American Crime 1.10: The Exquisite Hazards of Timing

American Crime - which aired its next-to-last episode, 1.10, of this season last night, after the welcome news that the series will be back for at least a second season next year - continues to weave a mosaic unparalleled in television with its many pieces and exquisitely interconnected complexity.

So, right before our very eyes last night, Carter is released from prison, Abrey takes his place for the murder, and Hector is back in Mexican custody, having been outed as a total liar about what he says he witnessed on the night of the crime.   Timing is everything is this ticking clockwork time bomb of a narrative, as it is in real life, if you think about it.  Had Aubry not confessed last week - a logical step for her, after she saw what her mother had been doing to keep Aubry and Carter apart, which meant Carter likely headed to death row (for conviction on a Federal hate crime charge) or life imprisonment - Carter might well have been released from prison anyway, with the truth coming out about Hector, though likely not as quickly.   But one of the telling keynotes of this story is that almost no one knows what anyone else is really up to or even doing - another characteristic of life in general.

There was some good news at last though in these mercilessly spinning wheels.  Tony's released after the fabulously heart-felt testimony of his sister, which confounds the evil Fates who would have delighted in Tony's being denied release, because his father was forced to sell his store to hire a decent attorney, and the judges or whoever they are wanted to know that Tony's family had a sound business to support him.   In one of the best scenes, Alonzo the father - perfectly played by veteran Benito Martinez (of The Shield) - gives voices to this insane, self-defeating system for the defense.

The acting, as I indicated in my last review, continues to be in a class of its own .  Caitlin Gerard with her performance as Aubry was clearly in tour-de-force territory last night, as was Richard Cabral as he always is with Hector.   I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a network television show so much, and have learned as much as I have from American Crime.

See also: American Crime, American Fine ... American Crime 1.7: The Truest Love

a different kind of crime

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