This is by far the strongest showcase for Reyes since her character's arrival, finally an episode that allows Annabeth Gish to play something besides excitable New Age schtick. Considering she's been around for a while, it's about damn time. 4-D portrays Reyes as an actual human being, and I liked seeing events from her perspective, both in her ability to unravel a mystery as well as through her bond of trust with Doggett. The episode's outcome heavily relies on that tenderness, and it provokes enough audience goodwill that accepting the two of them as the show's new protagonists becomes a little less difficult.4-D is structured intriguingly, as we're thrust into two different realities as the episode starts up and must follow Reyes as she tries to work out which reality is real. It actually brought to mind Fringe, and how that series grew to hinge on the existence of alternate realities. What's interesting is that the episode is very much a work in progress with it. The ideas are certainly there, but Steven Maeda sometimes struggles to balance the various scales at work, leaving something like Reyes' theory coming off like something of a leap.
But the episode proves to be one of the most intriguing hours in a long while, especially the human qualities given to Lukesh, the hour's antagonist. While he's disturbed and sadistic in his methodology, he's humanized by his suppressive family life, and I liked the sinister connection between the way Lukesh rips out his victim's tongues and his over-talkative mother. Yikes. With a script that pushes boundaries and promotes fresh ideas while improving recently weak characterization, 4-D is a late-series wonder. A
Credits
Guest stars Cary Elwes (Brad Follmer); Dylan Haggerty (Erwin Lukesh); Angela Paton (Mrs. Lukesh); Gil Colon (Agent Rice)
Writer Steven Maeda Director Tony Wharmby
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