True Lies Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Rival Companions

True Lies Season 1 Episode 4, “Rival Companions,” is a sickeningly weird delight, propelled forward by its desensitized humor and quirky character cameo from Matthew Lillard.

Lillard’s scene-stealing guest stint pushes True Lies to step up its game, and the results are exceptional.

This episode embraces its outrageous premise and lets the seeds of chaos blossom into an immensely entertaining hour of television.

Bless True Lies for recognizing Lillard’s innate ability to play the funniest and scariest guy in the room at the flip of a switch — and then crafts an episode around that.

And as far as episodic arcs go, this one is nearly flawless.

It pushes the faceless weapons dealers to the background in favor of Helen and Harry’s conflicting relations with The Wolf. Action drives the external conflict, but the characters are the priority for once.

The Wolf is oddly friendly for a contract killer. The episode does a fantastic job of weaponizing that uncertainty in Lillard’s performance and leads with suspenseful music, sinister thousand-yard stares, and chilling delivery.

We can’t predict what side The Wolf will end up on, and that misdirection is well done. That sweet but sinister juxtaposition presents excellent comedy and edge-of-your-seat moments.

The Wolf

Scream fans, you may not have gotten your long-awaited confirmation that Stu is alive, but this episode is a nice consolation prize.

Lillard elevates every weakness this silly show has slogged through by exemplifying the dark undertones of the occupation and giving Howey and Gonzaga a stellar comedic partner to play off.

This friendship-bracelet-making foodie with love for chill playlists and international espionage is a pure, unfiltered delight. The Wolf exemplifies everything camp and fun this series should embrace without fear it will lose that unnerving edge.

In the wrong hands, The Wolf could feel too cartoonish.

But Lillard has experience adapting cartoon characters. He plays up Nathan’s goofiness and develops a complex childlike wonder within the assassin’s concerning ramblings. It’s giving the finest combination of Stu/Shaggy.

As ridiculous as The Wolf is, he is a fleshed-out dork who compels the story to give his scene partners better material.

He also could murder everyone at any moment, and no one would see it coming. It is the perfect storm of character traits.

Lillard’s cameo can be for True Lies, what Wentworth Miller’s Leonard Snart was for The Flash. Miller became a cannot-miss addition to each season by playing an unhinged antagonist with an eye for crime and a flourish for dramatics.

You never knew if Snart would side with the good guys, and The Wolf proves just as valuable a tool for suspense — one who deserves a permanent placement at Omega.

Riveting Rivalries

Howey and Lillard are entertaining advisories as Harry Tasker establishes a rivalry he would not survive.

I continue to believe True Lies thrives when Harry Tasker is not in his element, and no character sets him off like The Wolf. His bravado doesn’t work on the assassin, and it effectively tips the central dynamics off-kilter.

Their back-and-forth is far more organic and relaxed than most of the show’s rehearsed dialogue.

The scene where Nathan quietly mumbles, “I’d like to go out the back and try a new escape route,” as Harry yells at him to go out the front door, is the kind of delightful banter we are treated to with every confrontation.

They have several running bits throughout this episode that Howey and Lillard circle back to with our entertainment in mind.

The little giggle Nathan does when Harry threatens him is particularly adorable.

To top things off, the greatest bit of all — Harry’s theory The Wolf wants to kill him — strings us along, and just when it seems like Harry might be projecting, Nathan confirms he had given the idea considerable thought.

What a comedic plot twist and tremendous use of conflict within the Omega Sector to orchestrate this suspenseful reveal.

Work Besties

Helen and Nathan rival Harry and The Wolf’s feud with equally great material.

Their wonderfully platonic friendship is instantaneous and unconventional, with Helen and Nathan sharing a deeper monologue than the show affords its characters.

The reveal that Helen didn’t speak English when she moved to America anchors her linguistic fascination to something personal. True Lies does an exceptional job of transforming Nathan’s “murderous psycho” archetype too.

The psychopathic tendencies aren’t played for theatrics. Instead, Helen acknowledges there are diagnoses and people behind the lack of emotions that deserve a chance to flourish. It’s a sweet self-awareness that leads to emotionally captivating performances from Lillard and Gonzaga.

With results like this, True Lies would be silly not to see to it that The Wolf becomes a recurring character.

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True Lies airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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