The Catch is veteran ABC queen of drama Shonda Rhimes’ latest TGIT offering, taking over How to Get Away with Murder‘s previous time slot. It centers on private investigator Alice Vaughan (Mireille Enos) who, in between her normal clientele, has been chasing a criminal mastermind known only as “Mr.X” for nearly a year now.
We learn very early on that the man in question is in fact her fiancee, Christopher Hall (Peter Krause), whose real name – as far as we know for now – is actually Ben. While her entire office is seemingly focused on her wedding, his team is working on getting ready to pull him from her life altogether. I should say calling it “his team” is maybe premature though as we meet Margot Bishop (Sonya Walger), who he clearly has an intimate relationship with and seems to be the one calling all the shots. She demands they end their ruse and move on, which clearly leaves Ben pensive.
The next morning finds him pondering as he watches Alice sleep. When she stirs, he suggests the pair elope. This would lead us to believe that perhaps he truly did fall in love with her. Being this is a Shonda show however, I don’t take anything at face value anymore and expect a lot of twists and turns still to come. She agrees to run away with him, but with the stipulation that it will only be after she has apprehended Mr.X. Disappointed and likely out of alternatives, he indeed disappears from her life entirely, taking her life savings with him.
Alice free-falls as she retraces their entire relationship and discovers the he had conned her the entire time and she didn’t even realize it. Considering she is supposed to be one of the best in her field, it rehashes the age-old idiom that love truly is blind. As her and her team go over the incidents of the past year, they come to the conclusion that we already know:
“Christopher” was in fact the very man that they had been looking for the entire time. Furthermore, they determine that his end game was to gain access to their client files.
Realizing the massive breach in security, Alice’s business partner, Valerie (Rose Rollins) insists that they must inform their clients immediately. She relents after Alice asks for some time, despite that it is against the law to withhold the information. With what can only be described as super-convenient timing, an ex Interpol/current FBI spook – Agent Jules Dao (Jacky Ido) – shows up with the revelation that he has been chasing “Christopher” the whole time as well and asks for their assistance. While Valerie is ready to get the breach off her chest, Alice coolly turns him down. He subsequently follows her and finds her breaking into the last trace of “Christopher” – his car. She is still unwilling to give him anything and leaves. You’d think he would have arrested her on the spot, but for some bizarre and surely plot-furthering reason he watches idly as she leaves.
The team deduces “Christopher’s” next mark and how he is going to con him, setting up what turns out to be a plan to con him right back. We follow “Christopher” through his con to obtain a precious USB full of multi-million dollar plans for a water purification system. After handing off the prize to his partner Reggie (Alimi Ballard) who makes an unnecessary racial jab, he’s about to wrap up when a fiery (literally in a blazing red dress and lipstick) Alice and team approach. “Christopher” raises his glass of champagne to her almost reverently. Reggie turns out the lights just then and the pair escape. On the drive back to their hideout, Reggie knowingly tells Ben to let Alice go, suggesting that Margot would have them killed.
Alice has now rushed back to the office, revealing her endgame: realizing he would be stealing a USB, they set up a program that strips all the wrong-doer’s accounts bare. A visually shaken Margot ominously demands Ben and Reggie “fix it” before a mysteriously unnamed benefactor doesn’t get his payment.
The final scene finds Alice at home, staring at the exact painting that she prevented from being stolen as the show opened. It’s a fitting reflection of the scene where she scoured for pictures of “Christopher”, only to find his face hidden in every one. He had also coyly stated that he knew “how he feels” in reference to it. The thing here is, Alice had commented that there was no way he could possibly afford it when he offered to get it for her. So, that begs the question, with all their accounts wiped out, how exactly did he pay for it? Or did he himself somehow steal it? Hmm.
Random notes:
- Originally cast in the lead role of “Christopher” was Stitchers‘ (a guilty pleasure of mine) Damon Dayoub. I have to be honest here – and I’m really not trying to be ageist or a jerk – but I really feel like I would have liked this more with him and a different female lead. I’m not sure who was casting, but come on…there’s no way he would have fallen (fake or otherwise) for the current Alice. I think if they would have kept One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz, who was originally slated to play Margot and switched her to the lead, that would have been a more believable and perfect fit.
(ABC/Van Redin)
DAMON DAYOUB, BETHANY JOY LENZ
Don’t get me wrong, Peter Krause is amazing as always and a MUCH better match for Enos. I just feel like there is a fun, youthful vibe missing from this show. Maybe I just watch too much CW.
- Could that wedding dress have been any more ho-hum? For someone with over $1M in the bank, you’d think it would have been prettier/more flattering. Yech.
- On a whole, the cast of characters is “meh” at best for an ensemble show. Maybe they will grow into their own as the show progresses.
- It was great to see Jackson Hurst (Drop Dead Diva) back on TV again, though sadly, it was a short lived part.
Overall Rating: B-
Keep Watching Factor: Undecided. I usually give new shows a 4-episode buffer zone, but this one really didn’t grab me.
Let Nikki Handle It 