Certain TV conventions have a tendency to render the shows in which they appear too predictable. One such convention is the "interrogate everybody" episode. Some shows find a way to make this contrivance interesting, taking the opportunity to flesh out characters or tell the same story from multiple angles. Other shows just use it as a lazy way to reveal shocking twists and break up the status quo. This episode of Rubicon did a decent enough job with the company-wide polygraph test conceit, it just wasn't as varied and intense as it could have been.

At the beginning of an otherwise routine day, the FBI shows up in full force at API looking for a suspected information leak. Stuck in conference rooms, the cafeteria and other neutral spaces, all API employees are subjected to a polygraph test to determine who, if anyone, is giving out classified information. In the chaos, Will manages to sneak some important information about David's death and the big conspiracy of the show. In between the long-arc stuff, many of the recurring characters on Rubicon get the lie detector treatment.

The problem with how this plays out is that we don't really learn many new things about those characters and the little bit of novel information that comes out of the polygraphs is delivered in pretty unbelievable ways. During Will's interview the polygrapher just up and tells him that David was once investigated by the FBI. This episode is full of examples of FBI agents being staunch and cagey, yet one of them decides to drop some potentially sensitive information into a casual conversation? That doesn't quite fit. It's also disappointing that the episode spent so much time convincing us that Grant is the type of guy who would cheat on his wife but didn't give us a glimpse into the tests for either Spangler or Maggie. As I've said before, I don't think anyone is tuning into Rubicon for mundane drama. We haven't been given reason enough to believe that Grant's happiness or lack thereof has any bearing on the espionage or even how he relates to the show's protagonist. So what if he isn't satisfied at home?

More interesting was Will's clandestine dig through Spangler's files. He discovered that both he and David were being investigated by API just prior to David's death and that Ed (may he never appear in this show again) was well aware that some dangerous business was going on at the time. Will also notices a paperweight on Spangler's desk from Atlas McDowell, the organization that seems pretty likely to be the front for the conspiracy. There's also some business surrounding a bug in David's old owl statue. It disappears and reappears before the FBI leave the office, meaning either someone at API protected it from the FBI sweeps or possibly (but less likely) the FBI itself planted the bug.

As for the company leak, it turned out to be a financial analyst who used his work info to commit some kind of fraud. Of course it was going to be some misleading minor character. Rubicon couldn't handle the weight of a big-time mole.

Best Moment: Pretty much anything with Kale. The guy is a font of great lines and excellent delivery.

Notes: Tanya may be hiding a lot about her life. She even failed the sections of the polygraph used as a control, like her name. Also, API stands for American Policy Institute. Glad we got that out of the way.

Episode Rating: 3.5/5- None of this episode was bad, exactly, it just wasn't very interesting. Most of the polygraphs were reiterations of things we already know about these characters and there were the aforementioned contrivances. As for Depressed Nancy Drew, she spent another week almost doing something and then deciding against it. She's not even interesting when people are breaking into her house.