'11.22.63' Recap: 'The Eyes of Texas'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As the halfway point arrives for 11.22.63, the show continues to impress by more or less throwing the time travel genre of storytelling upside down by challenging all the things that we often see in these stories. Case in point, 'The Eyes of Texas' is an episode that addresses one key thing, would anyone ever bother to challenge your existence in another era of time, or would we simply blend in? The answer to that question, is that man's inherent curiosity wouldn't allow for one to simply blend in, but in addition to exploring that little wrinkle in time travel storytelling, this was a story that also continued to dive deep into our character's psyches, and their emotions.

Because love was in the air this go round with Jake and Sadie's romance continuing to grow and well, the show deserves some serious credit for putting together a pair of actors that have incredible chemistry together because this is a whirlwind love affair that you can believe in and it's stunning to see how fast Sadie and Jake have fallen for one another and how important it is that they are viewed as wonderful and flawless by their respective lover. There's an inherent fear to their love, and with good reason since both of them are hiding the truth from one another, but more on that in a moment. Because as these two star crossed lovers let their hearts speak before their minds...Bill is quickly discovering that Lee's lovely wife is catching his eye as well, and that's making it harder for him to accomplish his mission, since Oswald likes to beat his blushing bride on a regular basis. But, while it seems like trouble is brewing because of his incredulous crush, this show is constantly full of surprises...so who knows, nothing may come of this.

But speaking of surprises...another significant aspect to this particular episode, is the importance of truth and of course, whether or not one can just blend in magically when it comes to another era of time and well...one chilling yet entertaining moment in the story arrived when Miss Mimi confronted Jake, and pointed out that while all his baseline records were in order, in many ways he simply does not have a past and thanks to a quick pivot on Jake's part, he was able to avoid having to tell exactly why he was here in hilarious fashion by giving her quite the cover story that happened to resemble a few scenes from The Godfather saga. But while Miss Mimi was satisfied with his explanation and let it slide, she did make a valid point. If she could uncover such things about Jake, others would as well, and...others certainly did. Which brings us back to the whole cat and mouse game Sadie and Jake are playing...because one unpleasant surprise that Jake's new beau has been keeping from him...is the former man in her life, and the horror that he is.

As it turns out, Sadie's husband, the man that she claimed to be divorced from, was refusing to sign the papers and let his lady go, and to make matters worse, he felt the need to intervene in her budding new relationship with Jake. A few carefully placed photos made it initially appear that Jake was being pursued by the CIA in his case against Oswald, but all along it was a jilted husband and well...when confronted about it, Sadie revealed what an abusive monster the man truly is and it led to one incredible showdown between the two men where Jake was more than happy to slam the creeper with some powerful words that forced Sadie's man to back down as soon as possible. Oddly enough, it was a solid enough effort to get her hubby to sign the divorce papers and free her at last, but not before he took the opportunity to attempt to ruin their relationship, with an eerie note declaring that Jake is not what he seems and by breaking into Jake's home and helping lead Sadie where he wanted her to go...so that she could discover some of the Oswald surveillance tapes in Jake's basement...

Which means that the real truth about Jake will be pouring out of him soon, undoubtedly come the next episode and it has to. Sadie has revealed everything she can to Jake and it's only fair for him to do the same or completely lose her. But while it seems like the show is shifting in tone to a romance, it's not. The romance is merely a companion to a story that well, has two choices. Either become a break neck action serial that starts jumping into the quest to save JFK and nothing more, or...continue to be a slow burn character study about a man trying to adapt in a world he doesn't understand and not lose his humanity along the way, and by giving us the romance and depth, we are indeed getting the latter of those two options. Combine that with the fact that the mission is getting harder as Jake continues to try and balance both saving a life and loving a woman, and we are in for one tension filled ride as the clock continues to tick toward 11.22.63 and truth be told, I found this to be an incredibly engaging episode, and love the fact that nothing is easy or going according to plan. It's raising the stakes without adding manufactured drama, and I can't wait to see how the conversation with Sadie is going to go come next episode...until next time.

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