Counterpart: Something Borrowed

December 24, 2018 7:46 AM - Season 2, Episode 3

Howard Alpha is transferred to a mysterious prison called Echo; an unexpected visit gives Emily Alpha a connection to her old life; and Emily Prime and Shaw's investigation is met with resistance.

Den of Geek - In addition to upping the ante for each of its core characters, Counterpart introduces Echo, a twist in an already complex mythology.

Vulture Recap: Do Unto Others

TV Fanatic review

Black Nerd Problems recap

posted by oh yeah! (4 comments total)

I thought this was a slightly better episode this week, it gave me hope for the season. This show's main fault has been it's subtlety, but we are finally moving along a little quicker.
posted by Catblack at 8:04 AM on December 24, 2018

I was a little confused about what Marcel Prime said about Howard Prime's actions. So, Marcel Alpha was the guy that was murdered early in season 1 right after getting the promotion that Howard Alpha had interviewed for. And Marcel Prime said that Howard Prime is to blame for him getting sent to Echo. But, what use is Marcel Prime to Echo now that his Alpha counterpart is dead? Was he sent to Echo before the assassination, because Marcel Alpha was deemed important enough to warrant studying his counterpart? But if so, what's the point of continuing the observation now that Marcel Alpha is dead?
posted by oh yeah! at 9:23 AM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

They may not know Marcel Alpha is dead - plus, they may also just not have anywhere better to keep him. You don’t want to disincentivize folks to get comfortable by killing your subjects.

But also - why was Marcel taken so long ago? Was Emily having a relationship with him for ten years?
posted by corb at 5:57 PM on January 18, 2019

Marcel and affair-guy who plays Go aren't the same dude. I think.

At this point I'm a bit puzzled by all the double-crossing. My hypothesis is that after Original Emily realised that her attempt to do the right thing had failed, she became all cynical and jaded. She kept playing the spy game but with might have lost sight of why she began, hence post-coma Emily not really recognising her own self.

I loved how pathetic Quayle is at Echo. And I've never liked Lambert (I don't suppose I'm meant to), so I snorted with laughter at the reveal of his housemate. I don't even know how they ended up together but whatever.
posted by harriet vane at 8:51 AM on February 23, 2019