For the past few episodes, Catherine has been a brick wall of fury, impish in her revenge but always in control of her manipulations. The joy is in watching her efficiency, in being two steps ahead of the dumb, gross men who are so easily led astray by a pretty face. In “Pick a Sticker,” her resolve wavers. Her current target, Jay Easton’s lawyer, isn’t technically one of her abusers. He’s just the middleman who, by his own admission, was brought in and “cleaned things up” for his untouchable client. Literally, in this case, as he had to deal with the murder of Isabel. When he insists that it wasn’t Easton who did the killing, Catherine might be forced to believe him. One of the many consequences of trauma is how it ravages one’s memory.
This week’s episode gives Lola Petticrew some much-needed moments of quiet to show Catherine’s fragility. It even sees her form a connection with her new prisoner, one that could almost be a partnership. There’s a surprising tenderness as she tells him about her experiences and the full-throated romantic love she felt for Isabel, as well as her candor about becoming engaged to a man she’s always lying to. For a change, it’s not an act, but it will cost her.
But for Alice, the time has come to play dirty. She’s a liability according to Nora, who knows how much the goalposts are moving for the “good guys” on this case. Nora’s former superior, Ed George, is snooping around and trying to control the case, and there are plenty of toadies eager to follow daddy’s demands. Marshall wants her to drop her allegations against him so he can be put forward for a promotion, and even Danny doesn’t think it’s a terrible idea, if only so it’ll help Alice get her career back on track. Marshall claims he’s changed, that he’s sober and ready to be better. Is he genuine in that sentiment when he agrees to meet with Alice?
She sure as hell isn’t, and their meeting is one of the most uncomfortable moments in Furious so far: a honeytrap moment involving a masochist and the childhood sweetheart who beat her. Alice puts on the kind of show that Catherine would be proud of, dressing more feminine and acting softer and smaller to entice Marshall. She wants to bring him down, but maybe, just maybe, she also craves their old romance with a new sexual twist. She likes it rough, and she also knows how easy it is for people to misunderstand that desire, out of concern or something less caring. Wouldn’t it be oh so easy to give Marshall a dose of his own medicine at the same time? In a show that has always been willing to dive down the rabbit hole of kink and control, Furious is at its nerviest in this scene.
In the pilot, Nora told Alice that being a victim doesn’t mean you’re a good person. You shouldn’t have to be “perfect” to deserve support or sympathy. But doing everything correctly just ruined Alice’s life, and it didn’t provide Catherine with justice. Now, the parallels between both women are growing stronger. Trauma is making them rot, forcing them to be mean and lie and insist that the ends justify increasingly inexcusable means. The rape revenge fantasy is just that, and even when Catherine makes moments of it look fun, Alice’s always looks bleak (albeit with a Fiona Apple song scoring the moment—peak millennial rage stuff right there.) The showdown between them is sure to be a good one. But based on the way “Pick A Sticker” ends, with Alice happening upon Catherine in the survivors’ shelter waiting room, we won’t have too long to wait.
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