Abhiroop Das
Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, Hulu’s ‘Furious‘ follows Alice Black, an FBI agent, and her elusive target, Catherine. As one murder case shows connections with a couple more, Alice realizes she has a ruthless serial killer on her hands, and one who is as skilled as the investigators looking for her. As Catherine’s murder count rises, the crevices in Alice’s personal life open up. With the memories of her abusive boyfriend interrupting her present, she finds strength in her FBI partner, Danny, and her superior, Nora. Aptly, episode 4 of this crime thriller drama series, titled ‘Flash Flood,’ gives us a deeper look into the lives of Danny and Nora, and how their own troubles affect their work lives. But among these threads, the chase continues, with Alice coming one step closer to identifying the serial killer and her motives. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Alice Gives In to Her Self-Destructive Tendencies
‘Furious’ season 1 episode 4 begins right where the previous episode left off, with Alice defending herself against Marshall’s advances. After he goes away, though, a wave of despair takes over her mind, as Alice sits back in the car and tries to call Danny. Unbeknownst to her, Danny is with his son, Liam, and doesn’t even notice the call. Liam has a learning disability and stays in a care facility, and with Danny’s marriage in a fragile position, these are possibly some of the last moments he will ever spend with his son. Meanwhile, Alice sets up another date at her house, only to reveal to the guy that he must fight her before they have sex. He stops taking it as a joke when she lands the first blow, and by the time we catch up to Alice a few hours later, she is bruised up, but victorious.
Despite blowing off a lot of steam with violence, Alice doesn’t seem to be catching any sleep, and, frustrated, she calls up the only other person who is likely awake at this time: Nora, the head of the FBI’s sex crimes unit. Together, they decide to head to the local vice district, hoping that someone recognizes Isabel Luna, the girl from the picture. To Alice’s dismay, the faces of Jay and Caleb Easton have to be cropped out of the picture for security purposes, and after a night of no real leads, they are left with no choice but to head back to the bureau. There, Nora tries her hand at digital searches, which involves going through a depressing collection of child pornography that the FBI has seized over the years. With nothing showing up there either, Alice suggests going through the list of dead persons, and a discovery is made at last.
Nora Discovers That She May Have Let Isabel’s Murderer Walk Free, 15 Years Ago
While Alice prepares for her morning briefing, Nora discovers a report of a deceased girl whose description matches that of Isabel Luna. The matching wristbands confirm the connection, but for Nora, the most troubling detail is that she herself handled the original case, fifteen years ago, under the supervision of one Ed George. Curiously, Nora hides this breakthrough from Alice, prompting her to return to work. At Choi’s office, both Marshall and Danny express shock at Alice’s bruises, but she forces the conversation to shut down. For now, the team’s objective is to question Emma Easton, Jay’s daughter and Caleb’s sister. While there is already an incriminating picture of Jay with minors, Choi wants this to be more of an easygoing questioning, and tasks Alice and Danny with keeping things low-key.
Danny, of course, is not one to follow orders as simply, and brings up the picture anyway, and it is only then that Emma’s real thoughts burst forth. While she claims that the pictures are doctored, both Alice and Danny can tell that she was likely in on the whole thing and is still doing her father’s bidding. Still, with the conversation ending shortly after, they have no choice but to follow their next lead, which is an orphanage at the far end of the city, which might be the place Isabel grew up in.
While all of this is unfolding, Catherine, our serial killer, seems to have found her next target already. Armed with a fake name and backstory, this time that of an ex-sex worker who is now an activist, Catherine sets up a date with a man named Blanchard, and by the end of the night, they are in his home, having sex. The following morning, though, she decides to switch up her personality and settles in Blanchard’s house as if it’s her own, bossing him around. As it turns out, he lives with his parents, and it’s not him she has a long-standing feud with, but his father, who recognizes her the moment he steps into the scene.
Catherine Abducts Her Next Target
Desperate to bury this entire incident, for his own sake and that of his son, Hal begs Catherine, who surprisingly agrees, on the condition that he walks her down to the elevator. There, Hal’s tone switches up to one of threats, but it doesn’t matter. Catherine stabs him in the foot with the injection, and within a few seconds, he is left powerless, enough for Catherine to shove him into a minivan without raising any eyebrows. Meanwhile, Alice and Danny seem to be having a conversation of their own during the long drive, and it inevitably returns to the idea of trust. In return for telling the truth about Liam, Danny learns that Alice has been paying to get beaten up as a form of twisted trauma response to the physical abuse she had to endure in her relationship.
At the orphanage, Danny and Alice learn that Isabel was indeed one of the children living here, and did so until the age of 14. While she had attempted to escape the facility numerous times, Isabel always came back, that is, until that last time. The caretaker also reveals that Isabel showed signs of pregnancy at the time, and this only infuriates Danny more. An even bigger revelation, though, is that Isabel was never alone while living in this orphanage. Her best friend, Catherine Grace, is the person we have been following all along, and from her very childhood, she was friendly to no one except for Isabel. Following Isabel’s disappearance, Catherine left the system as well, which leads Alice to believe that she has finally found the culprit after all.
Nora Cuts Alice Off From the Investigation For Ambiguous Reasons
Meanwhile, Nora, having had a little too much to drink while on duty, meets her former supervisor, Ed George, who is giving a talk on police mental health only a few stairs above. As it turns out, he and Nora didn’t have the friendliest of relationships 15 years ago, and this still reflects on their arguments. More surprisingly, though, Nora seems to have changed her mind about getting Alice involved in the case, and listens to what Marshall has to say to her about his ex-partner. Elsewhere, Alice adds the criteria of pregnancy to her search queries and finally comes to the file that Nora found earlier.
The joy turns into disappointment as soon as Alice discovers that Isabel Luna is dead. When she tries to relay this to Nora, the latter takes her off the case itself, though we don’t know if it’s to protect Alice or shield her away from the truth. It doesn’t take her long to realize that Nora worked on the Isabel Luna murder case, but by then, the time to ask questions and expect a sincere answer is long gone. At Catherine’s, we see that Hal is still alive and regaining his consciousness, which means that a world of trouble awaits, sooner rather than later.
Read More: Furious: Is Catherine Gay or Bisexual? Is Lola Petticrew Queer In Real Life?
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