Breakout Kings

Philly's out, Erica's in, and Lloyd's still my favorite character. A truly frightening fugitive and a new team member's arrival made for an intriguing second outing of Breakout Kings.

"Collected" began as Philly was bounced, supposedly for trying to plan an escape. As a result, Erica was brought in. I liked Philly, she had a fun side but Erica's an interesting addition. With no mother, a murdered father, and a child that was taken from her, Erica's been given plenty of backstory. There's also the tiny bit about being suspected of killing the five men who murdered her father. The devil is certainly in the details and I hope we get more of those as this story continues.

The remaining team members have started to gel a bit more. Lloyd and Shea won't ever be buddies, but they have begun to build chemistry together, even if it starts from a difference of opinion or an out and out argument. Lloyd, meanwhile, still stole the episode for me. He got all of the best lines, figured out what made the killer tick and even had time to whine to his mom about being hit by a girl.

Charlie took Philly's defection to heart. She may have been Ray's pick but this is Charlie's team and Philly's failure made him doubt every member, especially Julianne. Of course poor Julianne was the most stalwart of the bunch and deserved his lack of faith and bad attitude the least. Ray quickly jumped to her defense and I wondered what inspired his protectiveness of Julianne to begin with. There's obvious history between the two.

Charlie's mystery pills were explained when Ray told him he knew about his heart condition. Considering that Ray pointed out that Charlie huffs and puffs like the big bad wolf, I had to question if he really had his health issues under control.

Ray also made mention that this team was his shot at getting his badge back. But Charlie called him a felon, just like the rest of the team. I didn't think you could be in law enforcement if you've been convicted of a crime so I was left with lots of questions. What kind of deal did Ray make that he'd still be able to redeem himself and possibly save his career?

This week's fugitive managed to hold women in basement prisons over several months and throughout several states, even while he was incarcerated. He even tortured them and brought little souvenirs (a tooth, fingernails, and hair) home to his wife and used them in his home decorating. Both creative and horrifying. 

Although this episode had a little less humor than the pilot, the continued character insights and a twisted fugitive made for another entertaining hour. I'm anxious to see what comes next.