‘The Consultant’ Recap: ‘Sang’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘The Consultant’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Thus far, our journey through the Prime Video series, The Consultant, has yielded little answers regarding the mystery that is Regus Patoff. For to date, the show has only informed us of the fact that he is intense and expects his staff to go above and beyond for the business… with minimal reward. But above all, he’s dangerous and worrisome, and that really is as far as the series is willing to go from an exploration standpoint regarding this mystery man. A move that seems grounded in purpose, as though the show is waiting for the final episodes to reveal all, and that allowed for all of us… to comfortably settle in for more mysterious mayhem when we all hit play on the next episode… only to be outright surprised.
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For ‘Sang’ turned out to be a story that actually offered up some answers to our burning questions. Specifically, how Regus was able to convince Sang-woo to just… hand over CompWare without giving it much thought and who exactly Regus Patoff might be and well… those answers made this episode something of a ‘be careful what you wish for’ moment. Because it turned out that Patoff… basically just marched into CompWare after looking at its books and opportunities and demanded a meeting with Sang-woo. One where he promptly outlined the troubles awaiting the company in months to come and where he of course, offered his services… and something quite sinister. The kind of thing that speaks to a being that isn’t quite human… intimate knowledge of a man he’s never met.

The kind that revealed a great deal about Sang-woo and his thought process, that no one else would have known but him. Making it seem as though, Patoff had a window into Sang-woo’s soul, one that would allow for him to know his fears and his thoughts, and he used those to motivate Sang-woo to ‘purchase’ his services and seal his horrific fate. But what mattered more here, is that in many ways, Regus Patoff presented himself as something otherworldly in this tale. Because no everyday person could speak to what Regus did here, and the power he exerted over Sang-woo was quite frightening and made Patoff even more unsettling from a story perspective. Since it speaks to the reality that whatever skills he harbors can be used to get anyone to do his bidding when he so wishes.

All of which makes him a genuinely terrifying character now, one that compels us to finish the journey to see what he might do to Craig and Elaine once he settles in at CompWare. Which is a terrifying prospect, one that might be mitigated by the actions of that duo in this tale. Since Craig was spooked deeply by that Friday night fiasco and decided that he needed to get hold of Frank and use his skill set to bring this guy down. Which pushed him to do something bold, and basically race to finish a mock-up of the game, so he could get it installed on Patoff’s phone. Giving him access to contacts and notes and that did bring about Frank’s number. Giving him and Elaine a shot at perhaps counter punching a man that is only getting bolder and weirder by the minute, and really might not be human.  

As evidenced by his decision to add a statue of Sang to the lobby, and his incredible strength in doing so, and of course… there are those weird powers he has over people and really in the end, this was just an amazing episode when all is said and done. Because it truly catches the viewer by surprise and accelerates the story and raises the stakes. After all, just like that… lives are clearly in danger at CompWare and Patoff may let loose and bring about pain on a moment’s notice and that’s a terrifying prospect, one that truly motivates us to hit play on the next episode post haste. To see what the forthcoming confrontation between Craig, Elaine and Patoff is going to look like, and whether or not our heroes can counter the incredible power Patoff harbors before he uses it against them. Until next time.   

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