‘Clarice’ Recap: ‘Get Right with God’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Clarice’.

​It is definitely safe to say, that the new CBS series, Clarice, has offered up some fascinating storytelling thus far. Because week in and week out, we’ve been treated to some unique tales, the kind that put Clarice Starling and her trauma and PTSD on display and that has allowed for some incredible character development to take place. The kind that that has not only taught Clarice some important lessons on dealing with pain and what it means to be a team player, but this character first push, has also started to provide us with insight as to how her teammates operate and its even started to give us some insight as to why Krendler and Starling will eventually have a falling out before the events of Hannibal.

But what the series has been surprisingly light on, are the powerful thriller sequences that made The Silence of the Lambs such an engrossing novel and motion picture. Because seeing Clarice have to navigate genuine danger, before she ever received her badge… made for some compelling moments, the kind that put us on the edge of our seat. But believe it or not, the lack of those intense sequences is something that the writers’ room of this series knew needed to be injected into the fabric of the show’s storytelling, they were simply looking for the right time to put it into the show, and wouldn’t you know it? The fifth episode of this saga was the perfect place to allow for that to happen and that made ‘Get Right with God’, quite the intense tale.

For when we catch up with Agent Starling in this story, she’s drugged and at the mercy of Marilyn Felker. Who is outright terrified of the possibility that the FBI is going to come crashing through the door at any second to arrest her and rescue Starling. Which motivates dear Marilyn to drug and toy with Clarice, in the hopes of learning what she knows and that leads to the intensity in question. Because poor Starling was forced to re-live all the traumas in her life in a harrowing manner, thanks to the drugs that Marilyn pumped her full of, and when she wasn’t hallucinating or existing in pure terror, she was wide awake and having to deal with Marilyn’s cruelty to the other patients in the coma wing. Something that came about as an advanced effort on Marilyn’s part to get Clarice to talk.

But despite being under such incredible duress, young Starling was unwilling to give Marilyn more than she needed to know in the moment, and she even opted to play mind games with her captor in order to try and get her to commit some kind of mistake. And eventually, her perseverance and unwillingness to acquiesce to Marilyn’s wishes paid off in spades. For she was able to get her to commit a mistake after all, and she even used the arrival of her friends to finally force a stalemate, by putting the life of Marilyn's twin sister in jeopardy. But alas, the only downside to this gambit, is that it didn’t pay off quite like Clarice was hoping. Because she truly wanted Marilyn to surrender to the FBI when they arrived, so the conspiracy case could finally garner some kind of traction. But alas, rather than be captured, Marilyn took her own life after her sister was stablized, leaving ViCAP no closer to solving this case and of course, the team is now down a member.

Because there is no possible way that Clarice will be on active duty after the events of this tale, since there will be emotional and physical wounds for her to heal before she can get out in the field again. But while we wait to see how Clarice handles being sidelined and what her healing process will look like, we can bask in one quality tale. One that was light on character development and that is okay. Because this really was an intense ride, one that harkened back to the finale of Lambs in a magnificent manner, and it helped to remind us… to never mess with Clarice Starling. Because when she is under fire, her mind is never more focused or clear and she will use the situation to make the bad guys and gals of the world pay, and it will be interesting to see how she uses that skill set going forward, and how exactly this all-important conspiracy case is going to advance, now that the trail has once again gone cold. Until next time.

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