Stumptown Review: Rip City Dicks (Season 1 Episode 3)

Stumptown Season 1 Episode 3, “Rip City Dicks,” is another fun episode from the freshman series, even if ultimately it’s more setting the stage for a bigger pay off next week.

The episode drops a few breadcrumbs about Dex’s parents, continues to slowly progress the storyline revolving around Grey’s past, and gives viewers some more time with Sue Lynn Blackbird, establishing her character just a bit more.

All of that is great and likely ultimately important but until the end of the episode, there are no major developments to the ongoing story. Still, on its own terms and as a contained episode “Rip City Dicks” is a fun ride and an enjoyable hour of television.

The majority of “Rip City Dicks” centers on Dex working with a local PI named Artie Banks in an effort to get her required apprenticeship hours done in order to obtain her PI license.

Although she likely wouldn’t admit it, Dex craves the mentorship Artie could offer. She wants to see something in him that she needs and he uses that to his advantage. 

Artie brings Dex on to a case involving a woman battling her rich influential husband for custody of their daughter. He uses Dex to gain her trust and then betrays both his client and Dex by selling the evidence they uncover to the abusive husband.

The episode ends with Dex promising her client that “she won’t lose again” and saying she was going to make both the client’s husband and Artie pay for what they did. This final scene is by far the best scene of the episode, and Smulders’s stand out moment of the week (she seems to have at least one every week). 

Earlier, when Dex confronts Artie, he says her liability as a PI is that she cares. That its the one thing keeping her from being a great PI.

How she responds to that comment is important for understanding her and for her progression as a character. Dex could have internalized that comment in a way that built up her walls further and made her more cynical. 

She could have taken what Artie said to heart and shut down further. But she doesn’t. Rather, Dex decides to use what Artie thinks is a weakness and turn it into a strength. 

Her investment in her clients and her emotions aren’t a liability, they are the thing that gives her the tenacity to keep fighting every time she gets knocked down. Her empathy, compassion, even her vulnerability are what set her apart and make her a force to be reckoned with.

It’s incredibly gratifying to watch Dex own all of that and see her determination not to let people like Artie win. If the next episode has the same energy as that final scene, we are in for a treat.

Outside of the main storyline with Artie Banks, “Rip City Dicks” gives us a little more development of the storyline involving Grey’s backstory as Hoffman investigates the murder of Grey’s associate Jack Feeney. 

Surprisingly, we don’t get a lot of answers here. We don’t learn too much more about Grey’s past or how he got into this situation in the first place.

The developments on this episode mostly serve to bring Hoffman into the mix and set up some tension between the two men. It also further solidifies the danger Grey is in by introducing at least one of the people threatening him. 

Dex doesn’t even really get involved at all or find out about Grey’s past. He is still purposely working to keep her out of the situation, even telling Hoffman at the end to leave her out of whatever he does. 

My big takeaways from the developments of this episode are, first, that even though there is a lot of tension between Hoffman and Grey right now, I think ultimately this will lead to the two of them coming to at least some sort of understanding, if not being friends, in the end. 

Or maybe this is just what I hope will happen. I think Grey and Hoffman are more interesting as allies than adversaries, especially if there is going to be some sort of love triangle with them and Dex. 

My second takeaway is that if there has to be a love triangle, I am, initially, team Hoffman.

Smulders and Ealy have great chemistry together and the energy in their scenes has a different kind of electricity to them than the ones with Grey.  Right now theirs is the possible romantic relationship I’m more invested in and interested in exploring.

Stray Thoughts

• Of all the scenes in the first 3 episodes of Stumptown perhaps none were more relateable than Dex trying to walk in heels.
• I don’t know how many songs Dex’s stuck mixtape actually holds, but so far every one has been a perfectly placed gem.
• I hope that we get to learn a little more about Camryn Manheim’s Lieutenant Cosgrove soon. I’m ready to find out more about her.

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

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Stumptown airs Wednesdays at 10/9 c on ABC.

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