Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 3 Review: The Algorithms of Control
Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 3, “The Algorithms of Control,” is a history lesson on how John and Miles became involved in this fight and just how far back it goes — back to before John’s father faked his death.
The problem with history lessons is that they aren’t always the most captivating of stories, and that’s the case here.
There’s no doubt that needed to hear all of this to understand how and why John’s father, Ben, is back, and why it’s something John and Miles got wrapped up in. However, when Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2 were so action-packed, the lack of suspense and thrill in “The Algorithms of Control” is disappointing.
Nothing happens during this episode that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and that’s partially because there’s not any movement on the current danger John finds himself in. We don’t make any headway aside from John hacking into Miles’ communications network.
John and company spend the episode inside their safe house. Maybe now that they’ve been tracked to that location and are forced to flee, things will pick up again on Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 4, “The Person in Your Ear,” and I certainly hope that’s the case.
We do learn that Hailey is still acting suspiciously. However, it’s still not enough to condemn her as the enemy; we simply get more proof that we shouldn’t completely trust her.
At this point, the show needs to step up and make it clear, at least to us, whether or not Hailey is someone working against John and Ben. We don’t need any more scenes of her sneaking off and using her phone.
John and Ben can still be in the dark about her, but at least give us a clear-cut answer. It could heighten tension on our end as we wait for them to realize Hailey is manipulating them. Or, we could all simply breathe a sigh of relief knowing that she’s exactly what she seems.
Somewhere along the way, Miles deviated from the plan and switched sides, either willingly or under coercion. It’s unclear how we’re going to discover the truth as to what happened.
So far, Rabbit Hole has stuck to using flashbacks that center around John.
We get a slight deviation from that on “The Algorithms of Control” when we see what Ben experienced as he’s fleeing the fake suicide scene young John stumbled upon. However, the flashbacks have still mostly been from John’s point of view.
This suggests that the answer to why Miles switched sides won’t be revealed via flashbacks, which honestly is a relief as they aren’t my favorite thing. Maybe Miles’ communication data gives us a good hint as to what happened. It wouldn’t surprise me if the anonymous person who texted Miles to jump had been threatening him for years.
Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2 made it seem like John would just be trying to figure out who has framed him and why. Now that we know about Crowley, odds are the rest of the season will also feature John and Ben trying to take Crowley down.
Let’s just hope it isn’t too many conspiracies for one eight-episode season to handle.
What did you think of this episode of Rabbit Hole? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Rabbit Hole premiere on Sundays on Paramount+.
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).