Stumptown Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Missed Connections
Meaghan Frey
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Beginnings are the best part.
On Stumptown Season 1 Episode 2, we are given a glimpse into the past of Grey and Dex meeting for the first time while Dex works on her latest case involving a very interesting meet cute.
Did Dex kick as much ass as she did during Stumptown Season 1 Episode 1? Read our review to find out.
It's not every day that you find a platonic co-ed friendship that began with a one night stand.
During the Stumptown series premiere, it was easy to believe in Grey and Dex's friendship without any explanation or backstory. Jake Johnson and Cobie Smulders have incredible chemistry that allows them to play off each other in the best possible way.
Adding in the details of when they first met just was the icing on the cake.
From the second, their conversation started, you believed that these two were meant to be in each other's lives. It was effortless.
Watching their story play out felt like I was watching one of my favorite romcoms.
Girl meets boy. Girl is damaged and afraid to commit. Boy chips away at girl's hard exterior. They live happily ever after.
Dex is not a leading lady in a rom-com, though. She is the hero of her own story, and she does not fit inside anyone's boxes.
Knowing that six years later, Dex and Grey are just friends, you just had to wait for the other shoe to drop.
Related: Stumptown Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Forget It Dex, It's Stumptown
Watching Dex drunkenly breakdown on her couch to Grey after ruining their date was surprising.
Dex: You seem like a really nice guy, and this is, this is nice, I like, but I can't cross the line because if I if, I do I mess it up. I kill everything.
Grey: Well, here's a crazy idea, what if we just don't cross the line again?
Dex: Well, what does that make us then, huh, I mean.
Grey: I think it makes us friends.
Dex: Friends. I guess we just dodged a bullet.
We caught a small glimpse of the vulnerable side to Dex during the series premiere, but this was different. During the premiere, Dex fought hard against letting herself succumb to the emotions, but in this case, she let them flow free.
Even though it was fueled by alcohol, Dex opening up to Grey showed just how comfortable she was with him, and pushing him away showed just how much she cared about him already.
Dex showed during the series premiere that she is not afraid to get a guy's hopes up by coming back for more. After all, we did see her dialing every possible booty call.
Dex could have easily lead Grey on, but she knew from the start that if they went there, it could never just be a casual thing. It would inevitably become something more.
Watching Grey with Ansel seemed to be the final nail in Grex's/Drey's coffin. Dex is the maternal figure in Ansel's life. Seeing someone who could connect so well with not only her but Ansel too, clearly scared the crap out of her.
Her time in the army may have damaged her, but Benny's death is what scarred her for life.
Part of Dex's PTSD journey will need to focus on her overcoming her guilt for Benny's death.
Related: New Girl's Jake Johnson Joins ABC's Stumptown as Cobie Smulders' BFF
Dex was discharged from the army 12 years ago. Given her reaction to Grey, I think it is safe to assume that in those 12 years she has not had a relationship.
Having a relationship isn't everything, but closing yourself off to the possibility of it all together isn't healthy.
She could have had something great with Grey, but because of her lingering guilt, and the ownership she takes for Benny's death, she deprived herself of that opportunity.
Grey may have taken her rejection in stride, but even six years later, you can see that it is still there for him.
During my review of the series premiere, I discussed the twinkle that was in his eye when he looked at Dex. You could see that same look in this episode as they toasted to six years of not crossing the line.
The thing is, though, you could see it in Dex too. Grey is not pining way unreciprocated. They both still are feeling those same feelings they felt six years ago. They just have become pros at suppressing it.
It's crazy, right? You meet somebody in a bar one night, and you have no idea what you're getting into.
Grey
It almost seems odd that they would celebrate the anniversary of the time they missed out on something that could be truly amazing, but hey, whatever floats your boat I guess?
If you want a constant reminder that you had the real genuine thing right in front of you and you shut that door, locked it and threw away the key only to peer in the window every day then go right ahead.
Related: Stumptown Trailer: Cobie Smulders Kicks Ass and Drives a $#!T Car
As much as I hate a love triangle, I think that Hoffman and Dex will be the catalyst for Grey and Dex. The closer that Dex and Hoffman get, the more it will bother Grey, and then eventually Grey will put his foot down.
This seems even likelier given that they already set up the soft place for Hoffman to land in introducing his friend's widow.
When we weren't learning about Grey and Dex's complicated history, we were focused on Dex's latest case.
It was easy to think that Alan was the one with shady ulterior motives, given that he was willing to shell out one thousand dollars to find Katrina.
Katrina's storyline was reminiscent of Veronica Mars Season 3 Episode 11 in which Veronica helps hunt down a girl for a classmate, who ends up being a prostitute his friend's hired. The two almost road off into the sunset after he paid off her pimp.
Similar to Katrina, it was the first instinct to question whether the girl was honest about her intentions. The thing is it didn't matter what Veronica thought, just like it didn't matter what Dex thought.
Dex has great instincts, and if Katrina really had evil intentions, Dex probably would have figured it out before it was too late for Alan.
The comparisons to Veronica Mars don't end with similar storylines. The whole vibe of the show feels very reminiscent of Veronica Mars in it's glory days and that is a great thing.
Given the less than warm reception of the latest season of Veronica Mars and the plan to dramatically change the show's direction, fans of the series will easily be drawn into Stumptown to get that fix they were looking for.
Cosgrove continues to be Dex's toughest critic. At least during this episode, she softened ever so slightly and was able to push Dex in the right direction to work on officially getting her P.I. license.
A further feud between the two powerhouse women may be on the horizon though.
The introduction of Grey's shady friend felt like it came out of left field but given that we were told they he had spent time in jail it was likely there was going to be a storyline to tie in with that.
Given that Grey was most likely one of the last people to see him alive, he is going to be a likely suspect.
We have already seen that the police in this city can't seem to be trusted to get the job done, so it is inevitable that Dex will have to step in to clear his name.
What's more concerning though is that there is a killer on the loose that can potentially be after Grey too. Perhaps he should move in with Dex and Ansel until the killer is found so Dex can be his security detail.
What did you think of Stumptown's second outing? Are you on board with the show yet or do you still need more time for it to grow on you? Comment your thoughts below and catch up on the series and watch Stumptown online at TV Fanatic.
Meaghan Frey was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2020.
