Trickster Review: Episode 6 (Season 1 Episode 6 )
Maggie and Jared neutralize Wade on Trickster’s series finale, Trickster Season 1 Episode 6.
“Episode 6” is split into two parts, the first part focuses on wrapping up the threat of Wade, and the second focuses on setting up a potential second season.
The result is an episode with many of the qualities that I have written about fondly for the last 5 weeks, made largely unsatisfying because the planned second season is not moving forward due to a controversy surrounding the show’s former showrunner, Michelle Latimer.
Knowing that the show is not returning makes reviewing “Episode 6” tricky because much of what is unsatisfying about the episode would play differently if I knew, or even had hope, that the story would continue.
Compared to previous episodes, “Episode 6” is not one of the series’ strongest, regardless of its Season 2 status, as it reaches its climax too early.
Even if a second season was still possible, the setup of what is to come next drags on too long and meanders to the finish line.
After a season of tight, well-plotted pacing, it is a little underwhelming to shift back so severely to the slower pace of Trickster Season 1 Episode 1.
That stumble at the end is more pronounced because the show’s cancelation makes it difficult to care about everything “Episode 6” teases. Unfortunately, that is a significant portion of the episode.
If I were writing this review during the series’ original CBC run, this complaint would be a minor quibble. It would be offset by my excitement about what it all meant for the next season.
I would be heartbroken for Maggie and terrified of the spiral she is poised to go on as she sits at her kitchen table fuming, feeling abandoned again by her mother, and this time by her son as well. Would she have become a Season 2 antagonist?
I would be curious to know how Sarah is connected to magic, how the Ancients would betray Sophia, when Wade would reappear, and how Jared would respond to it all.
Instead, it feels a bit like wasted screen time that would be more effectively used expanding the final conflict and making that feel less abrupt.
It isn’t only the things explicitly set up as future plot points that are less satisfying because we know the story is over. The episode’s climactic confrontation between Wade and Jared is blunted because Maggie is the one that neutralizes Wade, not Jared.
The entire season has been leading up to the confrontation between Jared and Wade. Having Maggie swoop in at the last minute is exciting and works fine as a twist in a longer story, but not as a conclusion to Jared’s.
As much as I love Maggie, this isn’t her moment. It needs to be Jared’s, or it undercuts everything the story is building to.
This choice doesn’t offer much character development for Maggie’s either. She starts the series ready to kill Wade, and that’s where she ends it.
Still, just as with the explicit Season 2 teases, these are only disappointing choices in the context of the canceled second season.
These choices are reasonable, even tantalizing, if made with the assumption that there is more to come. The creators of Trickster had every reason to feel confident about that at the time of filming.
Unfortunately, events changed circumstances making what would have otherwise been a solid season finale a disappointing series finale.
Normally, the behind-the-scenes drama isn’t something I use to analyze an episode of TV, and up until now, I haven’t discussed it in my reviews of Trickster either.
But, the controversy that led to the show’s cancelation, and revealed Latimer’s claim of Indigenous heritage to be false is uniquely relevant this time.
Trickster positioned itself as authentic Indigenous storytelling, in large part on the strength of Latimer’s reputation as a prominent Indigenous Canadian filmmaker. So, in this case, the external factors have to inform how we discuss and understand the show.
Ultimately, the controversy is part of a conversation that is larger than Trickster, and more complex than the scope of this review but not acknowledging it at all is disingenuous.
As much as I enjoy the show – and I do – knowing what happed behind the scenes color how I think about and experience the show, particularly as an example of representation.
It, in no way, takes away from the marvelous performances of its largely Indigenous cast or any of the other crew working to tell this story. I particularly hope we see more of Crystle Lightning stateside after discovering her on this series.
It does, however, undermine the show’s desire to be an example of authentic representation. Given how good it is and how few examples we have of Indigenous representation, it’s an incredibly frustrating development.
I sincerely hoped they would find a new showrunner who could give the series a fresh start for Season 2 and allow everyone else involved to continue Jared’s journey. But alas, it is not to be.
It is worth noting, though, that while this onscreen version of Trickster is done, the characters’ stories are not. Anyone looking to find out what happens to these characters next should check out the Trickster trilogy by Eden Robinson, the series of books the show is based on. Book three comes out in March.
Trickster faltered a bit in the end for reasons outside of what we see on screen, but it is still a gem I’m grateful to have discovered, and one well worth the time.
My hope for its legacy is that it won’t be the controversy that ended it. Rather, that it will be a springboard for more stories like it and motivation to elevate voices from Indigenous communities to tell them.
What did you think of this episode of Trickster? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Sarah Fields
Sarah is an obsessive geek who likes to get into the weeds and over think things. She is passionate about Sci-Fi and comics and is a giant classic film nerd. Sarah cares deeply about media representation and the power of telling diverse stories. When she's not writing or watching her favorite shows she spends her days working in the non-profit world trying to make life a little better for those that need some extra help.