Note: Major spoilers for the fourth episode of the 11.22.63 mini-series, you have been warned.
I want to preface this review with how further impressed I am with this series the further along it goes. I was very skeptical coming into the series, as I noted in my first post for the first episode, but so far I think this is one of best, if not the best, adaptation of a Stephen King book into media, whether that be a movie or a television show. This also gives me hope for The Dark Tower, another Stephen King book (set of seven books actually), which is about to go into production. I have been waiting for that adaptation for years, as I feel that The Dark Tower is Stephen King's best work, and it has been talked about for years. The movie is supposed to come out early next year, and it will be starring Idris Elba and Matthew Mcconaughey. But I digress, on to the fourth episode of the 11.22.63 mini-series.
The episode starts off with Lee Harvey Oswald timing how fast he can put together his rifle. This of course just furthers the development of the character as a little unhinged, especially when he later tells George that he intends to use the rifle to hunt fascists. This leads to the taking of one of the most famous pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald, standing in his backyard holding the newspaper and his rifle, which they recreated for the show. We also see that Bill and Jake have moved into the apartment below the Oswald's, as it gives them more opportunities to spy on them and George when he comes to visit. We also get to see that Bill appears to be developing a crush on Oswald's wife, Marina.
Jake goes back to the school and sees Sadie playing the piano. He sits down beside her and kisses her, telling her not to worry, everyone has already left. Being proven wrong, the principal walks in on them and asks to talk to Jake. He tells Jake that he has a duty to be a little more discreet and gives Jake a card with the name of a hotel where he can take Sadie without being seen by the other faculty and the children.
When Jake gets back to the apartment, Bill shows Jake a tape where Oswald is talking about wanting to see a message, and talking about Governor Walker, and then George says he has some powerful friends that he wants Oswald to meet. Jake says that the powerful friends must be the CIA, and they are then going to get Oswald to assassinate the governor. A knock comes at the door, and Jake answers it to find Ms. Mimi standing there, and she calls him by his real name of Jake Epping instead of Amberson. Jake explains to Mimi that he is in witness protection because he turned over evidence against the mob. She seems to take this excuse, but tells him he should be careful keeping secrets from those he cares for.
Taking Mimi's advice, Jake asks Sadie to go to the hotel mentioned earlier, and she meets him there for a romantic evening. The next day, he is about to tell her the truth, or at least part of the truth, when he sees an envelope sitting on the counter. He looks at it and it's pictures of him and Sadie from the night before, so he decides not to tell her after all. He thinks the CIA is now on to him, so he goes to see Bill and tell him.
Before Jake gets back, Bill has gone out and talked to Marina, returning a baby doll that he found on the ground. She thanks him and it becomes much more apparent that Bill has a huge crush on her and feels bad for her, considering who she is married to. After Jake arrives, Bill tells him that Oswald and George have gone out, so they follow them to a secret brothel. They go inside, and Jake tries to find Oswald and George so he can spy on them, but the cops show up and arrest Bill and Jake.
Principal Deke bails the two men out, but he is very upset with Jake. He then tells Jake that he is going to have to return to the school, because he has a class to teach, so they drop Bill off and head back to the school. At the school, it appears that Ms. Mimi is getting really sick, as she keeps coughing, but this doesn't get addressed any further as Jake see Sadie talking to her husband, Clayton. After the husband leaves, Jake goes to talk to her and she says that Clayton won't give her the divorce, and then talks about some of the abuse she has taken from Clayton. She then drives off saying that she is sorry that she ruined everything.
Bill shows up at the school and says Oswald and George are supposed to have a meeting later today. Jake follows George while Bill stays behind and spies on Oswald and Marina. As he listens in, the couple begin getting intimate, and Bill gets furious, throwing his headphones off. Jake follows George, but can't get close enough to figure out what is going on. He turns to leave and runs into Clayton, who says that he took the pictures Jake found. Jake threatens Clayton and tells him to give Sadie the divorce. He then tells him some of the personal things that Sadie had told him earlier, and Clayton looks embarrassed and dejected, so he agrees to give the divorce and leaves.
Jake takes some flowers to Sadie and tells her that she didn't ruin anything. She appears to be happy that Jake doesn't think lesser of her, but we see someone watching the two of them, even though we don't know who it is. I'm guessing it's Clayton, as I don't think he would give up so easily, but guess we will find out later. Jake then goes back to the apartment, and Bill is ticked off, and they hear the Oswald's fighting upstairs. Bill wants to go confront Oswald, but Jake stops him from interfering. Bill later finds Marina on the fire escape and gives her a cigarette.
Back at the school, Ms. Mimi is out sick and Deke is very angry when Jake asks. It appears that they may have some sort of relationship going on, and that something is seriously wrong with Mimi. Jake leaves and goes back to the apartment and apologizes to Bill, telling him that he needs him if they are going to succeed. Bill agrees and they appear to be made up.
Sadie comes to visit Jake and brings him some baked goods. As she comes into the house, we see someone leaving in the shadows behind her, but we don't see who it is. Not sure on this one, could maybe be Clayton or maybe even the yellow card man from the first episode, as I have always thought there was more to that guy than they let on. Either way, Sadie goes downstairs and finds the recording of the Oswald's getting intimate. Jake comes home and finds Sadie, and she asks him, "Who are you," as the episode ends.
There was a ton of stuff going on in this episode, and I thought everything played out really well. They really crammed a lot into this episode, and I felt like it just bounced from one scene to the next at a good pace and kept my interest the whole way through. There are so many things going on, and so many possibilities, I'm starting to wonder just how they are going to wrap everything up in the remaining four episodes of the mini-series, but that also makes me think that with so much going on, they next four episodes will be crammed full just like this episode was. And with the way things are headed so far, I have absolutely no problem with.
My rating for the episode is 8/10
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