Season 1 | Episode 6 | “The Norseman” | Aired Oct 29, 2015

Early on in this week’s episode of The Player, Mr. Johnson (Wesley Snipes) declares that this serial killer offends him. That apparently means showing up at the end, delivering a beatdown, and then severing some body parts to keep with the theme. Let’s never offend Mr. Johnson.

Seriously, though, there are a lot of things to be gleaned from his fourth-act rescue. With normal hero Alex (Philip Winchester) having taken a hard hit from the Norseman (Patrick Brennan of The Last Ship) while trying to protect his niece, Mr. Johnson casually arrives and gives his player the rest of the morning off. Once he’s alone with the murderer, Johnson proceeds to tenderize him with a series of swift attacks before strangling him to death with some rope and—mercifully off-screen—severing his head and hands so that Detective Cal Brown (Damon Gupton) can find the killer’s pieces the same way that the Norseman left his victims.

If you missed any of his smackdown, here it is again:

Even after all that, Johnson still has time to drop in on snooping FBI agent Rose Nolan (KaDee Strickland from Private Practice) for a casual threat, and then once again walks into Alex’s apartment to deliver the latest on Alex’s not-dead ex-wife Ginny. He’s not only brutal, but he’s also remarkably efficient—and this week he left fans some interesting clues.

First, how did he get to the Norseman’s lair, and why was he there? Johnson likely tracked Alex based on either his last known location or a potential distress signal (as Alex was seen pushing a button on his watch just after taking a very painful fall). But why he decided to play hero this week has all sorts of interpretations. It could be as simple as that first-act hint: He doesn’t like this guy (or actually the guy’s brother, as the Norseman the audience met was revealed to be the second one) and wanted to have the pleasure of dispatching him personally. Hey, Johnson had a bad day—what with being unable to have Agent Nolan shipped to Abu Dhabi—and maybe he just felt like strangling a guy.

But he could’ve done it for other reasons too. Saving Alex is just good business. The new Player is a hit with the gamblers, as Johnson’s old friend Judge Letts (Richard Roundtree; yep, this show has Shaft!) told him earlier in the episode. It would be unfortunate if he got bumped off so soon, and then the House would just have to put time and effort into finding a replacement. The much smarter thing for Johnson to do is protect his investment, and he gets karma points for saving Alex’s 15-year-old niece besides. He probably needs those karma points, considering some of the stuff he’s done.

And it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Johnson shows up out of the goodness of his heart. He’s no Mother Teresa, let’s be clear, but nobody said he was the devil. Maybe he’s just grown to sort of like Alex and he decided to step in because the guy deserved better than getting pummeled by someone who looked like he got kicked out of Dethklok from Metalocalypse. Unlikely, yes … but also important, because the audience can’t quite rule it out, which means we can’t quite entirely hate Johnson either. It might be a 1 percent chance, but that 1 percent is enough to keep us wondering about this man and his true motivations.

Mr. Johnson is The Player‘s most ambiguous character, and it’s probably better for the show that he stays that way. If next week we found out that his first name is Dave, that’d take away some of the coolness, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t think of him as Mr. Johnson anymore; you’d just think of him as Dave. But this scene demonstrates that the series can tell us a lot about Johnson without necessarily revealing specific facts about him. We’ve learned that there are times where he will do legitimately good things, even if probably not for pure reasons. After all, he’s helping Alex find Ginny, though you’d better believe he’s getting something out of it.

We also learn a little more about the principles under which he operates. Johnson has no problem getting his hands dirty all over the place, but this is a particularly interesting set of circumstances. He’s directly stepping into Alex’s situation, but as he points out, it’s after the conclusion of the bet (which had expired at midnight). So if Alex had gotten clocked 15 minutes earlier, would we be looking at a different outcome? Or are there ever any situations where Johnson would come to the rescue again? Was he waiting for the rules of the game to enable him to be there, or might he break one of those rules someday? More food for thought from a show that’s a buffet of ideas.

But honestly, you can’t go wrong with any scene that allows Wesley Snipes to be Wesley Snipes. In fact, if somebody isn’t going as Mr. Johnson for Halloween tomorrow, it would be a letdown. From the moment Snipes was cast, we all expected this character to be super-cool, and he absolutely is incredibly cool. The fact that he saved the day is just an extra multilayered bonus.

The Playerairs Thursdays at 10/9C on NBC.

Season 6 | Episode 5 | “Joe and Kaylin Return” | Aired Oct 28, 2015

The Couples Therapy producer who came up with the idea to have the cast call each other out on their crap is my new favorite person. Janice Dickinson and her seizure-panic-attack-shenanigans win reality TV this week.

While the rest of the couples are waiting on Joe and Kaylin to come back, they have to find other ways to fill their gossip quota. For one, Janice plants the seed with Adrian that Joe was disrespectful about Carmen and was asking some pretty inappropriate questions about the sexual mechanics of their relationship. Without Joe there to dispel the rumors, Adrian starts a rage spiral that only builds throughout the episode.

Thankfully, he sets aside his anger long enough to participate in group, and the sole purpose of the session is to call other people out on their emotional crap. This was the juiciest bit of television I’ve watched all week.

It’s so rare to see characters on a reality show air their beefs so openly, so when they are tasked to write down the cast member who has the most work to do and then confront that cast member with an explanation, I just sit back, sip my tea, and sigh with happiness.

Carmen went first, and her pick for “needs most improvement” is Ang. Carmen was gentle and compassionate and didn’t really cause that much animosity from Ang and Neil. She did however, manage to squeeze some tears out of Ang, and it seems like Ang’s heart grew four sizes right there on the couch.

Janice, on the other hand, didn’t take Jaclyn’s criticism as gracefully and wound up a sniveling mess on the verge of a full-on breakdown. When Jaclyn begins to call Janice out on her insensitivity and her distracting ways, Janice surprises the group (or maybe they’re more annoyed than surprised) by playing the helpless victim this time. She pleads with Dr. Jenn and Rocky to, “Help me find my serenity. Help me.”

Dr. Jenn is no dummy, and doesn’t immediately back off, so Janice changes tactics. She storms out “for a cigarette” and proceeds to hyperventilate out on the patio, leaving everyone in the session shaking their heads.

Once she’s gone, Rocky has a chance to speak, but he’s too shell-shocked to move his lips. When he finally does muster the nerve, it’s just to confirm what everyone else is thinking: Janice didn’t hear anything they were saying. It’s a three-ring Janice-circus at this point.

Meanwhile, out on the patio, Janice barks at Dr. Mike about putting ice on her wrists, overpowering his soothing tone and calming techniques, but it takes Dr. Jenn’s intervention to finally bring her back from the brink. It’s apparent that Janice is the victim of her own inner-dialogue and self-talk, but it’s also pretty clear that she really likes to be the center of attention.

Even when Kaylin comes back, Janice inserts herself into almost every scene with her. Janice shares her story about her childhood abuse with Kaylin and nominates herself as Kaylin’s advocate, which Kaylin doesn’t seem so crazy about.

As the time gets closer for Joe to come back, Kaylin is talking a lot of smack about him. She doesn’t seem all that interested in reconciling, which seems sort of counterintuitive to the whole “couples therapy” theme.

Now that Joe is back, and Kaylin has decided she deserves better, what will their dynamic be like? Kaylin talks a big game when Joe’s not around, but how much of her story is for real? Joe seems incredulous when Janice questions him about the three incidents of domestic abuse, but Kaylin is convinced.

I hope that Kaylin can find a way to stand up to Joe, and that he can get the help he needs. But at this point, can we really know what they actually need help for?

Couples Therapyairs Wednesdays at 10/9C on VH1.