Stitchers - Friends In Low Places - Advance Preview: “Monsters”

I was fascinated by this show since I saw the first promo and while the promos immediately intrigued me they also made me worry about the lead they had chosen in Emma Istha. A show either fails or succeeds on the shoulders of its lead and I was unsure if Emma would be able to carry this show. Turns out what was bothering me about Emma in the promos was her simply just being in character. The promos made Kirsten seem distant and void which I originally, and erroneously, attributed to the actress. Well, what was being portrayed in the promos was perfect because that’s who Kirsten is and it’s a great place to start the character because they can now take her on this journey of emotional comprehension and we get to come along for the ride.

I enjoyed the premiere, but it was a pilot and it did have its weak points. Pilot episodes typically suffer from the need to explain the show and introduce the viewers to the characters they are expected to fall in love with. It’s a necessary evil and it’s a rare show that can do it without drawing attention to what they are doing. Unfortunately, this was not one of those shows that could pull that off. Luckily the show has worked out its remaining kinks just in time for its second outing and while the premiere episode was good this one is great.

When Kirsten is forced to take on an unpredictable stitch she finds herself face to face with horrific monsters and in order to work through this case she must confront them. However, not all the monsters belong to the stitch subject and that just further complicates things for Kirsten. Emma delivers a great performance during this episodes stitch sequences that really brings to life the situation that Kirsten finds herself in. The stitch also provides some nice tense moments as the team encounters some new territory.

Kirsten has several moments that verge on the precipice of emotional connection, but with some skillful acting from Emma and great writing that connection still remains just outside of Kirsten’s reach. This episode does start to show us the first signs that these stitches are having a lasting effect on her. When Kirsten attends a rave with her friends we get to see another example that she is carrying learned experiences from the stitches into her real life. There is this moment of realization that plays just as beautifully as the tear at the end of the premiere.

Camille gets a lot more to do this week then she did in the premiere. There is a lot more to her than the pilot led us to believe and by the end of the episode you will see the character in a whole new light. I’ve been a fan of Allison Scagliotti since the moment she first appeared on Warehouse 13 and my respect for her as an actress only grew more with each episode of that show. Since that show ended she’s appeared in various shows I watch and every time she appears on my screen I get excited to see what she’s going to bring to her character. No one does sarcasm quite as perfectly as Allison does and it’s fun to see her infuse that into Camille. I look forward to seeing where the character goes after the events of this episode. Camille finds her place in the story this week and viewers will be surprised to see what that place is.

Camille isn’t the only one getting an opportunity to experience some character development this week as Detective Fisher too goes on an interesting journey as he tries to track down answers about this week’s case. Fisher quarterbacks a fun chess match with Kirsten and the outcome isn’t what I was expecting. Between Fisher's distrust and Kirsten's no filter style these two always have interesting and dynamic interactions. This duo promises to be quite intriguing as they keep crossing paths.

The science geek team of Cameron and Linus continue to deliver much needed comedic moments. The science part of the show works in large part because of the way Kyle and Ritesh portray these two best friends. Their performances bring to light the science that drives this shows undercurrent. Speaking of Cameron, we finally get some answers about the mysterious Marta we learned about in the premiere. While one question gets answered it left me with a ton more questions and I hope we get some answers in the coming weeks.

With Kirsten leading her peers they are going to be a handful for Maggie and she’s not naïve to that. Maggie finds herself in a position where she realizes she can’t keep Kirsten from doing things her own way. To manage such an unpredictable person Maggie will have to start looking to change things on her team. The result of that brings about several interesting surprises that made me respect this show that much more. A storyline I thought would play out a certain way takes a very different trajectory this week.

By the end look for one character to experience a very unexpected betrayal from someone close to them. We see a tad bit of fallout from it before the episode ends, but I got the distinct impression that this story will play out a bit longer.

This episode plays really well after the premiere and it sets up the mission of the team even better than the premiere did. We also get to see the show settle into the episodic format it appears to be going with. I was skeptical when I saw this episode steering the show in that direction, but by the end of the episode I was sold. This is a can’t miss episode as it sets up the future of the show in fun and unexpected ways.

Be sure to tune into ABC Family on Tuesday at 9pm for Stitchers then return to SpoilerTV for a detailed review by Prpleight J. I will be back with previews whenever ABC Family gives me the opportunity to do so.

I leave you with 5 fun quotes to get you through to Tuesday.

“Yeah, stitch happens.”

“Trust me, wherever she is right now she doesn’t care.”

“Do you play chess?”/“No.”/”Well I do. Queen takes Knight.”

“Dude, there is a lot about me you do not know.”

“I think you may be the devil.”

Hit the comments section below and speculation about what is to come in this all-new episode.

About the Author - Aimee Hicks

Aimee works for a local newspaper and has a BA in Broadcasting and Cinema. She has been a TV lover since before she really understood what TV was. She has a long list of shows that she loves to watch and can be found on twitter (@ahicks83) live tweeting about each new episode whenever she can. A list of her favorite shows includes (but is not limited to) the following: 12 Monkeys, Orphan Black, Outlander, Chasing Life, Scorpion, The 100, The Night Shift, Bitten, Black Sails, 2 Broke Girls, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Continuum, Lost Girl, Faking It, Falling Skies, Finding Carter, Once Upon A Time, Orange Is The New Black, Switched At Birth, The Fosters, The Flash, The Originals, Teen Wolf, Under The Dome, & Z Nation. The upcoming shows she is most excited about are: Supergirl, Dark Matter, UnReal, Blindspot, Lucifer, Legends of Tomorrow, Stitchers, Recovery Road, Shadowhunters, Quantico, Code Black, Heartbreaker, and Chicago Med. She has a large and passionate dislike of ""reality"" TV, espeically ""reality"" dating shows, but has a weakness for Americas Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance. But those two don't really count as ""reality"" shows, at least that's how she justifies those guilty pleasures. She was the original creator and co-founder of LOST Video Island (lostvideo.net) which is still operting under the management of the very capable and skilled group she turned it over to.

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