pen·ance /ˈpenəns/ - voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.
To atone is to find peace and Gabi is many miles away from it. The guilt for hiding Sir weighs heavy and she is desperate to break free. The tether that seems to bind Gabi to Sir continues to stretch and coil, leaving her consumed for penance. Every time she moves a step forward, there is a detour that navigates her five steps away. As Gabi seeks a sense of refuge from her past decisions, we embark on the road of faith, forgiveness and freedom. Can she break away from Sir for good?
[SPOILERS]
As Sir adapts to his new reality (no shower in two days? Yikes), Gabi and team move forward with a new mystery hovering them. And there is no one in the basement for Gabi to banter ideas with. Something new for her to maneuver as the team collaborates on the investigation.
The case of the week involves Bernie, a pastor and dear friend to Gabi. Bernie is accused of harming his sister and care giver, Violet, who goes missing after a heated exchange. With a history of arguments and calls to the police, Bernie is the prime suspect even though he is blind. After the death of Maria, Bernie’s wife, he spiraled and left his congregation. Filled with anguish and despair, Bernie can’t move forward. He feels alone, abandoned and forsaken. And it’s all Violet’s fault. She had the proxy over Maria’s medical care and had to make a difficult choice.
As the team slowly gathers clues and conduct interviews, Gabi struggles with them questioning her instincts when it comes to Bernie and the case. It’s an interesting pivotal point for Margaret who knows Gabi’s instincts are always right and she is not ready to hear them regarding Jamie.
Unable to shake this tether to Sir, Gabi goes to the prison for answers about Christian, his brother who claims to need help. But Sir’s focus is on Gabi’s gratitude or the lack of gratitude which set her free from possible jail time. “You have no more control over me,” Gabi said. “Yet here you are,” Sir counters. And he’s right, she is back in his presence, but before she leaves, Sir gives one more gift to Gabi regarding Bernie’s case. “Find out who else is mad with Violet, then you will find her.”
We also see Margaret and Jamie slowly getting acquainted with very little information being exchanged. We don’t know where Jamie was, and he doesn’t want to share. We do know he is interested in Gabi and the case they are working on. Margaret agrees to include him but with reservations. Dhan also seeks more information on Jamie’s past which causes a rift between him, Margaret and Jamie.
At the M&A office, Gabi finds a sleeping Jamie on the couch. As she lays his coat over him, a brooch falls out of his coat pocket as Margaret also enters the room. Looks like Jamie has quick hands and admits to taking the brooch which Margaret recognizes. It belongs to Mrs. Pearl, a member of Bernie’s church, and Gabi realizes she too was upset with Violet. After interviewing Pearl once more, Gabi finds Violet praying in a private room at the church. Gabi has also used this same room during times of self-doubt with her relationship with her father. The ache and guilt Violet feels is unbearable and she too needs penance. The yearning for atonement unravels as everyone faces their fears. Bernie, who felt abandoned by God in his deepest hour, apologizes to Violet. He shouldn’t have blamed Violet for his pain. Bernie says he can feel Maria at the church and believes Gabi will feel her father again when she lets go. But Gabi feels broken. Sir took away her opportunity for penance and doesn’t know how to move forward without it.
I think many can relate to feeling abandoned by their faith which made this episode so touching and vulnerable. When Bernie said GOD abandoned him – he needed GOD, and he didn’t save Maria, it was a release he needed to unload while also asking for forgiveness. A very moving scene between Shanola and Willie C. Carpenter who played Bernie.
Meeting with Sir one more time, Gabi said she is not playing with him anymore. He will rot in here and she will heal outside. With Christian found dead, could this be the final thread broken between Gabi and Sir?
“Goodbye Hugh – it is finally over,” Gabi says as she leaves the prison.
Breaking the tether from Sir, Gabi begins her purge to create a clean slate. And she starts with her books: Taming of the Shrew, Native Son, Catcher in The Rye, Don Quixote, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, The Crucible – books I’m sure Sir had Gabi read over the years.
As the episode closes, Margaret arrives at Gabi’s home and shares that she also found a toy train in Jamie’s jacket. The train was initially in his room after he disappeared. How is it in his pocket? Was the kidnapper in her house. Is it someone she knows? Someone close to the family? Margaret needs Gabi’s help. Someone she knows took Jamie. Who?
NBC airs Thursday night and streams next day on Peacock.
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