AGAINST THE WALL “Memories We Fear” Season 1 Episode 8 – One of the things I appreciate about Against the Wall is how it puts a spotlight on the less discussed areas of law enforcement. In “Memories We Fear,” the story revolves around a troubled crime scene photographer. Because in the real world, criminalists don’t take their own pictures. Sorry, CSI. You know I still love you.
Abby and Lina are called to a murder scene after the department’s creepiest photographer, Lucas, punches one of the detectives. But what was supposed to be a simple case of inter-department assault quickly escalates as our girls establish that Lucas knew the victim at the scene and then find some disturbing photos of dead women in Lucas’s portfolio. Could he be a murderer or is he just a depressed, lonely alcoholic with post-traumatic stress after years of capturing horrible images on film?
True to form, Abby thinks he’s the latter, so much so that when Lucas holes up in a church with a loaded gun, ready to shoot himself because he can’t remember if he did kill the woman in question (he didn’t; she was stabbed by her boyfriend), Abby puts herself in the line of fire in order to convince Lucas to give his life a second chance.
I’m not an expert in hostage situations, but I’m not sure this even qualifies as one. Lucas never points the gun at Abby, only at himself. But just being alone in a church with an armed suspect is enough to call out the SWAT team and every other police officer to whom Abby is related. Which is most of them. Big family. They’re all on hand when Abby tackles Lucas and narrowly avoids getting shot.
The real killer is caught, Lucas gets the help he needs and Abby reunites him with his long-lost son. All in a day’s work for the prettiest Kowalski.
But because she is Abby (and has to have something to obsess over), she spends a lot of the episode digging into the memory of a Christmas where the Kowalski kids received no presents because, as it turns out, their father stayed in bed for three days after failing to save the life of an accident victim on Christmas Eve. Huh. The more we learn about Daddy Don, the less he seems like the jerk who stopped speaking to his daughter when she joined IA. I can’t tell if this is character growth or inconsistency.
On the other hand, in a nice bit of continuity, Mama Kowalski is forging ahead with her plan to open her own bakery with the help of Abby’s so-called BFF. Remember? From the first couple of episodes? It was good to see that the Against the Wall writers didn’t forget about her entirely. Now if only her two lovers, especially Brody who seems to have dropped off the map, would make appearances again. Girl needs to get laid before she uncovers more family secrets than she already has.
What did you think of the episode? Crime scene photography: creepy or a perfect shoot for America’s Next Top Model? (Wait, they already did that…) What are the odds that Abby will be offered a homicide position by the end of the season and have to choose between it and IA? Let me know below!
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