Thankfully I do not appear to be a psychopath.
Henry is called to investigate a package seeping blood onto Det Martinez's partner's desk (more of him later), it's a human heart, expertly removed, while the victim was alive.
The victim and circumstances to her death are basically a copycat Jack the Ripper killing, with Henry having a strong suspicion that his long-lived nemesis Adam is Jack, and is now starting again.
When he finally gets his hands on the body, he is amazed at the accuracy of the wounds in comparison to the Whitechapel murders, which he would know since he examined the final body back in the 19th century.
It's a good attempt at murder replication, but not perfect, Henry finds a clue from one of the tools used on the body, and an inconsistency on a wrist wound.
He's relieved, but he's already started an investigation of his own into a rare knife used in the murder in an effort to trace Adam down.
So we have a official and unofficial investigation, which is complicated even further when Adam contacts Henry again with information from the Ripper Copycat crime scene. Another copycat murder , but not a Ripper one...
This is a superior episode, with an adult tone, gruesome murders and arc plot.
There's body horror aplenty here, there are severed bits and limbs and plenty of the gory stuff. It's a definitely darker tone throughout.
The suspects are appropriately slimy, and the murderer takedown includes some really sadistic touches.
That's how I can tell that I'm not psychotic. I cringed at one of these moments, it's nasty (not that explicit, but it's going to hurt). YAY! I'm not going to have to buy an anatomy textbook and invest in a new knife-block!
There's a lot more of Adam this week, still with no actual sight of him other than feet and hands. I know that this is to raise the mystery, but unless we know this character, or get introduced to him at some point in a different capacity, then the reveal won't really add anything. I suppose we need to wait and see.
Frustrations? A hackneyed, "Geeks are all weird socially inept loner potential killers" message. Sigh. That attitude makes me so angry, as I sit here on alone (except for the headless mannequin in the corner of the room ... She looks at me you know...!) typing into the Internet at 4 a.m., carving skulls into the desktop....
I'm also getting fed up with the secondary characters. I can't even remember the names of any other police officer than Jo Martinez. Her partner has been in all of the other episodes and as far as I can tell I don't think anyone has referred to him by name yet (I could be wrong but if they did it wasn't very memorable). Her boss had an introduction, but I've forgotten it as its only been used once I think.
In fact both of these characters seem to have been lifted from the "Big Book Of Cop Stereotypes", the "Gruff,Tough, NY-seen it all Homicide Detective, who can't solve cases on his own)" and the "Wise,Uncompromising, Hard as nails Lt. Detective, who can't solve cases on ther own)". They are actually named "Detective Hanson" and "Lt. Joanna Reece", I now know this after looking them up on the internet. I will forget these names unless these characters do more , and will end up calling them something like "Det. Whatsisname" and "Lt. Cliche".
And Lucas ... what's he for ?
The only secondary character worth anything is Abe, but that's because he's got things to do and is Judd Hirsch (admittedly playing Judd Hirsch)!
Leaving these things aside, this is soooo much better. If this is a permanent upturn then we're on a winner, but if we're back to filler episodes for the next few weeks then that would be a step backwards. Possibly into oncoming traffic..
Verdict ? This one's a ripper !