‘Clarice’ Recap: ‘You Can’t Rule Me’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Clarice’.
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One particular aspect of life that no one enjoys dealing with, are consequences. Simply because they can genuinely be quite the nuisance, especially when we are forging ahead toward a particular goal that we know is just and true. For they slow down our quest and our progress and irritate along the way, and of course give us great pause when we realize the impact of our actions upon others. But while we lament them for certain, consequences actually have some measure of merit. For it we take a moment and reflect upon them objectively, we can learn a great deal from them and use that lesson in our quest and our growth and really, all of this is top of mind today, simply because their importance and their power were on full display during last week’s episode of Clarice.

For ‘You Can’t Rule Me’ was quick to explore the fallout and consequences that came about from Wellig’s death in ‘Are You Alright?’ and well, the price for having a protected federal suspect, die in the middle of an FBI building turned out to be a high one for certain. Because a rival of Paul Krendler’s was quick to swoop in, and attempt to bring ViCAP down for being too brash and too swift in its quest to accomplish the Attorney General’s goals and well, that left the team out of sorts. Because they were now unable to do anything outside of answer phones and wait to see how the investigation would go and that is what brought about an exploration of how consequences can in fact, bring about positive growth. 

Because the horrendous fallout of their attempts to crack this case, allowed for the team to realize that, they weren’t working as a team, and if they didn’t bother to come together and try to work as a unit, then ViCAP would perish for certain and well, that particular lesson did indeed allow for wonders to take place. Because just like that, everyone was working toward clearing Krendler’s name and to keeping ViCAP alive and that made for some satisfying moments for certain. The kind that really did show us that Krendler assembled quite the elite group of investigators since they made progress on the conspiracy case, to the point where they finally had person of interest in their sights, the doctor who oversaw the trials in question.   

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But while that definitely made for some wonderful moments, and hammered home how to turn a negative into a positive, there was still one member of the squad, struggling with notions of teamwork: Clarice. For she was still eager to do things her way and push and chase her hunches over anything else and well, that finally brought about a reckoning from both Krendler and Ardelia. For they were both quick to point out that while her hunches pay off often, hunches don’t hold up in a court of law and her desire to prove them on her own, could also lead to danger. Since there may come a day when she might find herself in a sticky situation, without backup or help. But despite the lessons learned here, Clarice still felt that sense of invincibility and still believed she could crack cases on her own and that brought about some negative consequences for her.

For it turns out that Krendler and Ardelia’s words came back to haunt her after all. For after ViCAP was cleared of any wrongdoing, a quick follow up on the bad doctor’s whereabouts, led to her being injected with a sedative by the doctor in disguise. Which is perhaps the ugliest possible way to learn the importance of teamwork, but this is how it is indeed going down for Clarice and well, this was unnerving in a lot of ways. Because while we know that she will be just fine in the end, because she makes it to the next chapter in this story, whatever is about to happen to her... will likely set her back on her road to recovery. Because being held captive, is undoubtedly one of her worst fears, one that will be compounded by her flashbacks of Buffalo Bill's basement of horrors. But at the same time, while this particular twist offers up a harsh lesson for Clarice, it also offers hope. 

Hope that she will fight off the resulting trauma to and learn the lesson in question, so she can stand with her teammates and work with them as an asset in bringing this conspiracy down. Since it now has its fingers in ViCAP's machinations in every way imaginable. But while we wait for Clarice's redemption from this mistake, we can bask in one fascinating tale. One that allowed for us to learn a little more about Paul Krendler and one that helped to remind us that a hot shot or superstar status can only take you so far and in the end, all this episode does is leave us incredibly eager to continue this fascinating journey. So we can see how exactly Clarice is going to escape the clutches of one desperate and dangerous doctor. Until next time. 

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