‘Briarpatch’ Episode 5: Through the fuddle of Saint Disgrace, Allegra’s quest for truth is led by signs
Spoiler alert for 'Briarpatch' Episode 5 'Behind God's Back'
Allegra Dill’s (Rosario Dawson) visit to San Bonifacio (nicknamed Saint Disgrace) isn’t serving her well, clearly. While she set foot in the “shithole of poison” to get closure on her sister’s death by tracking down her killer, the home city of Texas, which is eerily strange and bound in corruption is only throwing more obstacles at her, thwarting whatever little plan she had.
Allegra, who has been struggling, unable to cope with the tragic death of Felicity, is met with uncertainty as she finds more clues that could lead her quest.
Episode 5, titled ‘Behind God’s Back’, begins with Lalo (David Zaldivar) befriending a little girl abandoned in the middle of the desert while trying to cross the US-Mexico border. Soon after luring her into his car, he’s seen going after the drone, which had magically appeared over her head a few moments before he arrived.
Allegra wakes up to another noisy morning, this time a fire alarm at AD Singe’s (Edi Gathegi) place. However, even before she could rub the sleep from her eyes entirely, Singe tells Allegra to complete the paperwork for Felicity Dill’s (Michele Weaver) health insurance policy. And, he also isn’t too pleased to learn about the recorded tape that Allegra acquired from Floyd Ferness (Jon Beavers). His actions make us wonder if he’s genuinely determined to bring justice to Felicity or if he’s after the humongous sum her insurance has to offer.
Meanwhile, Allegra thinks the tape could answer all the questions and is also now starting to believe her sister was undercover for “something big she was onto” as Ferness previously said.
Despite the resistance and unwillingness, Siege accompanies Allegra to Harold Snow (Timm Sharp) and Cindy McCabe’s, for he could help them decrypt the tape.
Meanwhile, the town's crime reporter, Freddie Laffer (John Aylward), meets Jake Spivey (Jay R Ferguson) at his extravagant residence to remind him about his father’s murder which took place in the same slaughterhouse where Allegra was dropped off by Brattle. Using his journalistic values as the reason, the reporter touches Spivey’s last nerve, trying to pin crime on the latter owing to his father’s criminal past.
However, it doesn’t take Laffer long to come to grips with Spivey’s underestimated power, when his interview is interrupted by his superiors who order him to frame a story which draws curtains on investigations surrounding Felicity’s death, following the twin car bombing, which Ferness has been now proven guilty for.
Spivey’s control over nearly everything in the town, including the media house, is indicative of the fact that there’s more to him than meets the eye, which Allegra is yet to witness.
Police Chief Eve Raytek (Kim Dickens) and Mayor Tony succeed in officially closing Felicity’s investigation driven by the selfish motives to push their “business”, but Allegra’s pursuit of the truth is accelerated further by yet another intriguing detail she finds about her sister from Gunter, who she used to work with earlier.
On learning about Felicity’s key role in the drug bust, Allegra goes to the slaughterhouse hoping she could find some evidence. However, her efforts are in vain when she realizes that a member of the cleanup squad had appeared at the spot much before her.
As two of the cops involved in the drug bust are blown up (with one dead and the other fighting for his life at the hospital) Allegra and Singe go looking for Lalo. However, they find him secretly housing refugees to fill the vacuum himself.
The episode ends by opening door to many possibilities, as more people are suspected to be involved in the city’s twin dual car bombing. It remains to be seen if Allegra has the strength in her to go after the truth, despite being misled and deceived by the ones she has blindly laid her trust in.
‘Briarpatch’ airs on Mondays on USA Network.