The story here is solid enough: a mystery involving Hebrew mysticism and artificial intelligence, making for one of the more unusual television plots I've seen in some time. But this is not the reason I've rated this episode a ten.
This episode is really about romance. Raphaelle has been seeing Mathias Forest, a prosecutor of dubious morals with whom she'd had a relationship some fifteen years prior, but she's not happy. He has made it clear they're not a "couple" and she's beginning to notice this isn't what she wants. Meanwhile Astrid is starting to become attracted to Tetsuo, which is a huge advance for her, given she's autistic and folks who are autistic can find relationships terrifying.
"Golem" deftly depicts the dichotomy between Raphaelle's situation and Astrid's. One of the hallmarks of a great series is the depth of the characters, and while the ancillary characters (like Nick, Arthur and the Commissioner) haven't been fleshed out as well, our two main characters are three-dimensional and very appealing. I find that I regard these two as people by this point, and I can't wait to see what happens to them next.
This episode is really about romance. Raphaelle has been seeing Mathias Forest, a prosecutor of dubious morals with whom she'd had a relationship some fifteen years prior, but she's not happy. He has made it clear they're not a "couple" and she's beginning to notice this isn't what she wants. Meanwhile Astrid is starting to become attracted to Tetsuo, which is a huge advance for her, given she's autistic and folks who are autistic can find relationships terrifying.
"Golem" deftly depicts the dichotomy between Raphaelle's situation and Astrid's. One of the hallmarks of a great series is the depth of the characters, and while the ancillary characters (like Nick, Arthur and the Commissioner) haven't been fleshed out as well, our two main characters are three-dimensional and very appealing. I find that I regard these two as people by this point, and I can't wait to see what happens to them next.
