The InBetween Review: While The Song Remains The Same (Season 1 Episode 8)

Police procedurals have a very specific pace they need to follow in order to keep viewers exactly the right amount of informed and interested at the same time. 

For the first time in the show’s short history, The InBetween Season 1 Episode 8, “While The Song Remains The Same” falls on the slower side of that pacing spectrum. 

A slower pace is preferable to one that is so fast that viewers can’t keep the details straight, a mistake The InBetween has made more than once. 

Cassie’s journey to help Jace Gray come to terms with his relationship to his son gives us more insight into Cassie’s past and why she is the woman that she is today.

So, this slow pace isn’t entirely bad. 

Holly’s murder case is what slows the episode down the most. Her pregnancy is a red herring that’s more noticeable than successful red herrings should be.  Holly’s sister Taylor and her husband Luke are suspicious from the moment they appear on the screen. 

It might just be an instinct that makes the fact that Holly is planning to extract her eggs to help Taylor and Luke conceive as unsurprising as the fact that they kill her because she asks for too much money one last time. 

Pursuing Esther and Bruno is a superfluous path viewers should be hesitant to go down at least halfway through if not right away. 

Anyone who has watched a few crime dramas knows that police have to clear family members first. So perhaps having more suspects within Holly’s family would’ve made this particular plot work better. 

Let’s move on to Cassie’s bigger worries on the episode because even though all of her visions are related to Holly, Jace takes up so much of her emotional energy. 

That’s totally understandable, of course. It’s only natural to have expectations of your idols in our celebrity-obsessed society. 

Cassie doesn’t know her biological father, so Jace lying to her about being there for his own son is obviously going to be a trigger for her.

There is a lesson here about knowing when to hold back.  

Billy has a great life, and he’s about to go to Yale. He hasn’t ever cared to find Jace, so why would Jace interfere with Billy’s life on Earth after his death?

Billy’s reaction would probably be anger toward Cassie. It might add a little bit of drama but that doesn’t serve Billy’s story. 

In the end, Jace does learn the lesson he needs to, and as Cassie says, “You weren’t there for your son, Jace. But you were there for my mom when she needed you. You were there for me.” 

It’s sad that Jace will never have the chance to be there for his son. But he was never a bad person — just young. It’s an important distinction, even though it definitely doesn’t excuse the fact that Jace didn’t send Penny money to help raise Billy when she was alive. 

The fact that his music has helped Cassie through life matters and I’m glad she told him so. 

Now let’s talk about Brian. His tumor is benign, which is awesome. But it’s still a meningioma that requires brain surgery. 

As the Season 1 finale draws closer it seems likely that viewers will be worrying about Brian’s fate during surgery soon, but just so you know a benign meningioma has a 90 percent survival rate. 

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

The InBetween airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

Anne-Marie Johnson on ‘The InBetween’ and Fighting For Diversity in Hollywood [Exclusive Interview]