True Lies Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Bitter Sweethearts

True Lies Season 1 Episode 9, “Bitter Sweethearts,” expands on the couple lore of its core ensemble by widening the scope of Omega Sector.

By introducing agents from the organizations’ past, this episode finally sets its sights on more long-term storytelling. It fleshes out the deeper inner workings of the secret spy organization and, more importantly, its enemies.

In its attempts to pay homage to the James Cameron film of the same name with a Tom Arnold cameo, True Lies inadvertently crafts a lovely spy meet cute.

Sharon and Arnie, retired spies and the targets of this episode’s assassination attempt, lend this crew a much-needed punch of personality. 

Their complicated history comes out in violent spurts of dialogue, and when Helen forces the two into different transport vehicles, we see the juxtaposition of their complex feelings.

The transition from Arnie getting sentimental about Sharon keeping his favorite gun to Sharon being turned on by Arnie in the heat of action is indeed a journey.

Together the two wreak havoc, forcing True Lies out of its repetitive mission format in favor of explosive fun. But these spies are not in their prime and will gladly sling insults at the enemy or bang around crime scenes without care.

Their ridiculous relationship is followed by an equally absurd slow-mo run into a missile explosion. So it’s kind of cute to learn they likely survived their noble sacrifice and are off rekindling their feelings for each other.

Arnie and Sharon are a cautionary tale for Helen and Harry, a warning of what their life will look like if they stay at Omega together.

But obviously, the two married spies don’t feel compelled to take their advice to abandon an eleven-year relationship and several children. Of course, it helps Helen and Harry to see how years apart have negatively affected the operative group.

This collaboration between generations excels in finding a way for Helen and Harry to work cohesively on a mission together.

Too often, they work better apart — an issue for a show built on the couple’s chemistry together. But this extraction mission has them work side by side, mirroring each other’s dialogue and actions with an earnest familiarity of a married unit.

The volatile relationship between Arnie and Sharon forces Helen and Harry to demonstrate how they are the more cohesive partnership. Moreover, it allows them to move past being the punchline of these marital clashes.

True Lies is leaning into recurring storylines for its secondary characters. A bold choice given so much of Helen and Harry’s conflict doesn’t carry over to the next episode.

But Luther and Maria’s lingering feelings continue to eclipse their time at Omega. It has helped develop their partnership, and now their ability to find their groove again threatens something more intimate.

If they don’t work out, we will get some juicy drama and more of Maria’s new dog Cavalar as a consolation.

Gib also finds meaningful reflection in his heartbreak over Eva dumping him. The showdown is ridiculous from an action standpoint, but Gib texting his ex goodbye in a fleeting moment of fear lends a rare poignancy.

It’s the most sincere emotion we have gotten out of Gib in the field, so the character development is a big deal.

True Lies suggests it’s willing to adapt for the sake of a memorable finale.

Rather than another faceless organization hellbent on taking over the world, the show comes face-to-face with an operation of spies that defected from their previous employer in the name of revenge.

Given what little we know about Omega and how it treats its agents, it is not far-fetched to suggest the secret spy organization has made a few enemies on the job. So it’s a promising start to the end of this season.

And kudos to True Lies for giving Arnold so many great callbacks to the movie with the ice-cube tray joke and the character-accurate storyline as a hermit living in a booby-trapped safehouse.

Much like the rest of this episode, Arnie is a chaotic, if not refreshing, change of pace.

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

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