Rubicon was created by Jason Horwitch but, as is often the case in the TV business, he was pushed out of showrunning duties fairly early on. This has led to a lot of critical speculation concerning just what elements of the series are the result of production notes and what's just the last remnant of Horwitch's original idea. I think (and strongly hope) that Ed Bancroft, Rubicon's requisite old conspiracy nut, is just such a remnant and that we won't be seeing much of him after "Connect the Dots". He's easily the most ridiculous, least interesting character on the show and every scene with him feels like it was pasted into the episode from a bad movie. Roger Robinson, who portrays Bancroft, isn't a bad actor, exactly, he's just a stage actor. Rubicon gets a lot more mileage out of the understated, subtext-driven performances of its principle cast than it ever will out of an exaggerated character like Ed. His wiggy speech in the middle of this episode was his worst moment yet, bad enough for me to wish that Will would find Ed's corpse before the hour was over. Alas, Ed Bancroft lives, though there's reason to believe he won't be a part of the series from now on. Robinson is listed as having a three-episode contract. If that proves true, then "Connect the Dots" is the last time we'll have to deal with his stupid rants and wild mannerisms.

I'm almost glad "Connect the Dots" came out like it did. Whereas "The Outsider" was Rubicon at its best, this week we were treated to prime examples of everything about this show that needs to either change or be cut outright. The scene between Will and Maggie is another thing I hope I never see on this show again. In between ridiculously long pauses, Will mutters needlessly vague things to Maggie (while standing way too close to her) and then the scene ends with absolutely nothing accomplished. What the hell was the purpose of that moment? It's little more than dramatic bullion, a condensed cube of serious facial expressions and pregnant pauses that might be interesting when mixed with actual plot but not on its own.

The stronger half of the episode found Tanya trying to convince first her team and then Spangler himself to concentrate their Russian arms dealer investigation on philanthropic mystery man George. It's her somewhat desperate bid to prove herself at API and a great way to develop her character. So far she's been little more than the quirky newcomer with a drinking problem. Now we have a better understanding of the stresses that lead Tanya to self-medicate and just how far past those same stresses everyone else at API has become in their time at the company. Bonus points for Will's "Good Fear vs. Bad Fear" pep talk framing his own decision to cut Ed out of the conspiracy investigation.

As for that conspiracy, the thing this show is supposed to be about, it looks like it has something to do with oil-rich countries, CIA assassins and code words from three decades ago. Maybe with fewer character distractions we can find out what all of this stuff means now.

Best Moment: Ingrim and his old CIA coworker/lover Donald Bloom eating together. Ingrim needs to be fleshed out more, so I'm glad we got to find out so much about his past (it's not all that surprising that he used to be a trained assassin).

Notes: On this week's episode of Depressed Nancy Drew, Nancy has an investment banking meeting and finds yet another convenient clue in a remnant of her dead husband's past. It still wasn't very interesting.

Episode Rating: 3/5- Minus a couple dead-weight characters and contrivances, Rubicon could be an awesome drama. At times it accomplishes this but it's still clearly dragged down by its lesser components.