There’s a sniper on the loose terrorizing New York City

From the outset it seems that nobody is safe from the terror campaign. It becomes the kind of regional news which affects the thinking of numerous households, McCall’s included. And this setup first thing in the episode is revisited with significant payoff later.

After McCall recently won the trust of DA Grafton, the district attorney petitions her for aid, establishing the stakes. The city needs all the help they can get to take down an elite ex-military shooter which falls outside their expertise. Such is the trust that Grafton makes the New York Police Department available to McCall’s judgment in the early minutes of the show. This would have been a significant move for the final act, but to do so in the first sets up a powerful ally for McCall. It will be worth keeping an eye on this as the season continues to prove these small details matter in the grander scheme.

Melody Biyani (the first time her surname is repeatedly mentioned, if at all), is well known to us as an expert sniper herself and as such, unsurprisingly takes a key role in the episode. She is provided a personal stake in the matter in that it is clear she and the shooter were trained by the same instructor, Dan Erickson.

The setup works well for multiple reasons. The shooter’s identity, Silas Furlong is revealed quickly, subverting the procedural step of false leads, as the threat dominates the investigation. He is designed as a perfect mirror for Melody, provides an opportunity to, by necessity, find out a great deal more of Melody’s back story and subtly begins to reposition her as the central protagonist of the week.

Erickson sees her as a failure, as it is revealed that on an operation she refuses an order of his and is forced out of his team, with some perceived disgrace – although notably not by Melody. How the necessary revisit to her past is handled is fascinating, as this would often be a situation which would get to the character, particularly with Erickson himself both attempting to bully her in the scene and clearly having stained her reputation amongst her old peers. Yet his attacks do nothing. The viewers already know there is far more to Melody than being an ice-cold killer, though we also know her to be more than capable of that in the field. We are in fact reminded of exactly this in another callback to a previous episode, in which her sharpshooting saves Dante from a serial killer, referenced directly when the pair meet in person for the first time.

What differentiates Melody from her former peers, and certainly where Silas tragically failed, is her capacity for love and compassion, for herself as much as anyone else. She has already reconciled herself to have been absolutely right about the decision her mentor judged as a failure, although it is not fully explained until the end of the episode whose mistake it was.

She mentions the rarity of female snipers at least amongst her peers and that this in itself comes with its own challenges. She is spared the baggage of the toxic masculinity which Erickson exudes, immune to his goading that she froze on the job, that the woman was weak. And this in itself is a keystone of the story. Silas presents a mirror to her, his entire reason for terrorizing New York City down to a fractured psyche, which leads to a broken family and a place he cannot come back from. His kills start with the motive of holding the city to ransom, yet we are never truly convinced by this reasoning.

Conversely, Melody is acutely and constantly aware of the pitfalls her job throws at her, and as such we see her carefully cultivated wellbeing structures frequently throughout the series far more pronounced in this episode. The key difference between this and her usual appearances with Harry is that the two often provide some levity or comic relief. There is none of that here, and the story is more impactful for it. It is difficult not to feel for Harry when he is watching his partner fight for her life, completely helpless as he nearly loses her. That his desperation to be freed from his imprisonment ‘off the grid’ intensifies, gives some idea of the personal hell he is facing. Melody admits that knowing he is mostly safe for not interacting with the outside world is helpful to her much of the time, and yet still her love for him exceeds this, as she is prepared to adapt.

The theme of trauma integrates into the family plot as well. The direct consequence of a sniper being loose in the city returns the worst day of Delilah’s life to the forefront of the McCall household, triggering memories of her friend Jason’s untimely death in front of her eyes. It soon becomes clear she is experiencing the effects of post-traumatic stress, which in effect benches McCall from the mission in the second act of the story, as she absolutely has to be present for her daughter. It’s the only decision she can make. Between this and Silas Furlong being the adversary, the path is cleared for Melody to effectively spearhead the mission.

It is also another reminder that past show events matter. Delilah’s trauma had already been revisited to some extent in episode 3 of this season, which made the run-up here even more effective. It has been evident that Delilah has been struggling for some time, yet the additional horror of a sniper offers an incredibly effective catalyst to reveal the exact extent. McCall herself confirms has had professional help for PTSD, as she is able to explain firsthand why her daughter needs it too. That McCall is aware of her own limitations on where she can help here is in itself a noteworthy detail.

Verdict: Every significant plot point in this episode is well earned. It is less concerned with plot twists, but more with the development of events from previous episodes and as such, takes calculated steps to tell the story with gripping tension and a move away from any police procedural formula. Apt, given the focal antagonist of the week. 9/10

Russell A Smith