STITCHERS – “2.0” – (Freeform/Eric McCandless) EMMA ISHTA, KYLE HARRIS, SOLA BAMIS, RITESH RAJAN, ODED FEHR, SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD, ALLISON SCAGLIOTTI, ROSS KURT LE, CAMERON BRITTON
Tonight’s second season premiere of Stitchers (Freeform, Tuesdays, 10/9C)2.0, picks up exactly where the first season finale left off – with Kristen just out of the stitch in the (temporarily) dead Cameron’s mind – and begging him to revive.
From there, it gets weird (even for Stitchers).
When initial efforts fail to revive Cameron (Kyle Harris), Kirsten (Emma Ishta) refuses to let the medical team stop until they try again. When they seemingly fail again, she collapsed on top of him, weeping uncontrollably until she hears him murmur, ‘Did you get the license plate? ‘Cause I’m not doing that again…’
There’s barely any time for relief, though, before more weirdness. Following Cameron’s rapid recovery, there’s a key discovery inside the Stitchers Program’s headquarters that leads to the best/worst Stitch ever – after a key death makes certain information even more important than anyone could have imagined – that makes it clear that what’s going on with Emma isn’t ‘residual emotion.’ Her temporal dysplasia seems to have been cured!
To make matters even more confusing/weird, the required Stitch – which also, as it happens, comes following the revelation of a suspicion by Det. Fisher (Damon Dayoub) – finds Kirsten in a mind that’s completely shattered; almost like it was trained to be inaccessible to a Stitcher.
STITCHERS – “2.0” – (Freeform/Eric McCandless) SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD, KYLE HARRIS, GEOFFREY KENNEDY
And all this is going on under the eyes of a squad of NSA ‘security’ men in black.
Minor events worth noting include a new, more comfortable (and sexier) suit for Kirsten’s Stitching expeditions, and the removal of at least one barrier to Kirsten and Cameron’s ability to pursue investigations outside the lab.
Written by series creator Jeffrey Alan Schechter and director by Steve Miner, 2.0 serves as an introduction to Kirsten 2.0 and a new layer of mystery – along with the real purpose of the Stitchers Program.
It’s more convoluted and more potentially terrifying than before and, if possible, even more fun (even without Cameron’s pop culture quips when initiating Stiches).
2.0 is more engaging on a visceral than before, too. Now that we’ve gotten to know these characters, we’ve come to care about them to the point that when a radical change occurs (as with Kirsten), or they happen to be placed in danger because of their investigations, it has much more impact.
Schecter and Miner use our growing investment in the show to take us (and it) to a whole ‘nother level in the second season premiere – and they leave us knowing that everyone on the show has secrets, though Kirsten now knows Cameron’s biggest (and he knows she knows…).
We are definitely having fun now.
Final Grade: A