Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 12 Review: Clouds in My Eyes

Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 12, “Clouds in My Eyes,” shakes up the consultant procedural’s usual structure to search for answers in its most outstanding case.

The season’s penultimate episode, written by Michael Konyves and directed by James Genn, draws new boundary lines for Ellis and Max.

With only one episode left, “Cloud in My Eyes” takes the dynamic duo to places that reenergize Wild Cards Season 2. New information comes to light — some more subtly than others — about some of the people closest to them.

This episode does particularly excellent work with Max’s father, George.

“Clouds in My Eyes” gives Jason Priestley more to chew on than he’s had all season, and it works wonders for the characters and the show. 

As for the latter, opening on George is a great way to shock Wild Cards out of its case-of-the-week system. Given that he’s an established character, it never feels too jarring, but it still opens the episode up. The penultimate episode still has so much of what makes this show work — the disguises, the teamwork, the cons.

It just pulls it all off differently. It gives Wild Cards a new energy that could propel it into a third season — if (and, hopefully, it does) it gets one. 

Plus, finding George in such a vulnerable scene invites more insight for him than he’s had all season; it’s only bested by a better scene during “Clouds in My Eyes.” 

It’s a substantially inconsequential scene for “Clouds in My Eyes,” but Priestley’s subtle performance while George watches Jonathan Ashford’s videos is too good. 

It’s proof that Wild Cards doesn’t show its hand entirely with George and Jonathan’s connection. Then again, “Clouds in My Eyes” doesn’t need to explicitly spell out the two men’s dynamic for its relevance to resonate.

That scene tugs on the exposition in the episode’s cold open and builds onto George’s characterization. It’s vital work, considering George is no longer in prison and will presumably be around more. Hopefully, that is the case because “Clouds in My Eyes” makes it easy to want more of this cop/con artist chosen family.

Giacomo Gianniotti’s reaction to Max asserting that Ellis is a part of the family now is as good as his reaction to Daniel’s colleague telling Ellis that Daniel stuck with difficult cases because of Ellis. It’s more subtle than not during “Clouds in My Eyes,” but the emotional work of the Wild Cards cast is excellent. 

Likewise, the consultant procedural never loses its sense of humor. If anything, it gets a renewed edge with George in on the action now.

George (“Snake Eyes”) and Ricky (“Crazy Pete”) working with Davis to spin “Zippo” around in circles on the prison’s roof to get information about the person who hired “Zippo” to kill Daniel is objectively silly. Still, it works in the context that Wild Cards has confidently built over the last two seasons.

Why else would it be so exciting to see Vanessa Morgan sing a cover of The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love” while Max is undercover as Saleena LaFleur, an identity mentioned on Wild Cards Season 2 Episode 11, “Bride and Doom?” This show knows what it is and absolutely relishes in it. It’s a delight!

Similarly, it’s exciting to see Ricky more involved (Him telling George to focus on anything but the vegan food!), even though “Clouds in My Eyes” misses Yates and Simmons.

After all, this penultimate episode starts to drive a wedge between Ellis and the police force. For the most part, it works as well as Ricky’s nudge to Max to sort her emotional entanglement with Ellis. Its success predominantly lies in Wild Cards avoiding hard pivots with Commissioner Gordon and Chief Li.

Though the Commissioner’s eyes remain on her mayoral campaign, “Clouds in My Eyes” instills belief that she will do what she can to find justice at every level of the investigation. It’s clear that Li’s hands are tied now that things have progressed out of his department, and he’s right to encourage Ellis to step back.

Those motivations are complicated, and they track for both characters.

The episode is good for not avoiding the disappointment they stir up in Ellis — Gianniotti’s look at Terry Chen is heartbreaking. It’s also great to have a beat where Max expresses that sentiment, too, after building the rapport that she has with these characters. These interpersonal fractures work better now.

All of this is to point out that a quick aside between Ellis, Max, Yates, and Simmons would help Ellis feel less alone in the department. Then again, the efforts to push Ellis out with those characters work in Wild Cards‘s favor. It pulls him in with Max, Ricky, and George, and that’s so fun to watch.

Assuming that this season does exactly as it signals and sees Max uproot her life — once again — and leave Ellis behind for more adventures with Ricky and her dad, emphasizing Ellis as a part of this family is important.

“Clouds in My Eyes” makes it so that whatever answers — related to Daniel’s case and beyond — come in the season finale land with significance.

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

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