There's one too many plot contrivances. Primarily, how did Cyrus know that Josiah would make such a likely target for framing? Okay, I can kind of see how Cyrus knew about Josiah visiting Vista City. But apparently Cyrus also knew that Josiah had a mentally unstable sister. And was feeling guilty that he hadn't done anything for her. And blamed himself for her mental condition. And was heavily drinking to bury his guilt. And would readily surrender himself and make all kinds of incriminating statements about his guilt.
I suppose Cyrus could have pieced all of this together, but it seems a lot of effort just to put people off his trail, when nobody suspected him in the first place.
And what was up with the cross-dressing showgirl? She was tossed in apparently to make us think she was the guilty party that only the viewers realize. But she's there as a red herring... but only to the viewers. The payoff with her is only a cheap joke, when Buck calls her a "funny cowboy".
Despite that, there's two things that make the episode good. The first is Ron Perlman, acting it up as Josiah. His actions may not make a bunch of sense, and his "tragic backstory" comes out of nowhere. But Perlman plays it to the hilt.
The other thing is Lenny von Dohlen, one of those 90s actors who was good in pretty much everything he appear in. "Penance" is no exception, and granted von Dohlen did have a reputation for playing villainous characters. That seems to be the main reason for the showgirl's existence in the plot: to meta-misdirect the viewers from meta-suspecting von Dohlen's Cyrus. Because without the showgirl, Cyrus is pretty much the only possible killer.
Combine Perlman and Von Dohlen together, and you get silver screen gold. The main scene where they act against each other is the jailhouse scene, when Josiah more-or-less tricks Cyrus into confessing.
The rest of the episode is forgettable. Who knew Vin was such a close buddy of Josiah? The Buck/J. D. subplot is so-so. And Nathan gets the return of Rain, who we last saw in the series premiere. Nothing happens with their relationship despite the screen time dedicated to it. Rain comes to find out more about Nathan, he's reluctant to talk about his past, and then he's not.
Rain is there mostly for a fakeout scene when we think the killer is coming for her, but then it's Nathan. And then later, Cyrus tries to call her because she's a "face" character. Along with Mary. Because with all the woman in Four Corners, Cyrus has to go for his initial victim and then the two "face" characters.
I do like Ezra catching onto the rigged race, and helping Buck. Anthony Starke does well when playing the semi-slimy Ezra, who is helping Buck, betting against him, and pocketing some of the winnings while giving Buck the rest.
Overall, "Penance" is an okay episode. It's a pretty bog standard "main character gets framed for murder" plot, set in the Old West. We know Josiah isn't a serial killer, and Cyrus is the killer. These kinds of plots in serialized American TV shows don't allow anything else. But it's still a good episode, thanks to Perlman and Von Dohlen.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
I suppose Cyrus could have pieced all of this together, but it seems a lot of effort just to put people off his trail, when nobody suspected him in the first place.
And what was up with the cross-dressing showgirl? She was tossed in apparently to make us think she was the guilty party that only the viewers realize. But she's there as a red herring... but only to the viewers. The payoff with her is only a cheap joke, when Buck calls her a "funny cowboy".
Despite that, there's two things that make the episode good. The first is Ron Perlman, acting it up as Josiah. His actions may not make a bunch of sense, and his "tragic backstory" comes out of nowhere. But Perlman plays it to the hilt.
The other thing is Lenny von Dohlen, one of those 90s actors who was good in pretty much everything he appear in. "Penance" is no exception, and granted von Dohlen did have a reputation for playing villainous characters. That seems to be the main reason for the showgirl's existence in the plot: to meta-misdirect the viewers from meta-suspecting von Dohlen's Cyrus. Because without the showgirl, Cyrus is pretty much the only possible killer.
Combine Perlman and Von Dohlen together, and you get silver screen gold. The main scene where they act against each other is the jailhouse scene, when Josiah more-or-less tricks Cyrus into confessing.
The rest of the episode is forgettable. Who knew Vin was such a close buddy of Josiah? The Buck/J. D. subplot is so-so. And Nathan gets the return of Rain, who we last saw in the series premiere. Nothing happens with their relationship despite the screen time dedicated to it. Rain comes to find out more about Nathan, he's reluctant to talk about his past, and then he's not.
Rain is there mostly for a fakeout scene when we think the killer is coming for her, but then it's Nathan. And then later, Cyrus tries to call her because she's a "face" character. Along with Mary. Because with all the woman in Four Corners, Cyrus has to go for his initial victim and then the two "face" characters.
I do like Ezra catching onto the rigged race, and helping Buck. Anthony Starke does well when playing the semi-slimy Ezra, who is helping Buck, betting against him, and pocketing some of the winnings while giving Buck the rest.
Overall, "Penance" is an okay episode. It's a pretty bog standard "main character gets framed for murder" plot, set in the Old West. We know Josiah isn't a serial killer, and Cyrus is the killer. These kinds of plots in serialized American TV shows don't allow anything else. But it's still a good episode, thanks to Perlman and Von Dohlen.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
