Season 3, Episode 7, Kiss the Girls

Very strong episode. It was almost a given that, after the discovery of the getaway plane in the previous episode, the Iranians' plan to get Joe out of the country was essentially blown, and the option of transporting her by car inherently carried huge risks of being discovered. Indeed, very early in the episode—a minor twist in itself, since in a more conventional American series you would expect such a development in the middle or towards the end—the Iranians run a red light, the police check the license plates, find a prior conviction, and pull them over. The leader of the Iranians tells Joe to behave herself; she naturally disobeys and all hell breaks loose. In the chaos, she manages to kill Babat and escape, running towards the stadium where her team is located. Their intervention finally completes Joe's rescue, and after six episodes our heroine is at last free.

And here I liked Sheridan's choice not to turn the rescue into something bigger than it really needed to be. Joe was saved, and the story of her kidnapping can now move on to the next stage. The real tension of the episode, however, lies in what happens afterward. At her house, the situation remains tense, as her children aren't stupid and have realized that something is going on. The relief in Neal's eyes is obvious when Kaitlyn tells him that Joe was saved and will return home in the afternoon. Joe indeed gets that far, but ultimately doesn't go inside. She realizes it would be pointless to return to her family for a few hours, only to leave again to find those who kidnapped her. So she decides not to walk through the door until the story is over.

For me, this scene is more important than several of the episode's action scenes. Once again, Joe chooses work, except now there is no one forcing her. It is her own decision. Work has become such a huge part of her life that it now seems almost impossible for her to return to normalcy, even when she has the opportunity to do so right in front of her.

The other part that caught my interest was Kaitlyn's conversation with her husband, Errol Meade. Errol is a powerful businessman with access to information and analysis through his company, and in this specific episode, he presents an assessment of who could have both the resources and the motive for Joe's abduction. The conclusion points to Ukraine and Oleksandra, with the theory suggesting that Joe's kidnapping could be used to trigger an American military response and bring the US back into the war.

This is where I have my objections. It seems too convenient to me. Oleksandra, who essentially helped find Joe, suddenly finds herself at the center of a theory presenting her as responsible for everything that happened. And even more so, the solution put on the table is to "assassinate" her, as Morgan Freeman characteristically puts it. We already know from previous episodes that there is a traitor inside the agency, and suddenly a character who until now was mostly a spectator, Errol, is the one who brings the crucial theory to the table. I'm not saying he's the traitor, but the timing really seems suspicious to me, and above all, how easily everything falls into place.

The theory about Oleksandra itself doesn't fully convince me either. If she really is behind everything and her goal was to put America back into the war, then why did she essentially help find Joe? There could, of course, be an explanation, and the script has likely left gaps on purpose that will be filled in the finale. But if this is ultimately the entire twist, I'll consider it quite weak by Sheridan's standards. After everything we've seen so far, I would expect something more complex.

Critical reaction, however, is overall positive, without being completely unanimous. TV Fanatic highlighted the fact that Joe's rescue is completed in the first half of the episode, while Vulture was more restrained, pointing out problems with the pacing and structure of the season, especially due to the different storylines unfolding in parallel. Digital Mafia Talkies also focused on the big reveal around Oleksandra, believing that its ultimate payoff will depend on the finale.

The audience shares a similar sentiment. On IMDb, the episode stands at around 9/10 from roughly 1,000 votes, while in viewer discussions there is intense enthusiasm for Joe's rescue and her return to the story. However, there are also several objections about how easily the kidnapping was wrapped up after so many episodes, as well as whether Oleksandra is truly a convincing reveal or just a very convenient culprit.

An interesting piece of trivia is the title of the episode itself. "Kiss the Girls" is connected to the phrase used on the family side of Joe's storyline, but it is also the title of the 1997 movie starring Morgan Freeman. And this isn't the first time the series has used a Freeman movie title: in the second season we had "Along Came a Spider", also a movie title featuring the actor. It may just be a nice easter egg, but with Freeman playing Edwin Mullins, it hardly goes unnoticed.

"Kiss the Girls" was released on September 13 and is the penultimate episode of the season.

And now we are left with "The Unraveling". The episode summary states that the hunt for Kyle leads to deadly consequences, while Joe reveals a broader conspiracy. And it is this last phrase that interests me the most. Because if Oleksandra really is the answer, what is the "broader conspiracy" that Joe is about to reveal? But if she isn't, then who is really behind all this?

Maybe the finale will simply give us the answers we expect. Or maybe the revelation will be larger and simultaneously serve as a bridge for the future of the series. So far, a fourth season has not been officially announced, so any discussion about a continuation remains pure theory.

One episode left and, after what we saw in "Kiss the Girls", I am more interested in finding out if everything we take for granted is actually the case, rather than just seeing who will survive. Joe returned, but she didn't even step into her house. And perhaps that is the most telling element of the entire episode: she may have been saved from her kidnappers, but she still hasn't managed to escape Lioness.