Wicked City Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Running With the Devil
Christine Laskodi
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Poor Mallory. I thought for sure she'd live through the end of the episode.
It turns out that Kent hasn't quite turned nurse Betty into a killer – yet.
On Wicked City Season 1 Episode 2, an exciting game of cat and mouse took place between Kent and the detectives who desperately wanted to save the wannabe movie star before she could meet her end. Unfortunately for Mallory, Kent arose victorious, and she didn't make it to the end.
In case you're keeping count, that's two, two dead victims. (Mwah,ah ahhh...)
At least I care about Karen. You guys are just using her for bait.
Diver
It sure is great that Karen got away before Kent could get to her. In a not-so-surprising turn of events, she and photographer, Diver (Evan Ross), are totally knocking boots. He thinks she's so talented. (Is that really all a guy had to say to get a girl in bed in the '80s? Come on, ladies!)
We knew Karen would help to get Kent's face out there with a composite sketch...she's the only one who's seen his face and lived to tell about it. Now that he knows she is working with the cops, what will he do to her? Something tells me that Diver can only protect her for so long.
I also find it interesting that Karen now wants to completely expose the Sunset Strip in all of its ugly glory. Just a few days prior, Karen wanted to get backstage on the Strip and to get a story for a big magazine. All it took was one near murder experience and now she's hell bent on taking them all down? That's definitely going to go well – not. She's young and stupid without being annoying, so I like it.
I'm still not totally invested in the detectives or their stories. I literally could not care less about Contreras. I'm not even positive what his role is in the series besides serving as an annoyance to his partner, Roth. The writers need to give him something and fast.
Nothing goes with chocolate chip pancakes like anal contusions.
Allison Roth
It wasn't terribly surprising to discover that Roth was so consumed about the Hillside Strangler case the first time around. He seems unusually invested in this case. His family is still feeling the repercussions and tension of what the case did to Jack and are positive that he will become a stranger to them once again, with Kent's latest resurgence in murders. Perhaps this is why he and Diane started their affair?
At least they're enjoying chocolate chip pancakes as a family. Kind of.
It feels a bit like we are being beaten over the head with reminders that Wicked City is set in the early '80s. References to MTV, old technology, and that Star Wars' Mark Hamill is "totally hot" are not needed as often as they are being thrown at us. The soundtrack and the style are doing enough to remind us what decade it is.
Speaking of the soundtrack, does anyone else feel just a little bad watching awful things happen to people while singing along to the music? Just me, then? The music selections on this series are brilliant and, it appears, carefully selected. I hope ABC starts a "Wicked City Playlist." I'd download it weekly.
Kent: What are you feeling right now?
Betty: Terrified.
Kent: It's not fear bottling up inside you. It's adrenaline. Admit it. You feel more alive than you have in your entire life.
Let's talk about Kent and Betty.
Once again, Ed Westwick is stellar. He's perfectly creepy and plays Kent as an awesome anti-hero. Throughout the game of cat-and-mouse, I continually rooted for Kent and had to remind myself that I was, essentially, rooting for him to catch his victim.
My fascination with Kent only continues as we go on in the series. He's quite intelligent, can take on foreign accents and move quickly. He can quote Plato at the drop of a hat and equates being in love to sharing murder. I cannot imagine that I'd enjoy Kent so much were it another actor in his shoes.
I was a little surprised to find that Kent did not immediately bring Betty in on the murder. When the pair left the club with Mallory on Wicked City Season 1 Episode 1, like many others, I thought that Kent whispered the murder plot in Betty's ear. It turns out that he just wanted to have a disturbing threesome.
Don't say a word. Don't even breathe.
Betty
Betty seemed to take pleasure in her part during their role-play game, repeating the words that Kent said to her during their first sexual encounter. You might recall, he asked her to play dead, and it was weird and sexy. Betty took the lead this time, asking Mallory to stay quiet and still. Man, these two really get off on playing dead.
When the police arrive at the hospital with the sketch of the killer, Betty realizes that Kent might not be the stand-up guy she thinks he is. Does she honestly believe that every guy who pulls out a knife during sex and asks their partner to pretend to be dead is super cool?
Kent: Come with me, let me show you.
Betty: Show me what?
Kent: All of it. All of me. And if you don't like it after all you've seen, I'll disappear.
Kent's speech to Betty when he finally decides to show her who he really is was really quite touching. Although she asked him to lose her number, Kent can't let go of Betty because he truly believes that he's found his other half. Considering how sadistic Betty was introduced to be, she sure looked horrified as she watched Kent stabbing Mallory.
It will be interesting to watch Kent convince Betty to kill alongside him, if that is the plan at all. Again, I expected that she was going to be along for the ride immediately.
Kent might have his work cut out for him.
What did you think of "Running With the Devil"? Are you on Team Kent? Will Betty join him immediately, or do you think she'll hesitate? Will Contreras ever do something that we care about? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Missed a killing? You can watch Wicked City online here at TV Fanatic, and be sure to come back next week for Wicked City Season 1 Episode 3 to discuss!
