'The Bridge' Recap: Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2 'Pilot' and 'Calaca'

The Bridge is hard to define. On one hand it is yet another addition to the recently burgeoning subgenre of cop shows trying to catch a serial killer (NBC’s Hannibal and FOX’s The Killing premiered earlier in the year). On the other hand it isn’t your typical cop show or serial killer show. There is something engrossing in The Bridge’s first two episodes, something not completely tangible. Right now The Bridge is in its infant stages, filled with potential that hasn’t been realized.

The pilot episode of The Bridge was chock full of set up. Much of the episode felt like a prologue, setting up the differences between Mexico and the USA in the border towns of Juarez and El Paso. The pace of the episode was slow and at times lacked cohesiveness because some of the characters’ purposes were unclear, Charlotte especially. However, when the presence of a serial killer was introduced The Bridge regained some of the excitement the very creepy ad campaign had built up.

And while the show’s main plot revolves around catching this mysterious serial killer, it doesn’t feel like that’s what the show is truly about. Taking center stage are the clear differences between the two countries. Thus far, the serial killer seems to be trying to raise awareness of these differences.

The original case of a famed judge in immigration cases being left at the border soon became a double homicide as it was the judge’s torso and a young Mexican girl’s legs the killer had placed at the border. The killer’s first communication with Sonya and Marco, the two main detectives working on the case, featured a statistic in about the large number of missing persons a year in Juarez and the relatively small murders that happen in El Paso. And in “Calaca” the serial killer poisons jugs of water that he sets next to a calaca shrine for illegal immigrants making their way toward civilization. These incidences leave the motives of the killer unclear except to raise awareness of border problems and immigration.

And while these murders are creative and show the killer does have a plan, they aren’t as heavily focused on as those of the aforementioned serial killer dramas Hannibal and The Following. The murders are treated more as breadcrumbs to the larger investigation than the shocking grotesque crime scenes in Hannibal or the manhunt drama of The Following. Instead, The Bridge has more focus on who the investigators are and how they interact.

Sonya is a young detective who has a behavioral and social disorder that has not been diagnosed in the show, but is most likely a form of Asperbergs syndrome. She doesn’t know how to act towards other people, which gives her a rather childlike quality. Diane Kruger gives a pretty good performance as Sonya but the character often times seems callous and mean spirited. However, her father-daughter relationship with her boss Hank feels very earnest and is important for the show.

Marco is a middle-aged detective from Juarez and has become Sonya’s partner in the investigation. His character is more by the book as a husband and father who is never home enough and has become jaded by the job – most likely because of the consequences he might face for a job well done. And even though Sonya and Marco have basically the same job description, their execution of the job is based in the places they live. Marco must always keep his head down due to police corruption and Mexican cartels. It should be interesting to see if and how Marco and Sonya’s relationship grows over the course of the show.

Outside of the investigation is the recently widowed Charlotte, who is currently in charge of her husband’s ranch. In “Calaca” she finds out that the ranch isn’t just for raising race horses as she discovers an underground tunnel to Mexico to help smuggle illegal immigrants. She is approached by her husband’s lawyer who informs her of the deal her husband had with an unnamed client in regards to the tunnel and paying off a debt. Aside from the tunnel Charlotte’s character is fairly sparse and doesn’t seem like she’ll have much to do than be threatened to keep the tunnel open.

In addition to Charlotte is creepy Steven who is meant to be the audience’s main suspect. Sonya and Marco have not crossed paths with him yet but Steven spends a lot of time in his trailer home in the middle of nowhere and has just killed and burned the body of a young Mexican girl, Eva, he either kidnapped or had arranged to sneak across the border. A Mexican man out is currently chasing Steven to find Eva, who is not afraid to get his hands dirty as he kills Steven’s neighbor at his apartment complex.

Last is Daniel, an alcoholic reporter for the El Paso newspaper who was trapped in his car by the serial killer with a bomb. The bomb never went off and instead was just a way for the serial killer to get the police’s attention and his message to them. Daniel is self-interested in the case, not only because of the bomb but also because he smells some fame and fortune to come writing about it. He and Adriana, a reporter just starting out, were paired by the editor-and-chief of the newspaper and were sent GPS coordinates from the killer that led them to the calaca shrine and the dead illegal immigrants.

All the pieces are in place and The Bridge features some interesting aspects to breathe some life into the tried and true genre. “Calaca” was more entertaining after the introductions from the pilot but it is clear The Bridge will stay at a fairly methodical pace. The Bridge doesn’t feature some of the more eye catching frills of the serial killer cop shows that premiered earlier this year but it could end up being the most rewarding of them all.