Sullivan’s Crossing Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Aftershock
Sullivan’s Crossing Season 1 Episode 8, “Aftershock,” is largely a filler episode but contains some sweet moments of love and clarity.
The episode follows the fallout after Maggie Sullivan’s and Andrew Matthews’ breakup while also allowing some of the supporting characters’ stories to develop.
Ultimately, the “aftershock” of the breakup isn’t as significant as viewers may have hoped. Maggie quickly acknowledges her contribution to the incident by burying her feelings, and she and Cal make amends.
It’s sweet to finally see Maggie and Cal allowing their feelings for each other to show. However, the timing makes it a little less poignant as it feels very sudden and rushed, and neither is ready for a relationship after what they’ve been through.
Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict between Maggie and her father, Sully, doesn’t go anywhere, which is quite disappointing.
After devoting so much time to exploring Sully’s spiraling and struggling with alcohol, his story has tapered off.
This episode makes his story feel like an afterthought, adding him to the tail end to remind viewers that something is still going on between him and Maggie.
The story regarding Lola Gunderson is also only getting more bizarre. Initially, the show seemed to imply that Sully entered a new relationship and started a new family after Maggie left.
Now, Sully finally confirms that it wasn’t a romantic relationship, and he simply took in Lola and her mother because they were struggling, given her mother’s cancer diagnosis.
There simply isn’t much reason to have made those details a mystery. Additionally, it makes the ongoing feud between Maggie and Lola feel even more unusual and distasteful.
Maggie’s and Lola’s animosity and rivalry are what viewers might expect to arise from a homewrecking situation. It doesn’t make much sense for these adult women to be still acting this way, knowing the living arrangement was because Lola’s mother was ill.
The revelation casts Maggie in a very poor light, which noticeably goes against the show’s previous efforts to stir sympathy for her.
Meanwhile, the episode turns from its usual territory by giving Jackson, Kaleb, Sydney, and Rafe more screen time.
It’s sweet and nostalgic to see the young love blossoming and struggling as Jackson and Kaleb get to know one another, and Syndey and Rafe try to make a relationship work.
However, it is a bit difficult to get into their stories.
Similar to Sully’s story in this episode, the side characters always feel like an afterthought in Sullivan’s Crossing.
Hence, it’s very hard to know why Sydney is so closed off from Rafe or if Jackson and Kaleb are heading toward becoming a couple.
Viewers only get a tiny sliver of the supporting characters’ stories in each episode. Even when that story is interesting, it’s such a small window it’s hard to get engaged.
Sullivan’s Crossing needs to either focus solely on Maggie, Cal, Sully, Frank, and Edna or find a better balance between the main and supporting characters.
It’s also surprising that the show chose a filler episode so close to the Season 1 finale.
Hopefully, Sullivan’s Crossing can start picking up the pace and story again and reach a satisfactory conclusion.
What did you think of this episode of Sullivan’s Crossing? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Sullivan’s Crossing airs Wednesday at 8/7c on The CW.
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Rachel Ulatowski
Rachel Ulatowski is a freelance writer from Oshkosh with a penchant for TV, film, and celebrity news. Her work can also be found on Screen Rant, The Mary Sue, and Monsters and Critics. When she's not writing professionally, she enjoys blogging, running, watching film and television, and conducting research for her future novel.