Two goals: 1) Show Celeste take action and investigate on her own; 2) Have Agent Taylor confront Madam Lola with the truth of her identity.
This episode opens with Celeste examining canceled checks as she conducts her own investigation. When Cathy tells her in ominous tones that Friendly Bank is owned by Russians, the implication is that it’s the Russian mob. Although one might accuse me of employing a stereotype about Russians, it’s been well documented that Russian mobsters not only control most of the banks in Russia, but have also laundered billions of dollars through US banks, especially in New York. However, in this instance Cathy seems to speak from personal experience when she says the Russians are “scary,” as she is truly frightened for Celeste when Celeste says she’s going to the bank. Cathy even tries to physically block her from leaving, indicating that in spite of spying on her boss for Gordon, Cathy does care about Celeste’s safety. Celeste knows that Cathy’s been telling Gordon her business, but doesn’t do anything about it other than to gently admonish Cathy not to tell anyone where she’s going, which falls on deaf ears because Cathy’s on the phone before Celeste is completely out of the office. There’s obviously much more to Cathy than meets the eye, but Celeste believes she’s harmless, that she’s just a blabbermouth.
In this scene, Celeste takes the bull by the horns. After being forced to sign that check for Gordon, she needs to regain a sense of control. Celeste doesn’t blink an eye when Cathy begs her not to go because she’s certain that she knows better than Cathy how to handle this. Once again, Celeste can’t see beyond her own hubris.
The next scene is where we learn about Madam Lola’s background by way of Agent Taylor reciting her criminal history as soon as she answers the door. It first appears that he has the upper hand and will force Lola to provide him with information about Celeste. But Lola doesn’t scare easily and is surprisingly loyal to Celeste, whom she considers a friend. This scene is extremely important for what it doesn’t show because the audience doesn’t see what happens after Lola tells Agent Taylor to get out. I did this deliberately because I wanted the reveal in the final episode to allow the audience to fill in the blanks on their own. It’s a must for Agent Taylor to say Lola’s crimes out loud as part of their conversation in order for the audience to remember and have the “aha” moment in the final episode when they realize what he has done. Agent Taylor going alone to confront Lola is foreshadowing.
Back to Celeste and her investigation in the warehouse district. Of course, she rings the bell of what is obviously not a bank like she’s making a normal business call. And then a man emerges from the shadows and shatters her bravado. She’s out of her element and unprepared for what she encounters, so she runs away as fast as she can in her high heels. And then she bumps into Gordon. And he has a gun. She feels powerless yet again as she flees the scene.
To protect herself and try to level the playing field, Celeste retrieves her father’s gun. She won’t be caught off guard again. Another bad choice.