January 31, 2007: What If She's Lying
Now
this is more like it. The previous episode of
Day Break brought up a couple of new plot threads without resolving anything here, we're finally seeing how all of the pieces of this puzzle fit together, and how a number of the major players in this series are involved in the conspiracy to frame Brett. Specifically, it seems that both Chad and Hopper's sister Jennifer are being extorted into helping against their will: Neither one of them has much power in the greater scheme of things. More than anything else, what I loved about this episode, and the series in general, is that everyone's motivations make sense. As the show's mantra "decision consequence" proves, sometimes these characters' stupid mistakes in the past have spiraled into personal tragedies by the end of the day.
It all comes back to Hopper's father (I forget, did we learn his name at some point? The best I can remember he was Brett Hopper Senior). It was hinted at in previous episodes that he died under tragic circumstances, and here it's confirmed that he committed suicide, apparently just after retiring early with a fat bank account full of cash. Detective Spivak is still livid over that last fact. He insists that Hopper was a dirty cop who took bribes in order to get rich, and that his guilty conscience over the matter was what drove him to take his own life. When Choi gets in his face about whether or not Spivak has a personal vendetta here, I was asking myself the same question: are we finally going to get a reason why Spivak hates the Hopper family so intensely, beyond what would be required of hunting someone in a murder case? He's like the Severus Snape of
Day Break, the guy who spends every scene insulting the intelligence of those around him, acting shady, and holding a grudge against the hero and his family for reasons that remain murky. I want this guy to develop more shades of gray the way Chad has.
Meanwhile, Hopper Senior's own family questions if their father managed to pad his retirement fund through less-than-wholesome means. Both Jennifer and Brett refer to their inheritance as dirty money, although I was a little unclear about why Brett was yelling at Jennifer for spending it. "You put your family in jeopardy for a couple days off and some new curtains?" he yells at his sister, but what should she have done? Left the money in a safe deposit box to collect dust? She couldn't have known that dangerous people would come looking for that money some day, dirty or not. But even if I thought some of Brett's logic was shaky, it's always compelling material when he and his sister argue. She digs into him for not being around after their father's suicide and leaving her to take care of everything. When Brett finally opens up and forgives his sister for using the money and promising to handle the situation, the day apparently changes again, the way it did when he apologized to Andrea. This time, Jennifer wakes up in the morning and trusts Brett enough to call him first thing and explain her dilemma to him.
The money was just a red herring anyway, since the villains really want the briefcase itself, which in turn has the murder file on Isabella Contrares. And speaking of the villains, the final reveal is that a politician named Tobias Booth may be the Big Bad running the whole conspiracy from a distance. There's still a lot left unanswered for the last few episodes to take care of, but I finally feel like I'm understanding the general shape of the plot and why everyone is acting the way they are.
Well, maybe not Chad. He's being blackmailed by the bad guys who are threatening to reveal his secret, whatever that is, but he's clearly got more going on than just being a complete black hat. He cares enough about his ex-wife to go ballistic when one of the two ex-cop goons threatens to hurt her, and the conspirators argue that he may not even be afraid of whatever dirt they've got on him anymore hence their decision to kill him via Jennifer.
Another highlight of the episode: the frantic montage of character deaths, reminding Brett that whatever choices he makes, someone almost always pays for his decisions with their life. It was a shock to watch Jennifer get hit by the car, and it's telling that out of all people he's watched die, this might have affected Brett more than anyone else.
So now we get to wonder what dark secrets almost half the cast is hiding, not to mention Hopper's dad. Was he really a dirty cop? I'm hoping not, but a show as good as
Day Break will probably surprise me with some huge revelation either way.
