Instinct Review: Big Splash (Season 2 Episode 4)

On Instinct Season 2 Episode 4 “Big Splash,” a plunge to a watery death is kind of a downer for a girl’s sweet sixteen.

I definitely didn’t have a club party attended by hundreds when I turned sixteen. To be fair, nobody died, either.

The opening does a nice job of establishing several suspects without being too obvious about it. I appreciate a good “whodunnit” setup and guessing which of several parties with motive actually follows through.

The answer, for better or worse, is none of them. At least, not the people whose anger with the victim is clear early on.  Instead, Ellie is killed by a friend bitter over a business opportunity lost when with her change of heart about careers.

I appreciate the show going down a less conventional route but must admit this is a bit anticlimactic. It’s fun sometimes to place bets at the very start of a mystery and then wait to see if they pay off.

Also just a bit anticlimactic is the way the shockingly convenient timing of Ellie’s body dropping into a pool gets written off. She gets infected by a substance that accidentally kills her and just happens to fall at the exact moment her stepdaughter steps on stage? Sure.

We manage to slip in some sweet and fun moments around this crime that’s probably left dozens of young people traumatized. I’ve seen some comments about the drama/lightness balance, but I think it’s done well, if not always smoothly.

Lizzie being welcomed back after her promotion with a confetti bomb is the kind of team dynamic I’m down for. Soon, she turns down a fancy office to remain in the midst of it all, because who wouldn’t want to? (Except maybe Dylan.)

As for Dylan, the adoption story remains largely status quo this week, now focused on reaching out to Sam. The lack of progress may or may not be a troubling sign for how things wind up. I still need to see them get a kid by the end of this season.

One significant complaint: the “technophobic man character looks down on social media as enhanced by stereotypically vapid kids” trope is so overdone. It’s not even done well here.

Yes, there are issues with these things that we should talk about them. We do. There are articles, segments, entire tv shows. There are things that rely on facts and data instead of superiority over one-dimensional characters.

I will admit that the viral video was laughable (and yet I absolutely want to see the whole thing,) but we also have to acknowledge that technology and social media have played a role in solving this case and others.

To be fair, Dylan does come around to liking the video for reasons that aren’t quite clear. Nobody tell him that 20,000 views only really counts as “viral” for a world population of around 100,000.

Then there’s the end of the episode, which sticks a pretty big thorn in the side of the lighter moments. First, Julian is heading off to work some kind of secret case for an unknown period of time. Considering his work, it’s going to be a nerve-wracking time.

In the final scene, Dylan and Ryan (Corn on the Cop) head out to meet an informant for the Sleeping Beauty case. Any fan of crime dramas can see the trope coming. The informant has been brutally murdered

We’ve reached the point where this case is picking up steam, and that will probably continue for the entire season. I don’t see things getting any less dangerous from here.

There’s also the possibility we’ll see Lizzie’s possible jealousy towards Dylan and Ryan’s working relationship come up again. I can’t say I’m a fan, but opportunities for inter-character conflict rarely go away completely.

 

What did you think of this episode of Instinct? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Instinct airs Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.

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