Catch up first: read Anika’s review of episode 1 before diving into episode 2.
Have you ever had one of those days where you just can't catch a break? Where you're just a snagged sweater or broken glass away from completely falling apart? Well this is where Paula is at in episode 2. She's trying to keep herself together - project joy and encouragement for her daughter, embody competence and enthusiasm for her boss, and dodge sneaky questions from her ex-husband's girlfriend - all while being embroiled in an ever-evolving murder plot. This struggle is embodied in Paula's attempt to cover a fairly gnarly wound, with three colourful children's bandages (with dinosaur designs to boot!). The ultimate juxtaposition of her ever imploding life.
We begin with exploring the relationship between Trevor and an unnamed man played by the always wonderful, Murray Bartlett. They seem cute and sweetly bicker over potential investments. We are then quickly confronted with Trevor's upsetting and graphic murder and the reveal of his unexpected murderer. I liked that we began with getting to know Trevor a bit more and was disappointed with how quickly we moved on. After the first episode, I was grappling with my feelings surrounding Trevor's death. I imagine that it may make more sense as we learn more, but I felt troubled by a sex worker being represented as untruthful, manipulative and eventually murdered. There are so many examples of this trope in media, and it is troubling to me as I feel that this contributes to this community's continued dehumanization. I hope to gain a deeper understanding of Trevor throughout the series and that his humanity and complexity is fully explored.
After witnessing Trevor's murder, we pick back up where we left Paula in episode 1. While trying to escape, she accidentally catches the attention of the murderer and narrowly escapes him. The tension and ensuing chaos kept me on the edge of my seat. The start of this episode was also pretty gnarly. I found myself slightly covering my eyes at multiple points. The juxtaposition of the murder plot and Paula's personal life continues over the episode as after escaping, we see her make a decision not to call 911 for fear of losing custody of her child. She tries to keep it all together, keeping her head down and going to work, but then is shocked out of this by a visit from Detective Gonzalez.
The stress and tension is at a fever pitch in this episode - constant calls and text notifications, the ever ticking clock of a looming deadline, and so much more. There are many additional questions raised - why is Detective Gonzalez suspicious of Paula? Why does Paula trust her colleagues with her personal business, and should she? What's happening with that footage on Trevor's computer? Why the hell was Trevor murdered? Interspersed with these questions, Paula still stumbles into soccer practice (wildly the same day - the resiliency of the human spirit I tell ya) and we witness a sweet moment between Paula and her daughter as she supports her in navigating bullying from her soccer teammate. There also seems to be some vibes between Paula and fellow divorced parent and co-coach Steve? I'm curious to see where that goes.
One thing is for certain - with this show, you never know where you're going to go next. We end with Trevor's heinous murderer finding Hazel's cleats accidentally left behind by Paula in her chaotic escape. Our thoughts are with you Paula - let's hope he doesn't catch up.