Rubicon – “Look to the Ant”
Look to the ant, thou sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,
 which, having no guide, overseer or ruler,
 provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.
-Proverbs 6
Well, if things weren’t weird between Will and Maggie before, they are now. What a nightmare for her.
And what is the deal with Ingram? There may be few things creepier than that guy’s offer of “help.” I’m pretty sure Will shouldn’t trust him, but there’s a limit to what Will can do about it when Ingram is his boss. I’m not inclined to believe Ingram’s tip that Will should focus on Roy rather than Bloom, but Ingram may be tossing Will a real piece of info in order to gain his trust.  I can’t decide if I think Ingram is offering to help Will at the direction of Spangler, or if he’s playing his own game, but something’s not right.
I’m guessing that the guy that was tailing Will was working for Spangler, but I don’t think Will’s idea of taking a photo of him is going to make a big difference. They’ll just put a different guy on him. Will may be able to find out who the guy is, but if he’s freelancing, so what? All he did was tip off the bad guys that he’s now packing heat.Â
The scene between Miles and the interpreter was fascinating. Not only because their interaction was interesting, but because George’s speech she translated from the surveillance of his son’s wedding was incredibly touching, and seemed to be directed right at Miles.  What an amazingly well-written scene. Just beautiful.
Meanwhile Katherine is making as much progress in her investigation as Will is making in his. In fact, they arrive at the info on Atlas McDowell practically simultanneously. That’s ironic when you consider the resources that Will has at his disposal, but perhaps Katherine has an advantage because she has no other time commitments and practically unlimited money. They should really team up, and I bet they do in the next episode. Look for them to find out what Atlas McDowell does. My prediction? It’s nothing good.
Posted on August 30, 2010, in Television and tagged AMC, Rubicon. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
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Again, I don’t know what (or who) to believe. Great episode, though.
I thought the four-leaf clover, while predictable, was a cool touch. Also, the picture of the young boys is an obvious clue I would think.
Maybe. I don’t remember much about the picture. The four-leaf clover is interesting because it’s also one of the clues in the crossword code, but it’s still not clear what it means.
Is it a signal that the recipient is required to kill themselves? What if they don’t? The organization sends an assassin to do the job? Forcing prominent businessmen on the board of the same company to kill themselves is not a great way to stay incognito. People are bound to notice something like that.
Re: the picture: the camera lingered for a few seconds on Bradley’s widow as she looked at the picture. There wasn’t a good enough close-up to make out anything particular about the young boys in the photo, but it seems an otherwise odd piece of memorabilia to focus our attention on (as opposed to the more poignant choice of say, one with his wife and family–or a photo which more obviously tied him into the mystery, e.g. something with him and Wheeler…) I don’t think there’s enough evidence to analyze it in too much depth, but it’s worth taking note of and filing away.
Also, something I’m trying to remember from the pilot: was it implied that Tom Rhumor was a member of the conspiratorial “inner circle” along with his friend Wheeler, or are we to assume he was more of an ancillary contributor, perhaps through “Atlas McDowell”? Similarly, I had assumed David Hadas was involved with the conspiracy as well, and “wanted out,” hence his murder. Several episodes in, I’m not sure if he knew much more than Will does right now, and was instead killed for getting too close.
Squals, you’re right that we don’t know for certain what the answer to those questions might be.
I’ve been assuming that Tom was a member of the circle that contains Wheeler and Spangler, but I don’t know that for sure.
I’ve also been assuming that David was not in on the conspiracy, but was an analyst that was tasked with doing certain things to help the conspiracy, like helping to create the crossword code. My assumption is that David was on his way to figuring out what the code was being used for and that’s why he was killed. He left clues for Will so that his work in exposing the conspiracy would continue if he was killed.
Those are mostly guesses, but its what things look like to me.
I thought I’d seen that picture of the boys before, but the comments before mine make me doubt that.
Along with what MCQ said last, it seems that the ongoing chess game by phone was intended as a fail safe device that would almost ensure that Will would meet Ed in case something happens to David.
I also liked the translation scene.
I want that chess set hidden inside of a globe. Wonder who sells that?
Just a note they are rebroadcasting episodes 1-6 this weekend so those of us who missed the first few can catch up.
Looking back at previous episodes, I noticed that the photograph of the boys is shown twice. The first time is when James Wheeler is at Tom’s secret townhouse. He removes the same photo from the townhouse after Tom’s suicide. The second time it is shown is when Katherine is with Bradley’s widow and it is shown as being in the box with the four-leaf clover. I think this means that the two men knew each other from childhood.
“I think this means that the two men knew each other from childhood.”
I would assume that the entire group knew each other from childhood and they are the ones in the picture.
Yeah, it could be the whole group, but we just don’t know that yet. The fact that the photo was in the possession of both Tom and Bradley means that at least those two are most likely in the picture, but possibly more are as well. If Katherine hadn’t got so freaked out over the four-leaf clover, she might have seen the picture and might have another clue.
Okay, I just watched this episode last night. So I’m not quite caught up, but I’m getting there. My scattershot observations:
* You know how I can tell this show is picking up steam and getting more exciting? My wife actually stayed awake through the entire episode this time.
* The Ingram development is the best thing to happen to the show. If Will was paranoid before, now he’s on the precipice of flat-out schizo. My own theory is that Ingram is freelancing it. He clearly knows more than he’s telling Travers, but he also knows more than he’s telling Spangler. I think he may be looking out for his own best interests, and ready to turn on either side once he figures out how it’s going to shake out.
* I love all the characters on this show. This week, Miles gets much love. Miles is a mess, but in a totally believable way. His character is really very well constructed. He’s an interesting mix of jaded true believer and cynical pragmatist.
* Fun moment: “The triforce?” “I love Zelda.”
* I’ve long had a crush on Miranda Richardson. I love that she’s in this.
* This show continues to defy spy movie cliche’s. For instance, the first time that Ms. Rhumor shows up at the other widow’s house, as she’s leaving, didn’t everyone expect the widow to say, “Wait, you know there is something you should know. Won’t you come in and listen to some expository dialogue?” I also really liked the scene where Will confronts his tail. Unlike most spy thrillers, Will looked scared to death and unsure of himself. (Anyone else notice that Will was disregarding the advice given to him by the FBI?)
* Everything seems to be coming together well. The story lines are beginning to converge and the small clues looking like they’ll add up to something.]
Great show.
Re: the four-leaf clover:
Obviously, for Ms. Rhumer, this sealed it for her that the two Atlas McDowel’s board members’ suicides could not have been a coincidence. Four leaf clovers are rare, naturally.
During the pilot, Will surmises based on the crossword puzzles that the four-leaf clover is a symbol for a fourth, shadow branch of the U.S. government. The clover is a symbol of the conspiracy.
Good stuff, Greg. I forgot the Zelda moment, that was awesome. The small, throw-away stuff like that is what really sets this show apart. It’s the details that makes it great.
Started watching yesterday. I love this show. I watched 4 episodes in a row. Fantastic. It’s like Tinker Tailor Spy decided to do the X-Files without the aliens or supernatural. I can’t believe someone’s actually making a show like this.
Re: Triforce
The Triforce has a lot in common with the clover…First of all, the most common clover is the three leaf, each representing one of the three branches of our government. The four leaf, representing the conspiracy, represents a fourth branch of government controlling the other three (kinda like an intelligence agency manipulating governmental policy, perhaps? A large corporation manipulating policy through its contributions? etc)
The triforce, while emphasizing the number three once again, is actually comprised of four small triangles. Therefore, don’t trust the character with the triforce. Is she really a hero of the three? Or a tool of the four?