TBS' Angie Tribeca - Episode 4.09 "Irrational Treasures"
Atkins' family secret leads the team on a race across the country to beat Pierre Cardin in stealing the Louisiana Purchase.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. Premieres and finales may feature longer reviews. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of TBS' Angie Tribeca.
"Irrational Treasures" was written by Nathaniel Stein and directed by Ira Ungerleider
It's so surprising to see an episode of Angie Tribeca that barely features Angie Tribeca at all. She always has convenient excuses as to why she isn't going on these adventures with the rest of the team here. She has to clock out early for a dinner that also happens to go on for much longer than she expected. Meanwhile, she had her own plan for breaking into the National Archives to steal the Louisiana Purchase. That's what this entire season has been about as well. Perry and Scholls have been working with Pierre Cardin as the French diplomat in order to give the land back to the French. This episode actually points out just how terrible a deal this was for France. It was something carefully negotiated by Thomas Jefferson to expand the size of the United States. This country only continued to grow and become more powerful in global politics. Meanwhile, France has stayed the same size without the military to actually make a display to the world of its own strength. And now, Pierre is trying to change that. He sees the value of this deal. Moreover, it becomes clear that whomever has ownership of the actual piece of paper is the true benefactor of this arrangement. It doesn't matter that the specific terms on the paper say that the United States is buying the land from the French. Instead, it's just a race to break into the National Archives to steal this document before it can forever change the shape of the country. But again, Angie is surprisingly removed from this conflict. It's the story that exposes Perry and Pierre working together to destroy the country. It proves that she has been right all along. Instead, it's an adventure that sees Atkins taking over as the lead. He's the one who steps into the National Treasure role of solving clues to further unravel this complicated conspiracy. Sure, it's actually Scholls who connects all of the pieces together. She proves that she is smarter than anyone else. That may even include Charo who is observant in some regards but still oblivious in others. She wants to believe that she is now an effective team with AJ. And yet, he may actually be standing by his mother during this final showdown for control of the land. It's a lot of fun watching the team minus Angie embark on this globe-trotting adventure that somehow also includes the Roman empire. It's mostly just fun to see Pierre continually pop up in various disguises. The team is constantly confused by him too. They don't see him until it is too late. That leads to the hilarious running bit of Atkins just firing at anyone who happens to wander upon their investigation while unraveling the latest clue. He just happens to run out of ammo right when Pierre actually shows up. As such, Atkins increasingly feels defeated. He has been so resentful of this family burden because it has cursed the various members of his family. They have gone crazy trying to discover all of the pieces that could lead to a vast treasure. And now, he is the latest person to become obsessed with the mystery. In the end though, he and Charo surprisingly side with Perry and Pierre. That's unexpected. The audience knew that Scholls was working with Perry. And now, it seems like it is only Angie and AJ who can keep the world safe. It's mother and son fighting against a world that wants to convict them of yet another crime they didn't commit. That's a fascinating premise even though it takes a long time to actually get to that point. Plus, it's unclear what the fallout will be for those on the team who decide to side against Angie and AJ.
