Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Ace in the Hole

Rabbit Hole Season 1 Episode 8, “Ace in the Hole,” manages to wrap everything up, which is unexpected. This very easily could’ve been a series that ends on a huge cliffhanger, accomplishing nothing but setting up a yet-to-be-confirmed second season.

Thank goodness that’s not what ends up happening.

“Ace in the Hole” does leave an opening for a second season, but you can also take it as Ben simply overhearing what’s going on where Kyle, the intern, is because we know he was listening in earlier.

All in all, Rabbit Hole does an okay job at closing the book on this battle against Crowley and even sneaks in a surprising twist and some good scenes in the process. The season has been a rough ride, so the bar was pretty low for this episode. In some respects, you can say that “Ace in the Hole” exceeded expectations.

While we, or at least I, had predictions for what the focus of this finale would be, Rabbit Hole skips a couple of days into the future when the Shared Data Act has already been signed into law. This deviation in expectation keeps us on our toes for the rest of the hour.

Going public with what’s in the case has been mentioned as an option before, so the fact that that’s the new plan isn’t anything interesting. Rabbit Hole tries its best to fake us out throughout the episode, which doesn’t work for the majority of the time.

As I’ve mentioned in past reviews, Rabbit Hole has trained us to be paranoid, so a lot of the time, we know that what we’re seeing isn’t accurate, and we just bide our time, waiting for the show to do its “aha” moment, so we can move on.

However, Rabbit Hole pulls off a great twist with Weir’s ex-wife.

The show successfully tricks us into thinking that the kidnapping is happening that day and that Madi’s wife has been taken.

This is exactly the kind of surprise I wanted to see on Rabbit Hole. The show plays the long game with it, which helps make the reveal even more satisfying for us as well as proving that Weir is as skilled and prepared as he claims.

What helps is Rabbit Hole doesn’t get too cute with Liv’s character.

There are no subtle nods that something else is going on with her prior to “Ace in the Hole.” Aside from a weird tension when Ben urges Liv to call Sam, there’s no reason to suspect she isn’t exactly what she seems to be, and that’s why this reveal works so well.

Stray Thoughts

• Crowley and his data make me think of Person of Interest‘s Samaritan, which was done so much better.
• Watching Kyle getting attacked by Weir and Hailey is cathartic.
• The title cards showing the time aren’t really all that helpful.
• Weir’s escape from custody is well done and surprisingly entertaining.

What did you think of the Rabbit Hole Season 1 finale? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Rabbit Hole Season 1 is now streaming on Paramount+.

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