"You're the Bad Guy" provided plenty of answers to Deception's conspiracy plot with Lyritrol, but it did leave one convenient answer out: who killed Vivian Bowers?

It finally fully hit me as Joanna and Julian were in bed together that their relationship is very much in peril because she’s a cop and she’s investigating his family; no matter how in love with each other they are, those kinds of obstacles are not easily overcome, and Joanna looks like she’s bursting at the seams wanting to tell him she’s undercover.

Will also made that this relationship point, but his jealousy is a little over the top for me. Will had his chance with Joanna and he blew it. Hurt feelings are one thing, but being cordial and gracious to your ex is the better route. I don’t think Will’s completely out of the game yet, but he’s quickly digging his own relationship grave.

Will shouldn’t hurt too much, though, considering he’s building quite the bromance with Edward.

My fears of the competing pharmaceutical company being the instigators of the entire conspiracy are confirmed, and, as must as I enjoy Deception proving that everything has been in place and moving towards this singular vision, these developments feel so far from the original premise of the show.

Of course programs should have avenues of growth to explore and expand to, but the original premise is Vivian’s killer; to have Vivian’s death be part of the plot of this overall conspiracy is a far cry from the show’s original intentions.

Nevertheless, the conspiracy is still fun to guess and play around with. It's also addictive, so Deception shouldn’t pay the review score price for a story critique.

Robert continues to grow scarier as Deception Season 1 heads towards its conclusion. It’s rather amazing the man continues to top himself as he runs over everyone in his way. His blackmail to Joanna’s mother was particularly frightening, and the scene shed light on why she continues to warn Joanna about getting into bed with the Bowers.

Her line to Robert about him being all about family with contempt lacing her every word rang so true. She’s not afraid of standing up to him or his blackmail if it means she can protect her family. She knows the true meaning of family. Robert, for the man continually yelling from the rooftops that he’ll do anything for his family, is the man who is continually betraying his own family for his own personal gain. It’s sickening. He even has the foresight to pay the FBI agent a nice sum to make sure it all gets pinned to Audrey.

Robert might be a very shrewd man, but it’s hard to see how he could have such foresight. Everything seems to be pointing towards Robert putting out the hit, or at least knowing about Vivian’s involvement. My guess is Robert soon figured out what his competitors were up to and saw an excellent news story about his company, so he let the entire thing play out and just played a waiting game until he saw the perfect moment to wrap it all up.

The only collateral damage has been his family, and he can’t quite figure out the one variability: Joanna.

Sorry Julian, your Dad is still a pretty dark dude.

Other Thoughts:

• Nicole is simultaneously annoying and awesome.
• They really didn’t try to hide that wire at all.
• The dropping of the contact was pretty contrived.
• Who killed Edward’s wife?
• Sofia and her old prison flame were incredibly boring.
• The flashback moment with Mia and Vivian was nice to watch.