Sleepless in Arcadia. Recap: Resurrection - “Insomnia”

Season 1, Episode 5

Air Date: Sunday, April 6, 2014, 9/8c on ABC

Rating: ★★★★★

“What makes you so sad now?” – Jacob

Meeting with Caleb

Agent Bellamy (Omar Epps) and Jacob (Landon Gimenez) are enjoying a quiet afternoon playing with toy army soldiers when suddenly real armed soldiers storm the house and take Jacob. As Bellamy goes after the boy, who is being stuffed into a vehicle, Jacob turns towards Bellamy and we realize it’s not Jacob after all, but a different boy (Kyle Beasley). Just then, Bellamy awakes, and we realize it was only a dream. Or was it?

Bellamy isn’t the only one having trouble sleeping; both Jacob and Pastor Tom (Mark Hildreth) are too. Who can blame them with what’s been happening — now three people in Arcadia have come back from the dead. Jacob is also worried about his own safety after learning that Caleb (Sam Hazeldine) was locked up, wondering whether someone could come and take him away like they did with Caleb.

Bellamy goes to the jail to confront Caleb and asks him what’s on everyone’s mind. “You get a second chance at life. And what do you do? You killed somebody, rob a bank, put another man in the hospital, throw it all away. For what?” It’s a compelling question but Caleb doesn’t seem interested in sharing an answer. How does Caleb seem to know what’s going on when Jacob and Rachael (Kathleen Munroe) seem oblivious as to why or how they came back from the dead? What is it between the two that allows Caleb and Jacob to sense each other?

Complicating matters, Caleb’s bank robbery has come to the attention of the FBI. Bellamy and Sheriff Langston (Matt Craven) realize if the FBI comes to town, and starts asking questions, they will learn about Jacob. The sheriff has Elaine’s (Samaire Armstrong) house searched figuring if the money is found, there would be no reason for the FBI to come to town.

Bellamy and Sheriff Langston

The search turns up nothing so the sheriff and Bellamy pay Caleb a visit. He tells them if the FBI takes him into custody, they will take Jacob too. I enjoyed the scenes between Bellamy and Sheriff Langston, particularly how their working relationship has evolved over the past few episodes. I laughed as Langston tells Bellamy, “As much as I enjoy your company, Agent Bellamy, I sure as hell don’t want 100 more of you crawling around my town.”

The mention of Jacob causes Bellamy to have a flashback involving the little boy he saw in his dream. We learn back when he was a cop, Bellamy escorted a kid approximately the same age as Jacob back to his family after testifying. When Bellamy dropped the child off, something felt wrong, and we later learn the kid was killed soon thereafter. I appreciate the writers wanting to create an event in Bellamy’s past that mirrors some of what he is going through with Jacob now, but they fail to connect the events on an emotional level for me.

Henry (Kurtwood Smith) comes to the realization that keeping his distance from Jacob not only hurts Jacob but his marriage as well. So he tells his wife Lucille (Francis Fisher) he wants to work on letting go “the Jacob we lost.” Throughout the season, Smith has given an outstanding performance as Henry struggles to understand what is going on. Watching Smith’s face is gut-wrenching as you can see and feel the emotions he is going through.

Elaine visiting her father in jail.

Hoping it will lead them to the money, Sheriff Langston allows Elaine to visit her father in jail. Caleb gives Elaine a clue to find the money in hopes she will keep it but instead, Elaine turns it over to Bellamy. It’s about time Elaine stands up for herself after repeatedly being used by her father. And, now that I think of it, where is Elaine’s brother Ray (Travis Young) during all of this? After all, he’s the one who suspected something was different with his father and that he was up to no good.

Bellamy goes to see Caleb and reveals that his own daughter betrayed him. Caleb suddenly appears sick and starts coughing. But, when Bellamy turns to get Caleb a glass of water, Caleb vanishes from his cell. Fearing the same will happen to Jacob, Bellamy races to check on him and is relieved to find him safe with his parents.

The mystery of the returned people is still holding my attention but the writers are starting to reach a point that finds me desiring less mystery and more answers. This especially rings true with Paster Tom who first learned his childhood best friend had returned from the dead in the beginning of the season. That raises some fascinating spiritual conflicts for Tom. Then, when Tom’s ex-fiancé Rachael (Kathleen Munroe) returns from the dead, it sets Tom up for an awkward conversation with his current wife Janine (Lori Beth Sikes) who has no idea Rachael even existed. To top it all off, we learn in “Insomnia” Rachael was pregnant when she died so now it looks like four people have returned from the dead. It seems like the writers are adding mystery upon mystery instead of focusing on good storytelling. Although this certainly relates to what Caleb tells Sheriff Langston and Bellamy in jail—“More are coming; more than you could ever imagine.”

So, the big questions are what do you think happened to Caleb, and will Jacob suddenly disappear as well?

Tweet me @staffaroadtrip or leave a comment below to let me know what you think about “Insomnia.”

Tune in to Resurrection on Sundays at 9/8c, only on ABC.

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Greg Staffa

I provide testosterone to the site. You won’t be reading about how nice a actress looks in a dress or how much of a hunk Matt Bomer is in my reviews. I describe colors using words like brown, not taupe. My twitter name is @staffaroadtrip because I love road trips and have done two different 48-state road trips since 2008. My favorite show is White Collar.