Chance Season 2 Episode 5 Review: The Collected Works of William Shakespeare
Kassie King
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On Chance Season 2 Episode 5 routines are disrupted and any sense of normalcy eradicated.
Whether their instincts point to violence or justice, each character must find a way to cope with their new circumstances, while battling demons from their past.
Winter seems to be the most unstable this hour, as the woman's throat he slit might suggest. This is the first time the audience has been privy to his explicit violence, and any shadow of his innocence is erased.
Obviously tormented by the truth of his past, Winter both summons Chance for help and pushes his advances away. After attacking the young mom he met, Winter admits to Chance that his coping mechanism hasn't been working, and admits that he's hurt people "so bad... that they died."
This admission suggests that Winter is beginning to trust Chance to an extent, despite how calculated he seemed at the beginning of their relationship. He is a very clearly a sick man and may be reaching out to the only person willing to help him with his demons. Although, Chance's motives are less than straightforward.
Winter's new hobby of stalking Lucy is an interesting, although unsurprising, development.
Chance: I really appreciate this.
Lucy: Which I'm sure will be reflected in the gift you decide to give me.
A stunning directorial decision tricked audience's eye by briefly suggesting Winter may have murdered her. Although he attacked a different woman, it doesn't mean that our green-haired friend is out of the woods, especially since Winter's fascination with moms and Lucy's schedule only seems to be growing.
Second to Winter, Detective Hynes seems to be struggling the most with his past indiscretions. He is obsessed with Winter, to the extent that he's almost destroyed his own life – twice.
Even after receiving the devastating news that Winter's DNA doesn't match that found under the fingernails of the young boy Stevie murdered years ago and got politely let go from his position as Detective, Hynes is still determined to find a way to "blow the case wide open."
Hynes' determination would be borderline pathetic if we didn't know that he was right. Winter is exactly the killing demon that Hynes believes him to be. The question is whether there will be anything left of Hynes to take him down when the time comes.
Hynes: The truth is a lion, Doc. You don't have to defend it. All's you have to do is let it loose. It defends itself.
Chance: Wait, did you -- did you just quote St. Augustine at me?
Hynes: Uh-huh. Who has two thumbs and hidden fucking depths?
D is also thrown into a new environment when he's forced to leave his home at the workshop. His father has hired a PI who has come snooping around Carl's place, and D invites himself to stay with Chance for a while.
Chance prods at D's recent lack-of-action, suggesting that his father is the feeder and D is the receiver, throwing D's metaphors back in his face.
Chance: "War consists of the constant interaction of opposites." That's von Clausewitz, isn't it? It's difficult to live your life that way. If not impossible.
D: Just 'cause I'm on your couch Doc, doesn't mean I need my head shrunk.
Chance: You see, that's what I'm wondering. Why the guy who's always talking about dictating the action is on my couch right now. Eventually, you're gonna have to stop running, you know. Even if only 'cause you lose both your feet to diabetes.
The big guy decides to confront the PI and confirms who is behind the investigation. We see D sneak into his family home and approach his dad with a knife. D isn't one to underestimate, and I wouldn't be surprised if his father isn't with us at the start of the next episode.
However, we did get to see a softer side of D when he had lunch with Lorena.
Not only did she gush about her baby – telling D that she is having a boy and showing him her sonogram picture – but she also brought him a comb from Winter for a sample of his DNA. Her nonchalance regarding her mom-killing boss and D's investigation is still astounding.
Chance himself is still battling his inner darkness. He works himself into a tizzy after not hearing from Winter and then comes very close to beating a guy that he almost hit with his car. Despite these violent urges, Chance manages to keep himself under control and seems to have it together the most out of any of these troubled men.
I'm glad the psyches of the other characters are explored more and more. Although Chance is a fascinating, the extent to which he was focused on last season was almost overkill.
The interaction between the characters now and the motivations behind their actions are the most exciting part of the new season for me.
Aside from Lucy's continued naivety regarding Winter, the women in this episode really had their shit together.
Dr. Clayton is given security footage that shows Chance getting punched outside the hospital. Not one to sit on her hands, she questions Nicole about Chance's state of mind, asks a cop friend to look into the attacker, and confronted Chance about his secrecy. Talk about getting things done and staying on the right side of the line.
Nicole: [Dr. Clayton] was asking about you, about how you're really doing since you got punched in the face by that guy.
Chance: What guy?
Nicole: The one who punched you. In the face, right? When you were trying to walk and read?
Nicole's expulsion from school and her father's job give her the opportunity to work at a conference where patients from the unit will be telling their stories.
The words of the victims seem to be hitting a soft spot for Nicole, who has been both victim and victimizer.
She implores D to teach her how to defend herself, and although he refuses out of respect for Chance, she does seem to be taking more control over her life. Self-defense is probably a better tactic than smashing people in the face with books.
Dr. Clayton: I've heard great things about you.
Nicole: Like that I broke somebody's nose with the complete works of William Shakespeare?
The title of this episode – The Collected Works of William Shakespeare – as well as the literary references littered through the episode, and D and Hynes' bond over war trivia and weaponry, speaks to the history that's being wrestled with.
Everyone tries to find peace with their past: D and Winter through violence, Nicole and Hynes through acceptance.
Whose story will end in tragedy? I guess we'll have to keep watching to find out.
Do you have predictions for the rest of the season? Comment below!
Kassie King was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in December 2017. Follow her on Twitter.
