Allie Gonino

Two thirds of the way through its inaugural season, The Red Road is somewhat of a puzzle. It has interesting, well-explored characters and an appropriately teased slow-burn Deep Dark Past mystery. Where it falls down is its pacing and urgency- very little of interest is happening in the present. There’s plenty the characters don’t know but due to the split narrative approach, following each of our leads through the past several weeks rather than adhering to one or another’s POV, the audience has these answers and that, combined with the strong sense that the central trio is here to stay, leaves the show sputtering on a plot level while it excels with its character beats.

The Red Road continues this week with an entertaining, if not hugely memorable, table-setting episode. With only six episodes in the first season, there’s not much opportunity for multiple dramatic peaks and valleys, so it’s not surprising that episode three features some fallout from the characters’ various poor choices in episodes one and two and a few new touches, but no fireworks. These are presumably coming later, as we build towards the finale. As a middle episode, however, “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky” works well, expanding Phillip’s circle and focusing in a bit more on Rachel.