Written by Our Lady J And Manny Coto
Directed by Paris Barclay
Gino: "This is our freedom. This is our way out. This is our pride. This is our sentinel."
Well, this episode almost felt like a finale. Only then I realised there are three remaining episodes left and a few other threads that need to be tied up. Still though, the Mai Tai Killer's story had to come to an end and in this show's style, there was no way he was simply going to end up in a prison cell.
For all of Mr Whitely's protestations that he was largely motivated by giving gay men a voice with his murders and plans for his own live sentinel, the guy was sick sadist through and through. In this episode as part of his final act, he popped off one of Henry's ears and saw a nobility in Patrick. A nobility that involved wanting to take his heart.
Yup, Patrick spent a good portion bound and gagged to a table listening to Whitely's final lament, leaving it up to both Gino and Henry to free themselves in the other room, rescue Patrick and get one over on Whitely. However it was Patrick who actually went ahead and shot Whitely point blank in the head and ended the killer on the spot.
Now this episode was short and we didn't even reach the halfway point before Whitely was taken out of the equation. Death wise, it was quick and clean and probably far more merciful than Whitely deserved. Again, kudos to Jeff Hiller for a killer final performance in the season. As for the Sentinel, aside from one imaginary sequence, the thing did not actually come to life.
However with the Mai Tai killer well and truly dead, the focus now has pivoted towards Big Daddy and a killer disease with convoluted symptoms. Hannah definitely seems to have been struck by it the worst given the vomiting and refusal to go to Fire Island with Adam. Patrick also clearly seems to be in the grips of it as well, given that he's now seeing Barbara in the street.
As for Gino, I'm not sure why he's skeptical of Adam wanting to investigate Big Daddy/the disease but I'm glad the latter wouldn't let the issue drop. I had forgotten about Sully from earlier in the season but given that he wasn't a part of the Mai Tai killings and Adam resumed his search for him, I think it's safe to assume we'll learn exactly what happened to Sully soon enough. Gino's op Ed monologue was a quietly chilling way to close out the episode.
- I'm not surprised that Henry has the hots for Gino. The previous episode was pretty blatant about it. Could've done without seeing Henry chop off his hand to free himself though.
- Hannah and Adam's symptoms are viral but KK's (Fran's girlfriend?) are bacterial. She looked uncomfortable during that scene in the diner.
- It was confirmed or at least speculated that Whitely murdered seven men for his sentinel. Patrick hallucinated seeing them before he shot Whitely.
- There was a few flashbacks to events in earlier episodes during Gino's final scene.
- No Theo or Kathy in this episode and we saw Sam indulge in another drug fuelled party.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.
The Sentinel was definitely the shortest episode but it did a good job in wrapping up the Mai Tai killer plot rather well while also highlighting the continued dangers out there for the main characters. Great performances from both Jeff Hiller and Russell Tovey.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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