"I'm sorry I ever met him."
That quote is what Our Howard said in reply to a question that Baldwin, the assassin sent by Their Side, to kill his wife who lies, helpless, on life support, in hospital. Baldwin asked Our Howard, "What do you think of [the other Howard]?" I am no longer calling Our Earth's Howard milquetoast Howard. He is kind-hearted Howard. The Other Earth Howard is still badass Howard, or maybe hard-hearted Howard. The character of kind-hearted Howard is growing by leaps and bounds, and, with the third episode, gave us a glimpse of a quiet but enduring strength that may beyond that of which Badass is capable. It saved his life, and Aldrich's. I've raved about the casting. Now I'm going to rave about the developing narrative and the writing. Badass had me in actual howling, applauding stitches several times in his scene where a team from his own side tries to interrogate him in an Embassy on Our Side. Simmons continues to impress by inhabiting two completely different characters right in front of our eyes. And the narrative development . . . ! I am not going to spoil anything, but the fleshing-out of Emily, Howard's wife on both earths, is fascinating and, perhaps even more important, an extremely rare combination of completely unexpected (to me, at least) and unforced. I can't wait to see what happens next.
As I watched Episode 3, I asked myself what genre is this? Science Fiction? Spy? Thriller? Mystery? The best answer that I could summon was the most simple. It is all of the above, but, above all, it is just Damned Good Drama. No androids, no dragons, no serial killers with good intentions, no mobsters; just, at the end of the day, Damned Good Drama.