Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 7 Review: The Big Bang Theory

Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 7, “The Big Bang Theory,” is a much-needed character study of Chief Li set to the ticking clock of a bomb in the police station.

This episode, written by Gorrman Lee and directed by Alexandra LaRoche, is an action flick laced with a devastating and long-awaited backstory. 

“The Big Bang Theory” sets the scene with realistic stakes. Starting with Ellis and Max’s hot air balloon date (Everyone knows that it’s a date) and Yates’s cousin’s baby shower, Wild Cards only builds from there while the clock counts down.

It gradually adds elements — some more believable than others. 

For instance, it takes more suspension of disbelief to buy that Max can wonder into the police station while protective measures are being put into place.

It’s a bit heavy-handed for Max to encourage Li to take his shirt off because the station lost power — and the AC with it. But Vanessa Morgan’s delivery of “Who are you?” causes any hesitance to make way for excitement about this duo.

Like with Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 6, “Séance and Sensibility,” Morgan gets to flex her comedic muscles. This time, though, Max cuts through the tension with a well-meaning game of charades and plenty of questions about whether the date with Ellis is a date. It’s an excellent way to ease into the heavier parts of Li’s past.

It’s one thing to know that Wild Cards will finally reveal more about Li. It’s equally exciting to see Morgan and Terry Chen work together so much on “The Big Bang Theory.” It follows up on Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 4, “Dial A for Alibi,” which proves this show can succeed in switching up its dynamics.

Morgan and Chen’s characters haven’t had much one-on-one work since Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 4, “Strangers on a Wave.” Even then, their scenes are more about Ellis and Li’s relationship with him than it is about Li or Li and Max.

“The Big Bang Theory” uses that foundation to forge a bond between Li and Max. 

However clumsily it gets there, Max seeing Li’s Crimson Vipers tattoo amplifies Wild Cards‘s efforts to turn the police station into a pressure cooker as it peels back the layers of one of the show’s most elusive characters. 

Gradually, Wild Cards builds a strong character analysis of Li with a great performance from Chen.

It becomes understandable that Li’s history with a bust that went wrong impacts his current control issues. It’s great storytelling that “The Big Bang Theory” exasperates that by starting with an emphasis on protocols and leaving Li with a bomb under his seat and only the person who loves to break rules the most.

Therefore, that insight into Li has ripple effects on “The Big Bang Theory.”

It certainly adds meaning to why Li cares even more about how things are unfolding outside. There’s no denying that Ellis, Yates, and Simmons (and presumably the rest of the staff) are invested in what happens to Max and Li. Likewise, it’s obvious that Li and Max care about Ellis, Yates, and Simmons. 

Plus, Ellis and Max have a date — if that’s what they want to call it — to make! The life-or-death situation may seem like an absurd time for Ellis and Max to respectively debate whether a hot air balloon ride constitutes a date.

Their dedication to understanding what this all means is a reflection that even in this worst-case scenario, Ellis and Max are still thinking about each other.

It’s also not a coincidence that this dangerous situation comes around the same point in the season as Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 9, “Inside (Con)Man.” Despite the cases’s similarities, the differences in their dynamic play out through their hands on the glass that separates them and broken rules to keep promises. 

It’s cute that the show brings those tickets into the mix by maintaining Ellis and J.J.’s relationship. Considering J.J. is last seen on Wild Cards Season 1 Episode 7, “Con with the Wind,” it’s good to know that Ellis is still showing up for him.

Nevertheless, Wild Cards dials the overall tension up with the strain this situation puts on interpersonal relationships. Whether it’s Yates reassuring her “Temporary Boss” that they will get Li and Max out or Simmons telling Ellis that he made the wrong choice, this episode bends those dynamics into new shapes.

It does the same with Li and Max as everything becomes more intense with the introduction of Jin. By strengthening Li and Max’s dynamic, Wild Cards earns the pride on Li’s face when she steals Jin’s gun from him.

Just when it seems Wild Cards won’t fill in the gaps Li and Jin leave in their shared past, “The Big Bang Theory” does in one of its best scenes. Li and Max find common ground in pasts that aren’t easy to understand. It’s an equal playing field that they can build on with future episodes — and, hopefully, seasons. 

Mostly, “The Big Bang Theory” proves that the consultant procedural drama shouldn’t wait so long to learn more about Chief Li. 

---

What did you think of this episode of Wild Cards? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

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

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!