Ten Days In the Valley Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Day 2: Cutting Room Floor
Jasmine Blu
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Let's just call this hour "the one where everyone is over Pete and his bullsh*t."
On Ten Days In the Valley Season 1 Episode 2, Pete was doing the absolute worst job ever of staying under the radar and therefore was on everyone's radar, right at the tip-top. He brought it upon himself though.
From Jane to Bird, to Ali, to Casey and Matt everyone was side-eying Pete. Myself included.
There is still a bizarre lack of urgency with many of the characters when it comes to this missing child. Why are people trying to get sleep? Who can sleep? Who wants to have sexytimes when their kid is missing? No one, Casey. No one.
But if you're someone who falls on the "compartmentalize all the feels" part of the emotional spectrum, that's how it goes.
Pete though, he just stands out like a sore thumb, but mostly because every opportunity, he has he's going after Jane. He's not doing himself any favors and is coming across like a total dick.
Nearly every conversation is along the lines of :
Someone: Hi Pete.
Pete: Jane is a terrible mother and person and here are 100 reasons why she shouldn't have custody of Lake.
Given the fact that he has a history of taking Lake himself, and an awareness that as a recovering addict and the father custody may not go in his favor, he should know that he's number one on the suspect list.
Dial it back, dude. He seems less concerned with his daughter being missing and more concerned about using it to crucify Jane.
What makes a jackass interesting, however, is when the jackass still has some valid points and sound reasoning.
Jane isn't an awful mother, and it's a dick move for him to say she is. It's also terrible that he wants to burn her at the proverbial stake for working and possibly engaging in a sexual relationship with someone else. It's not his business, it's a sexist double standard happening there, and he's hypocritical to boot.
As a recovering addict himself, however, he was on the nose when talking about her issues with addiction. She can be very easily deemed a functioning addict, but if that's the case, then she needs help.
He caught hell being an addict, and it affected his ability to parent his own daughter. There's a double standard that works against him too.
So, Pete is a jerk, but even he can be right at times. He remains the most suspicious of them all. His relationship with Casey is difficult to watch because he comes across manipulative and she comes across mind-numbingly naïve.
Casey clearly knows something is up, but damn, that girl does not ask enough questions. She knows Pete is super shady, but she doesn't call him out on it.
Is it possible that she's this clueless, or is she biding time? She doesn't want to lie to police, but that's what he's essentially telling her to do. He isn't honest about why he needs her lie for him, and his being alone on that night is just BS. He placates her.
Casey: That's a key to Jane's house.
Pete: Yeah, it's Lake's key. She asked me to keep it safe for her.
She's picked up that he's being cagey. He has that mysterious phone call (or was it a text?) from someone to whom he probably owes money. He has the key to Jane's house, lakes key, and of course, the BMW reveal.
She's already playing things too close with sleeping with Jane's ex while still working with Jane. It's an awful position, and it's hard not to dislike her for that alone.
It's only a matter of time before Jane finds out that her trusty assistant has been sleeping with Pete. It's only a question of who Jane will find the truth out from first. The police, particularly Bird, will spill the beans, but Matt might say something too.
I loved his facial expression when Casey trotted out to Pete's car and handed him those fliers. The wheels were turning.
I will die without her. I will die. I mean, what if I never get her back? What if she's really gone?
Jane
God only knows how Jane will react when she finds out that juicy tidbit. She lost it on Bea, and she's already hard to rein in. I mean, Casey is her assistant. That moment where Jane broke down in front of Casey was heartbreaking, and there Casey is keeping this big secret from her.
Jane, God bless her, continues to be a hot mess. Her intentions are typically well-meaning, but she is a card-carrying member of "Team poor decisions." It's like she can't help herself.
Bird let her know he could basically tell she was lying to him, multiple times, and she continued to lie with her lying mouth filled with lies, adding that she won't lie to him again while following it up with more lies. Oh, Jane.
Detective Bird: You know, it's funny. Even in this job, it's hard not to take it personal when people lie to you.
Jane: I'm sorry I lied about the timeline. It won't happen again.
She wants to protect herself; she wants to protect PJ, and she wants to get her daughter back. I get it, but she makes it so hard.
It's crazy because Jane is a liar, but she's not a good one. When she shuffled everyone out of the house so she could take off in search of PJ, she didn't even attempt to make it look good.
Don't get me started on using another rock to break another window. I hope she has a glass repair person on speed dial.
But the entire sequence where Jane crashed Sheldon's gathering was shocking. Sheldon must make a mean Korean BBQ, but I'm hard-pressed to wonder what he puts in it to make it so addictive.
The casualness by which Jane snorted an unknown substance just to prove to Sheldon she wasn't a cop was jaw-dropping. There were plenty of other ways she could have proved that without accidentally tripping on K because she thought it was coke. Don't you just hate it when that happens?
It had her M.I.A. all night and nowhere to be found when everyone else showed up at her home with fliers to canvass the neighborhood. She couldn't even come up with a reason for why she was gone all night.
Jane isn't helping herself any either, but at least she has Ali, who truly does enable and cover for her, to a fault. Oddly enough, she has Detective Bird on her side too.
Jane: That's not cocaine.
Sheldon: Never said it was.
Jane: What is it?
Sheldon: Special K. It's a trip. First time? Buckle up.
In our interview with showrunner Tassie Cameron, she expressed how much she likes John Bird, and after this hour, I can understand why.
Bird is the type of person you want on your side when the going gets tough. He's obsessive but just enough to be effective when it comes to his job. He's incredibly observant, but he has such finesse when he's investigating.
He comes across as an investigator, mediator, therapist, and friend all at the same time.
He has an impressive interrogation and investigatory style. He knows just the right type of questions to ask. He knows when to prod and when to back off.
Nothing goes unnoticed, and when someone thinks they have successfully dodged or deflected, he circles right back around to pin them down or uses that to keep digging.
That's how he figured out everything with Bea and her boyfriend and knew she had a daughter even though she lied and said she didn't. And that's how he knew Bea (who didn't give the key to the Gardener) had her boyfriend stealing from Jane.
Jane, who tends to be frazzled all the time, isn't the type of woman to notice something like her expensive tiles being missing and Bird knew that.
Even Bird's moments with Ali were insightful. Bird is a fascinating, likable character already.
He's the type of guy who could not only get you to confess to murder, but you'll thank him for freeing you from the guilt, and you may even offer him tea afterward. It's a silent, calm, inquisitive demeanor.
At this point, almost everyone is sketchy or just unknown, including Jane, and the only one I trust 100% is Bird.
Did you catch the comment about Jane taking down a corrupt politician in addition to taking down the San Diego police force? The list of people who have it in for Jane, and would be willing to take Lake to get back at her, is getting longer by the second.
She's your daughter. You have no idea who you can trust.
Bird
Now Commander Gomez is onto Jane's scripts. I don't know what this means for Gus; maybe that the bigger ups are closing in on him?
Amira using her relationship with Jane's staff member (who doles out copies of scripts like grandmas in church pass around candy) is going to backfire for so many people.
Jane's scripts are based on real events. Commander Gomez knows it, and Bird has figured it out, too. It has to be connected to Lake's disappearance, right?
I dismissed PJ after Ten Days in the Valley Season 1 Episode 1, but now I'm starting to wonder how deep he is in some of this, too. Sheldon appears to be a pretty big dealer.
PJ: OK, dude, chill alright? I'm just doing my thing, trying to climb my ass out of the ghetto.
Jane: Oh, shut up! Your father's a dentist.
PJ: I'm talking the proverbial ghetto.
PJ works for Sheldon. PJ also deals with not only Jane but with Pete too. PJ knows a lot about what's going on. He's in film school, might be a bit opportunistic, and also keeps up and possibly uses other people's stories.
He was the one who told Jane about a black BMW, which is the most common car type ever. It led to Jane once again pinning everything on Pete, but Pete owes someone money or something, and he lied about knowing PJ too.
Hi, mama! I know you're too busy to see me, but I love and I'm OK. Fly kisses!
Lake
There has to be something more there, right? Now whoever has Lake has just sent Jane a video of her. Again, she's clearly being taken care of, but with no ransom or demand as of yet, what gives?
What is Pete's involvement? Will Casey turn on him? How do you feel about Detective Bird? Are Jane's past choices the reason Lake has gone missing? Who has Lake? Sound off below.
Don't forget, you can watch Ten Days In the Valley online right here on TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
