Stumptown (1×04) Family Ties Review

For our review of the last episode of Stumptown, click here.

Synopsis: Dex faces off against Artie Banks to take down wealthy real estate mogul Randall Tapper; Detective Cosgrove leads an investigation to find a prisoner on the loose. (TV Guide)

Family Ties gave us some fun Dex moments but it was also the first episode that wasn’t all about her though everything will probably come back through her anyway. Meanwhile, the drama between her and Banks has been fun to watch and this episode was more of the same with a nice ending which came as a surprise.

The episode started with Dex literally striking back against Banks and his vintage mustang with a baseball bat. Afterwards, she turned her attention back on Tapper which meant finding more dirt on him. Candice pointed her to his business. Getting the information would mean infiltrating his fortress of a headquarters so Dex enlisted Tookie (Adrian Martinez) to work undercover as a janitor and get some files. When it looked like he had gotten away, Banks caught up with him but he had managed to grab duplicates of the files. This prompted Tapper to request a meeting with Dex for which he would give her a settlement offer for Candice.

Dex’s exploits caught Blackbird’s eye who threatened to unforgive her debt if she didn’t back off Taper. Dex obviously refused. Banks’ attempt at striking back at Dex by having her arrested for vandalizing his car and having her towed failed because of his bad reputation with the police department (stealing money from the evidence lockup). However, her attempts to help Candice failed as she lost her child but she still took the time to give Banks a peace of her mind by trying to appeal to his humanity.

Little did Dex know, this worked as Banks later showed up (after Ansel gave her a pep talk to cheer her up) to his house to offer an explanation for his actions. Banks stole the money from the evidence lockup (he retired in exchange for not facing criminal charges) to pay for his daughter’s (for which he had with a witness while on the job) medical bills. To help, Banks point Dex towards Tapper’s ex-accountant that she blackmailed into helping her. He revealed Tapper was moving counterfeit merchandise out of a school he was purposefully taking too long to build for Blackbird. Dex and Banks then headed to the site and found evidence that Tapper was moving counterfeit medication out of the school before being stopped by Blackbird. She and Dex schooled Tapper by both using this to get what they wanted. Banks apologized to Candice and also signed the paperwork to make Dex a licensed P.I. (he was also open to the idea of them working together).

Meanwhile, an inmate for whom Hoffman was responsible for putting away named Wallace Kane (Colin Cunningham) escaped custody during a transfer which prompted a manhunt. Kane killed one of Hoffman’s friends who was also an informant so he had a personal interest in the case and was determined to bring him in despite the U.S. Marshalls taking control of the investigation. Everyone who was involved in that case seemed to have moved on except for him. Kane was also connected to Grey and his criminal past so Hoffman warned him. Grey prepared himself for what may happen.

By the end episode, Grey was right after he was roughed up and abducted by Kane, who worked with Grey and Feeney, for Frank (Jason Manuel Olazabal).

Didn’t care so much about the latter subplot but it will be interesting to see how it all comes together since we all know it will. Also didn’t think Dex vs. Banks would end so soon though they would be fun to watch together so hopefully Donal Logue comes back. In the end, it’s nice to see the series finding its groove.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.