Annika Season 1 Episode 5 Review
Annika Season 1 Episode 5 reveals its episodic killer with a motive worthy of the Greek tragedies referenced throughout. It also brings us right back to victims who have earned retribution, even if murder takes things a bit far.
Sometimes the bits of cultural trivia in Annika seem only tangentially related to the rest of the episode. The re-telling here of the story of Agamemnon—specifically the bit where, after sacrificing his own daughter, he’s lured into placidity and then murdered by his wife—is a bit more pertinent.
Paul meets his end only after involving a close family friend and his son in work that exposes both to cancer. Said cancer has killed the father and already sickened the son. Paul himself conveniently avoids exposure in a move that make this all seem much less accidental.
Where we start the episode with a grieving widow, we end it with a woman driven by grief for extended family to kill her own husband. Honestly, while I’m somewhat exasperated learning at how horrible yet another dead man was, the justice seems as poetic as the Greeks would have written it, too.
The story is familiar to many we’ve seen in this relatively short season. It’s even more highly reminiscent of the one from a couple episodes before it, where a father killed the son who had mistreated his ex-wife and own child.
In case that’s not enough high drama for you, the wife plans a last act in setting both their boat and herself on fire. It turns out, though, that this move is considerably less dramatic in a location where one can be easily tackled into the water by another heroic detective.
Even so, there’s little other than bleak feelings to come from this resolution. One man dead of cancer with his son likely facing the same fate. A man tortured and then killed by the woman he loved, who nearly subjects herself to an ever more gruesome demise. It leaves us in need of a pick-me-up.
And we get one, at least in part, from romances starting to find surer footing. Annika and Jake are taking a few tentative steps forward, and Morgan and Erin (Blair’s younger sister) are frankly adorable in the few closing moments we get to see them together.
The elephant in the room remains all the same, and I’m happy to see it acknowledged despite what it could mean down the line. Morgan still associates with Jake as her therapist, and though their dynamic is friendly, we know the problematic element lurks.
Annika and Jake know this, too. For now, they agree only to take their relationship slowly. Yet with this six-episode season ending with the next installment, “slowly” could be relative. We’re likely going to face some kind of decision for the dramatic climax.
I’ve been dubious throughout of the implications of a mother dating her daughter’s therapist, even a former one she only saw once. Yet these two seem to be doing the best they can by it. I’m rooting for them now, but I’m doing so with a tense of trepidation.
Annika has already been picked up for a second season, which does at least leave the possibility of leaving romantic fates undetermined over the hiatus. I’m as curious—and as anxious—to see what other cliffhanger might come alongside that.
What did you think of this episode of Annika? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Annika airs Sundays at 10/9c on PBS.
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Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.