'City On a Hill' Episode 3 review: The focus shifts to the women who form the emotional backbone of the series
This review contains spoilers for Episode 3: "If Only The Fool Would Persist In His Folly"
Clearly, this episode takes the spotlight away from Kevin Bacon's cocaine-fueled, corrupt FBI agent Jackie Rohr, and focuses on Jenny Rohr (Jill Hennessy), who tries to figure out a way to patch up her strained relationship with Rohr.
The episode sheds light on how she goes about getting her teaching career back on track after quitting the profession soon after marrying Rohr.
Hennessy plays the role of a troubled wife to perfection. What is heartening is the fact that she decides to stay true to Rohr despite his infidelity and atrocious behavior that snuffs out all love in the family. In one of the scenes, she meets up with a priest hoping for some advice on how to resurrect a drowning marriage. Meanwhile, Rohr's interrogation qualities are brought to the fore as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy Ryan (Mark O'Brien), who appears to have fled the scene after the armed robbery truck is fished out of Lynn Marsh.
The other woman in focus is Cathy Ryan (Amanda Clayton), Frankie Ryan's wife, who is furious with Jimmy bolting from the city. Her biggest concern is the loot stashed away at her home and to which Jimmy has access. Her feisty nature is in full display as she trades verbal blows with her mother-in-law after trying to figure out his whereabouts.
"If Only The Fool Would Persist In His Folly" is the slowest paced episode of the three that have been aired so far. The focus shifts from crime and murder to domestic affairs of the main characters that have to be sorted out.
The leading ladies Hennessy and Clayton play their roles to perfection. Hennessy, in particular, shines in her role as a troubled housewife who continually shifts between being resigned to her sad fate to giving one more shot to turn things around with her husband.
Without the commendable performances by the women, there is not much action on the crime front and if you expected things to shift to the next gear, then you have to wait for a bit. But again, it is only fair that the supporting characters get their own story arcs as it lends more depth to the story. And with the way things pan out by the end of the episode, it's pretty clear that these women will play a key role going forward. But it would be a heartbreaker if Hennessy's Jenny decides to go into a "bad woman" mode in case she fails to save her marriage with Rohr.
In all, the slow proceedings may probably tempt you to skip the episode altogether, but with the steady tempo of suspense established in episodes 1 and 2, it's prudent to just hang in there.
As we said, the attention to intricate details, in this case, the emotions and the character developments of the supporting cast too is done with purpose and we recommend that you do not skip this one, however enticing it may seem.
Episode 3 of 'City on a Hill' airs on Showtime Sunday, June 30, at 9 pm ET/PT.