Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 5 Review: The Accountant of Monte Cristo

Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 5, “The Accountant of Monte Cristo,” hits the ground running on an action-packed and romantic midseason outing.

Written by Marcus Robinson & Kristin Slaney and directed by Shawn Piller, this episode proves that Wild Cards can blend or switch genres and deliver everything you want from a show — sometimes, all at once. 

“The Accountant of Monte Cristo” brings the consultant procedural’s case-of-the-week format closer to Ellis than ever, testing his partnership with Max and what he wants moving forward. It’s the most emotional depth Ellis shows on Wild Cards thus far, and it’s rewarding until the episode’s final second.

This episode supports a high-octane tone environment with a case that hinges on saving the life of an accountant who lost his relationship to a job with the mob, but Wild Cards plays its cards right by using “The Accountant of Monte Cristo” as a checkpoint for Ellis and Max.

Structurally, starting with a check-in with Chief Li is clever and creatively sound.

After the ups and downs of the last four episodes, it’s perfectly reasonable for Li to reinforce what’s at stake for Ellis and Max — and remind them and the audience that the Commissioner is still watching them.

That character, who looms large since her only appearance on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 1, “The Infinity Thief,” will surely make a comeback. just like that flash drive — perhaps, even at the same time.

Nevertheless, Wild Cards usually connects its leads to the case throughout the episode, but “The Accountant of Monte Cristo” doesn’t have to connect the dots. The lines between Ellis and his ex-fiancée Rachel Sisco are already boldly drawn.

The script sells their professional history in how quickly they fall into an old shorthand in the episode’s teaser (Vanessa Morgan playing Max’s recognition of this is too good!), but the believability of their emotional connection lies in Act 3. 

When time briefly slows down, “The Accountant of Monte Cristo” holds space for Cole and Rachel to talk without their lives being in danger. Giacomo Gianniotti’s performance opens up beautifully to reveal a more vulnerable Ellis.

He cracks open with the woman he once loved at the mention of his late brother.

Wild Cards delicately plays with so many layers there. Consequently, Ellis’s characterization becomes all the stronger at the realization of how entangled the loss of his brother, his relationship, and his job are. No wonder he struggles to unpack his — emotional and physical — baggage.

Nevertheless, “The Accountant of Monte Cristo” crafts an engaging discussion between Cole and Rachel when they express their sides of what went wrong in the relationship. The best thing to do with a conversation like that is to present it so both people are partially right, even if the other doesn’t see it.

It’s an especially meaningful exchange since Ellis believes they never talked about anything like that while they were together. Ultimately, with that one scene, Wild Cards fills in all the necessary gaps through dialogue.

Sometimes, that exposition is best displayed in flashbacks, but it’s unnecessary, considering that Cole and Rachel’s past is still very much their present. 

Those wounds are fresh, which “The Accountant of Monte Cristo” later reflects in revealing that Ellis never properly unpacked to make the houseboat his.

It speaks volumes that Rachel breaks through “Ellis” to find “Cole,” too.

For the past four episodes, Wild Cards exclusively referees to Ellis as such; even Max does so, but Rachel’s appearance changes things. It changes him, pivoting him to somewhere different — more open — for the rest of the season.

“The Accountant of Monte Cristo” turns the tables in closing Max off more. With every dig from Rachel, Max’s walls get higher and higher. Max overhearing Ellis’s opinion of her is like the final brick on the tallest wall.

While taking a flash drive that can manipulate the mob is objectively questionable, Wild Cards creates more than one reasonable motive. Max could be playing into what she believes everyone sees her as, including Ellis, prior to his apology.

She may also see this tangled web as her only option to free her father.

Even from jail, “The Account of Monte Cristo” expands George’s role and Max’s perception of him by introducing Kassandra, the Fortune Teller. The beat where she tells Max that she has her father’s mouth but her mother’s eyes almost takes one aback. It certainly does Max.

This Wild Cards episode does some serious heavy-lifting with Ellis, but the quiet reflections from Max are equally meaningful. 

The two characters and their arcs come together to (almost) rock the boat during the final scene of “The Accountant of Monte Cristo.” It’s become a routine for Wild Cards to end its episodes on Ellis’s houseboat, so this episode does so with a unique flair.

Usually, Ellis and Max remain on the boat’s surface, but reflecting their dynamic, this episode takes them deeper. This episode shows Ellis letting Max into his home and his heart when he tells her about his brother. There’s no case pushing him to do so like on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 4, “Strangers on a Wave.”

It’s as organic as the tension and yearning between them. Even Marc feels it!

“The Accountant of Monte Cristo” is a character-driven, action-flick episode that leaves Ellis and Max at a propulsive crossroads. It’s a fantastic midseason marker that reinforces how fun Wild Cards is and why it should be appointment TV.

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Wild Cards airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW.

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