Here, the camera swoops and pans, adopting dramatic angles and moving through evocative cuts. And indeed, “Until You’re Blue” is about big, operatic passions, bringing the show’s understated melodramatic inclinations to the fore as each respective subplot reaches its requisite unraveling with great pomp and circumstance. Filmed with a shaky, handheld camera, it’s clear that the director wanted nothing more than to behold two actors laying themselves bare for the world to see. There are no dollies, no beautiful compositions or poignant light flares. Instead, the camera timidly follows the character’s every movement, as if ashamed to bear witness such a devastatingly intimate encounter. This is all acting, and it is one of the most masterfully executed scenes I have seen on television. Yet, for all the episode’s high emotion, “Until You’re Blue” also returns to the contemplative, existential aesthetic that had been diluted over the last season as Rectify struggled to find its new identity. The recurring visual motif of doors and windows that so defined the series’ early episodes are here back as a defining stylistic trope. Much like Daniel’s death-row cell, they are isolating compartments that underscore the profound solitude and isolation of each individual despite their apparent proximity. At one moment or another, each character is seen this way by DP Paul M. Sommers’ sensitive eye, whether it is Momma Holden glimpsed through a crack in the door, Daniel and Amantha viewed at a distance with a violently angled dollar-store window frame between them, or Ted and Ted Jr. struggling with their anguished consciences as a physical and metaphorical tire store wall separates one from the other. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all news updates related to the world of geek. And Google+, if that’s your thing!
