Pop Culture Decoder: The Catch

Misty Harris uses her forensic skills and pop culture instincts to dissect the new trailer for Shonda Rhimes’ new show featuring Mireille Enos as a feisty fraud investigator

By Misty Harris

In the bloody wake of McDreamy, whose death left a hole in our hearts and in the men’s haircare market, a nation comes together to ask: Can we learn to love Shonda Rhimes again? If the trailer for her upcoming drama The Catch is any indication, the answer is yes. Big yes. Yes on a Post-It yes.

Here’s what ABC is telling us about Shondaland’s latest: “This thriller centres on the strong, successful Alice Martin (Mireille Enos). She’s a fraud investigator who’s about to be the victim of fraud by her fiancé. Between her cases, she is determined to find him before it ruins her career.”

Ok, kind of a dull description; I’ve had bathroom breaks that were more compelling. But the slick trailer suggests there’s more to this show than White Olivia Pope™ risking (gasp!) unemployment. In the words of 2 Live Crew, let me break it on down:

“From the executive producers of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder.” ABC doesn’t hold back its trump card. The last few seasons of Grey’s notwithstanding, this TV trifecta is as solid a small-screen résumé as you get. The network is telling us to tune-in with confidence – albeit in a font designed to evoke deception. THE MIND GAMES BEGIN!

After the most glamourous air-travel scene since Catch Me if You Can – and the best shoe porn since The Devil Wears Prada – we meet one of Alice’s minions, who is “completely intimidated” by her boss. Why? Alice is “amazing” at her job and has an “incredible fiancé.” (If only Voldemort knew intimidation was as simple as having a solid LinkedIn profile and some arm-candy, things might’ve turned out differently for James and Lily). Cue enviable lifestyle images, power lipstick, and sexy sex.

The hot fiancé, Kieran, gazes endearingly at Alice, asking if she knows how much he loves her. Admittedly, I thought this was foreshadowing that he was going to go the way of McDreamy. But no, his swipe-right looks and reassuring words portend something far more sinister…

Kieran cleaned her out! Worse than that, actually, he spared her $143 (the con-man equivalent of leaving a one-cent tip at a restaurant). Clearly, we’re dealing with a monster – and I am all in.

Somewhere in upper-middleclass suburbia, Kieran reunites with a woman who appears to be either his partner, his lover or a spokemodel for Supercuts (lovely to see you again, One Tree Hill’s Bethany Joy Lenz!). And back on the homefront, Alice caresses Kieran’s shirts, perhaps hoping some spare change will shake from one of the pockets.

“You don’t realize how much you want the truth until it’s the only thing you need,” says Alice, in a forced soundbite presumably written by the same team that brought us that Brad Pitt Chanel ad.

This woman MEANS BUSINESS. You can tell from the tornado of clothes, smashing of windows, and whispered threats to a small dog (I really hope she gave that dog a safe word). And lest we assume Alice isn’t the badass her minions think she is, the trailer’s titles pose the question: “Who’s conning who?” In other words, could there be more to this fraud investigator than Taylor Swift lips and a weak banking password? Personally, I can’t wait to find out.

@popcultini

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