In Plain Sight
We begin episode 6 of The Hardy Boys with Jesse continuing to interview the Tall Man about his past, including the incident on the plane. She wants to know what he’s doing in Bridgeport but he refuses to give anything up, eventually deciding to have a nap instead. This brings Jesse back to Ezra who reveals he has nothing on the Tall Man but he’ll be picked up by the higher authorities in 12 hours so he’ll be out their hair soon. Only, this soon is sooner than they think given the Tall Man has vanished and in his stead, a stack of pillows are hidden under the blanket. Back home, Gloria happens to be with Trudy and perks up when the boys show. Frank has a test for Rosegrave Prep and invites him over to take part in that later in the day. Frank meanwhile is not so sure this is a good idea. Still, Trudy seems to think it is and so do all the other residents whom he talks to while working at Wilt’s. Joe meanwhile sets out to uncover the truth behind the scraps of fabric. Biff teams up and tasks him with heading to the tailors to get it examined. It turns out the fabric is over 10 years old. It’s from an overcoat too but more specifically, a uniform manufacturer. This could belong to a police officer. So it turns out Fenton is still alive and he’s currently on the hunt. He takes numerous pictures of a complex from afar but winds up caught at gunpoint by armed guards. After being knocked out, Fenton awakens and refuses to divulge much. However, he does learn that these men too are after Rupert Khan. Fenton soon breaks out though and grabs a motorcycle that’s parked up nearby. He hops onboard and drives off. Jesse returns to Trudy and breaks the bad news that the Tall Man has escaped. Eventually he finds Joe and Biff in the street after stealing a car and chasing after them both. How did he get a car? How has he not been caught given he’s out in the open? Anyway, he chases after them down an alleyway but the kids manage to get away, hiding the artifact in a movie theatre playing black and white films. Around all of this are various scenes of Frank taking part in Rosegrave’s exam process with the other “elites”, including Callie who’s also there. The scores are tallied up at the end and it turns out Callie and Frank are the only ones who have moved on to the final round. They’re congratulated by Dean Paul McFarlane, a man who happens to be in charge of running these exams, before immediately thrust into the final. With the doors locked, they’re given 15 minutes to try and find a way out the room. Anyway, they soon crack the puzzle but Frank notices a book with our familiar symbol. Holding that back clicks a secret compartment behind with a gold emblem of the symbol on the wall. Eventually Frank opens the door and the pair learn they’ve both passed. Paul takes Frank aside and tells him that Laura also passed this test with flying colours given she was always thinking. Back in the room, Kanika Khan returns to Gloria and asks her whether she has “it”. Gloria believes that the Tall Man is working for her and warns against hurting her family again. Given there’s “another party” to be considered, their conversation is very cryptic and seems to hint at something else going on here. Joe and Frank believe that their Grandmother is part of all this and it could tie in to the school as well. Looking through the year book, they even throw in the name of her high school sweetheart, Paul McFarlane, into the mix. Fenton eventually rings his kids and they excitedly feed back what they’ve found out so far. He warns the kids to be careful after they divulge that Gloria could be involved too. He wants them to promise not to look into things but it’s obvious they’re most definitely are not going to give up that easily. Meanwhile, Police Chief Ezra shows up at Gloria’s and tells her that the man on the boat has escaped. As her expression narrows, she tells him this is bad news for everyone.
The Episode Review
The whole Rosegrave exam part of this episode completely dragged out the main plot and could have easily been condensed down. This dragging out is something this entire season has struggled with and the show is definitely starting to feel quite fatigued. There’s so many moments in here that feel like they could have been chopped in the editing room. Fenton’s big daring escape is one such example, with the entire scene dragged out and not really telling us anything we didn’t already know. There’s moments like this that feel like pockets of drama to spice things up but ultimately just unnecessarily complicate a story that isn’t really that complicated. And that’s before mentioning the Tall Man just rocking up in town and wandering around after escaping from jail. Surely the officers would be out looking for him? Anyway, I know this show is for families so some liberties definitely need to be made with logical inconsistencies like this. Still, it is a little distracting. One thing’s for sure though, this school is very clearly involved in some way. How far does this conspiracy run? I’m sure we’ll find out sooner rather than later!
