Carter - 1x09 - Motherly Love

This is the ninth episode of the first season hand has 73 pages, just seven pages short of being a two-parter.

<- 1x08 - DNA                                                             -> 1x10 & 1x11 - Kidnapped

Headline
The agents find Adam's biological mother but she doesn't intend to cooperate but instead, she has her own agenda...

New Characters
Only one new character in his episode.

Vanessa Carter played by Sarah Wayne Callies

Episode Summary
Two weeks after the events of the last episode, Russell is out with Adam (with fellow agents everywhere of course), as Adam complains about the lack of progress in the case.

Inside the FBI, Cole is frustrated about the case, taking to Bradley, while Simmons is still working on the DNA results, thinking he found something that's worth checking out. He ultimately figures out that  the senator and Adam are not father and son, but are still related. They're uncle and nephew and the only possible relative for Adam then is the senator's sister Vanessa. She's Adam's mother.

Sidney gets home late in the night after spending the evening with Jack and the two talk about how Jay and Cole are now getting along better.

Simmons and Russell pay Vanessa Carter a visit. She's living in a run-down apartment and works as a stripper, having nothing to do with her family anymore. Though she denies having any special kind of relationship to any of the kids, she doesn't deny being Adam's mother when Simmons confronts her with it. Reluctantly, she goes back to the office with them.

Bradley and Cole talk to Adam in the interrogation room and also confront him with the results. It turns out Adam knew all along that he was not really the child of Jeffrey and Claudia Carter.

Devon and Kaily wake up next to each other and when the topic of Adam comes up, Devon asks if she had this kind of relationship with him as well. Kaily thinks it's more fun to let him wonder than to actually answer the question.

In the FBI building, Simmons talks to Vanessa Carter, asking her about who Adam's father is. She claims that she never knew, but she's obviously lying. Russell then shows up, handing Simmons an envelope that was sent anonymously. Simmons opens it, finding a flash drive with a video on it. On that video, a female assalin, taking out an entire crew of bank robbers. This assalin leaves a finger print and Simmons immediately rushes out to that location, planning to check it out.

Emily keeps conspiring, hiding her plans in the apartment, keeping taps on Liam Stewart and talking to the dirty Carter on her cell when no one's around.

We see Warner and Joshua talking. Joshua already figured out that Sidney was sent into the Carter house to find out who killed Richard Stewart. He plans on getting closer to the case, but Warner forbids it because it's too dangerous.

Vanessa pays her brother a visit, practically blackmailing her way into the mansion. She wants to move in, in return, she doesn't tell the FBI about Jeffrey's corruption. Downstairs, Devon and Kaily talk about Shawn and Devon lets the fact that he knows Shawn was murdered slip, without telling Kaily how, rather heading out again.

Simmons checks out the location from the video and does indeed find the finger print on the wall, calling crime scene invesigation agents over.

Sidney and Jack have a romantic dinner before they sleep together.

Emily's cover is finally blown when Simmons gets home to her and gets a phone call about the fingerprint match. The two have a big fight but Emily ultimately gets away. Russell gets to the scene shortly after, showing Simmons the positive side of this. At least they now know who Adam's working with.

Sidney comes home and only finds Grace still watching tv, while Cole and Jay are still out. Sidney heads up to her room, intending to sleep, but she then hears a scream from downstairs. She runs down, seeing Emily take Grace by force, dragging her out. Sidney wants to follow but is knocked out by a mysterious masked person with a knife.

Critical Reception
The show really made a few huge steps in this episode. The pacing was right and the plot twists were powerful. The introduction of Adam's biological mother makes things more interesting and the fact that Emily's cover got blown turns everything into a whole new direction. With the shocking cliffhanger at the end, we are undoubtedly on our way to a terrific season finale.

Notes & Trivia
By now, Adam already spent more time in an interorgation room than any other character in any other Woltvision show.

Bolton sent Simmons the video with Emily taking out the crew, that much is obvious. We never learned how he acquired that video though.

Memorable Qoutes:

Simmons comes into Cole's office, having news about the DNA results.

Simmons: " You're not gonna believe this, I was right all the time."

Cole: " You're right...that is hard to believe."

---

Cole wants to confront Adam with the fact that Jeffrey and Claudia Carter are not his biological parents.

Cole: " Your dad's former wife, that's an odd thing to call your mom, right? Or don't you think she's your actual mom?"

Adam: " Is that a question or is that already the answer?"

---

'' Sidney comes home from a school event, finding Jay and Grace in the living room. ''

Jay: " Sid, speaking of the devil, where are you coming from?"

Sidney: " School."

Jay: " It's Saturday."

Sidney: " Thank you very much for pointing that out. That fact made our stupid event even stupider."

Grace: " Well, seeing what comparative form of the word ´stupid´ you used, I assume it wasn't that successful."

Jay: " Touché."