Stumptown Review: The Other Woman (Season 1 Episode 8)

The previews for Stumptown Season 1 Episode 8, “The Other Woman,” promised a big game-changing twist and boy did it deliver on that promise.

Leading up to the episode the implication seemed to be that Dex was going to end up sleeping with Grey. That always seemed too easy and too obvious.

Even though Dex and Grey having sex felt like a misdirect, the thought of Dex sleeping with Liz, Grey’s new girlfriend, didn’t really cross my mind until they were in the casino and then it felt like the most obvious thing in the world. Who else could she sleep with that would live up to the “big twist” they promised.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings about this new development but let’s step back for a minute because a lot of important stuff happens on “The Other Woman” before that gasp-inducing reveal.

Most of “The Other Woman” revolves around Dex’s case of the week after she is hired by Sue Lynn Blackbird to find out who’s threatening her. Through the course of her investigation, we revisit Dex’s past with Benny, are introduced to Benny’s widow, get to know Sue Lynn and the community she leads a little better, and have some hints dropped about storylines that don’t involve Grey or Miles.

It is an episode Stumptown has desperately needed since Stumptown Season 1 Episode 2, “Missed Connections.”

So much of the series so far has focused on the rather standard love triangle between Dex, Miles, and Grey.  Great characters like Sue Lynn, characters that actually make the show feel fresh, felt a little short-changed.

It’s refreshing to see other characters in Dex’s life centered and learn more about the trauma that’s been driving her guilt for 12 years.

Sue Lynn continues to be one of the series’ best-supporting characters, if not the best. From the little we’ve seen of her she is the most complicated character outside of Dex herself. I haven’t quite figured her out yet and, as much as she may think differently, neither has Dex.

All I really want from Stumptown right now is more episodes that focus on her character. I want to see her relationship with Dex explored, I want to find out more about her life, her family, how she became the person she is, and why she’s made the decisions she’s made.

Along those lines, it’s exciting to find out that Sue Lynn has some sort of contentious past with Lt. Cosgrove, another underutilized Stumptown character. If that relationship isn’t developed more this season it will be such a missed opportunity.

“The Other Woman” also introduces viewers to Naomi, Benny’s widow. In a lot of ways, Naomi is a bit of a cliche. She’s the scorned lover, angry at Dex for destroying her marriage and blaming her for Benny’s death.

It’s a pretty standard set up and it is pretty obvious once Sue Lynn assigns her to be Dex’s guide on the Reservation that this is a story about two women, at odds over a man, finding some sort of closure about said man. That could have been really boring. But, as the episode progresses Naomi becomes interesting.

This is mostly because Moon Dailly, who plays Naomi, does such a wonderful job bringing the character to life. She brings a vulnerability to Naomi that makes her feel more nuanced than she might have in lesser hands or than she was, perhaps, in the script alone.

I am glad that even though Dex and Naomi make progress towards repairing their relationship the episode didn’t completely resolve their tension. It leaves room for more story with Naomi and an opportunity for them to form a relationship that isn’t defined on their conflict over Benny.

It’s to soon to tell if the Stumptown writers plan to do something interesting with Dex and Naomi but it would be great to see more of her in the future.

Ok, now to the big fat elephant in the room we are all here for. Dex slept with Liz. Dex slept with Liz, Grey’s new girlfriend. Dex slept with Liz, Grey’s new girlfriend that he confided in her he really likes.

I have mixed feelings about this development. On the one hand, I was relieved that what seemed to be a misdirect in the promo that Dex would sleep with Grey, was, in fact, a misdirect.

Since the beginning the Dex/Grey ship has sort of failed to set sail. For whatever reason, the idea of them as the romantic couple “meant to be” has floundered. It still might be where their story ultimately goes and maybe with more time it will be more emotionally resonate but right now it is too soon for them to cross that line or to expect viewers to be that invested in them as a romantic couple.

It is also fun to re-read Dex’s jealousy towards Liz not necessarily as just jealousy over Grey but as an attraction to Liz that maybe she didn’t even realize, especially when that jealousy came in moments where Liz was being kind to Ansel.

I’m even ok with Dex betraying Grey in such a hurtful way. We already know she’s self-destructive and uses sex to cope with her feelings so doing something like this isn’t that far-fetched.

After the emotionally wrought case with Sue Lynn and all the memories it drudged up it’s completely believable that Dex would do something reckless like impulsively sleep with her best friend’s girlfriend.

I don’t like her for doing it but it makes sense that her character would, and I’m interested to see the fallout.

On the other hand, bisexual cheating tropes have a long harmful history, as do tropes about bisexuals destroying happy heterosexual relationships. There is no getting around that this is part of those tropes. The questions is will they ultimately subvert that trope or frame it in a way that doesn’t repeat lazy mistakes of the past.

For now, I’m withholding judgement. I can’t say how I feel about the use of this trope or whether it will ultimately fall into the the negative stereotype category without seeing more of the story. Right now I’m just casting a skeptical eye with the hope that they will handle this storyline well and do right by all the people who were excited to see more bisexual representation on TV.

Overall, despite my reservation about Dex and Liz sleeping together, this was a good episode and one I’ve been waiting for for months. I hope Stumptown gives us more of this the rest of the season.

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

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Stumptown airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

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