So, VICAP and the rest of the FBI proceed to raid the pharmaceutical company, seizing materials and arresting their beloved CEO. That last one is simply for the drama of it all, and as a particular “fuck you” to Hagen from the AG, which is fun.

Of the things the team seizes, Clarice ensures they take the painting that Nils was so intent on showing off to her the last time she was in his office. Shaan knows who the artist is and notes how off kilter it is from the rest of her body of work. They end up paying her a visit and, despite her being very cryptic about the whole thing, Shaan is able to get enough information that they put the painting under UV light, which reveals a second painting.

In the meantime, Hudlin realizes that he’s in deep shit when it becomes clear that Nils is having him killed. In his final moments, he calls Krendler and it becomes very clear to the VICAP leader that the suicide scene he finds himself at the next day has been manufactured. 

Which is where, with tensions high from Ardelia’s Violent Crimes unit trying to get a handle on the scene, Clarice’s rage comes bubbling to the surface. She ends up punching a fellow FBI agent in the face, breaking his nose, after he makes multiple sexist and racist remarks to her and Tomas.

Once they leave the scene of Hudlin’s death, the team calls in the painter. She tells them the horrific truth about her relationship with Nils Hagen, his frantic want for children, and that he supplied the biomass for the painting on top. Which, when tested in the lab is found to not just be blood, which is what the team originally thought… but fetal tissues from different sources. Which is cool and dark and a big ol’ yikes from everybody in the room. 

It’s then, though, that Clarice has to visit Dr. Li again. She has to sign off on a “return to work” order for Clarice because of the whole “punching another officer” thing. Dr. Li poses the idea that Clarice retraumatizes herself every single time she goes back to work, but signs the paperwork. She’s letting Clarice make the ultimate choice.

And, at first, it seems like Clarice is going to ignore her - one more doctor that Clarice just wants simple things from - until Starling turns everything in. She takes herself out of the equation because she is, quite simply, not well. She has spent the last year dancing around the trauma she accumulated from the Buffalo Bill case, and it’s only been compounding with her work and the resurfaced memories. In fact, she goes for a run and the truth of her “perfect day” fully comes back to her. This flashback sequence is our painful reveal. Nothing has ever, truly been good. And that’s the trauma, more than maybe anything else, that Clarice Starling has been carrying around. 

All of which brings us to Clarice being home. Alone. She’s cleaning up after throwing the add-a-bead necklace when she gets a buzz at the door. It’s Tyson Conway… and all my suspicions start to crystalize into what I think will be an explosive season finale.

And, while I know it’s not likely at this present moment, I really, really hope next week’s episode (should it actually be the finale) is not the last we see of Clarice. Like, I see the elevator scene in this episode, an inverse of the one from The Silence of the Lambs (one of the greatest shots in film history, in my humble opinion), and there’s no doubt in my mind that Elizabeth Klaviter and company are dialed in.

Even with the show’s few missteps, I think it’s succeeding in being what I always wanted for it - a series that continues Jonathan Demme’s humane and sympathetic legacy. And damn would it be a shame for that to get ruined because of some business deals.