Spoiler Warning: I am about to go into major plot details of Episode 2, but I will keep spoilers from Episode 3 “Above the Law” to a minimum.
At the end of Episode Two, it left us with Javier knocking at the door to some hostile allies in Richmond, known as the New Frontier, the killers of Javier’s niece Mariana, the rioters of Pickford and the once home of Clementine. But quite possibly the biggest surprise of Episode Two’s conclusion, was the appearance of Javier’s older brother David who had be presumed dead for a number of years, who also just so happens to be a leader of the New Frontier.
David’s appearance has posed a number of intense problems for Javier and Clem, one he’s a leader of this renegade group and two; he is also the husband of Javier’s love, Kate. In Javier and Kate’s defence, David hasn’t been seen for around three years and was presumed dead, and during that time, Javier and Kate fell in love.
Now picture the scene, Kate is dying from a gunshot wound and the only ones that can help are the New Frontier, the ones that injured Kate and killed Javier’s niece, Mariana, who also just so happens to be the daughter of David. However, on top of that, at some point David is going to find out about Javier and Kate’s love, as well as the death of his daughter at the hands of his group. Will Javier and his group be killed on the spot or will he take it out on the New Frontier? Or perhaps David might take the news better then you expect?
Throughout the series from seasons one to two, not many episodes have posed so many hugely impactful variables as this one. It’s always tough to make some decisions, with many never having a good outcome, but its often the choice of the lesser of two evils. However, with so much on the line, it’s almost impossible to judge what decisions are best to make, which is why this is such a standout episode. With all that’s gone on, it’s also easy to forget that David’s son Gabe is still alive, thanks to Javier and Kate. Gabe is just one of many other variables as he could easily stick by the side of Kate and Javier, or he could just as easy run and remain in the arms of his re-immerging father.
In this episode, Clementine, who is of course, has been the main focus throughout this series takes somewhat of a backseat as the main story arch is focused on Javier and his strained family predicament. However, there are some very interesting back-story segments that see us playthrough the early days of the outbreak as Javier as his family holdout in the hope that David will return, and there is a powerful emotional moment which involves Clem and baby AJ, the son of Rebecca and Bill Carver from season two. This segment especially is very telling, as we’ve seen very little of baby AJ thus far.
While this episode is not short of tension, drama and suspense in no way shape or form, my only slight let down was that it ended a little suddenly, but then I suppose I might have been spoiled by such great cliff-hanger endings in previous episodes. That said, Episode Three Above the Law is one of the most well paced episodes yet throughout the entire series and for this season, even though it may have lacked a little shock factor, but realistically that’s not needed for every episode and its certainly not something we see in all of our favourite TV programs, a prime example of that being AMC’s The Walking Dead. Season three thus far has arguably been the most consistent yet and with Above the Law now acting as its core episode, I can’t wait to see where we go from here on out.
You can read our review of Episode Two ‘Ties That Bind‘ Part Two here.
You can read our review of Episode One ‘Ties That Bind‘ Part One here.