5x03 The Eagle

[7.2/10] Solid stuff – the reveal that “The Eagle” was suffering from dementia seemed pretty well-telegraphed so it didn’t have the intended impact, but it’s still a fun idea that Selina & Co. are so convinced by a guy’s reputation and doubletalk that they buy his nonsense as folksy wisdom. Ben putting him in what I can only assume is Ainsley Hayes’s old office in the basement is a nice note to end on.

I also enjoyed the running thread of Chinese hackers being foregrounded with Selina being bad at technology and then blaming a public tweet that was meant to be private on them. It’s the sort of absurd solution to problems, likely to just cause more problems, that this show does well. And by the same token, poor Mike! The unintended consequence of the tweet-based sanctions being that he and Wendy can’t adopt their Chinese baby is dark humor, but fits well into the Kafkaesque political environment of the show.

Gary bonding with Charlie Baird and getting on with people at the gala is a nice moment for him that makes me wonder if they’re going anywhere with the quiet hints they’ve dropped of him developing a little more. Ben translating Kent’s number crunches into English was a nice recurring bit, and Richard’s obliviousness leading to the O’Brien campaign admitting there are missing ballots is a fun comic setpiece as well. I think Richard has slowly but surely become my favorite character on the show. His sunshine-y and often inadvertent competence at his job is just so great.

Overall, a solid, enjoyable episode.