Ep 2. Smoking Gun

Sam Swift (Rachel Bilson) and Eddie Valetik (Eddie Cibrian) continue their unlikely partnership in episode two of Take Two’s first season, called Smoking Gun. This time, our duo finds themselves enmeshed in the seedy underworld of illegal arms trading.

The episode opens with Sam and Eddie bickering in the car. Eddie’s all business, ready to jump right into a case, but Sam is more concerned with her image. She’s a little too fixated on her hair and makeup and is worried she doesn’t look the part of a private investigator. Eddie brushes off Sam’s concerns and tells her to focus, and she begrudgingly agrees.

Their case begins with Eddie meeting with an old army buddy, a man named Scott who now works for a private security firm. Scott’s company had been tasked with transporting a shipment of military-grade weapons across the border, but the shipment was stolen and now Scott’s company is in big trouble. Without the weapons, they can’t fulfill their contract, and they’ll go bankrupt. So Scott’s come to Eddie for help.

Sam and Eddie soon get to work, and they start by investigating the last known location of the shipment. They make their way to a seedy warehouse district, and after a confusing run-in with a group of heavily-armed thugs, they finally make contact with someone who might be able to help them - a scrappy freelance hacker named Berto. Berto agrees to help Sam and Eddie, and he quickly gets to work using his hacking skills to track down the stolen shipment.

The trail leads Sam and Eddie to a group of gun smugglers, who are hoarding the weapons until they can sell them to the highest bidder. Our heroes have to tread lightly here, as these smugglers are dangerous and not afraid to use violence to get what they want. But Sam and Eddie are determined to get the weapons back, and they come up with a plan to infiltrate the smugglers’ operation and retrieve the stolen shipment.

This leads to some tense action scenes, as Sam and Eddie have to fight their way through the smugglers’ armed guards. But they’re both determined, and their banter back and forth keeps the tension from boiling over. Eventually, they manage to recover the stolen shipment, but not before one last twist is thrown their way.

Of course, there’s more going on in this episode than just the main case. We also get a look into Sam’s personal life, as she reconnects with an old friend from her acting days, and Eddie struggles to juggle his work life with his responsibilities as a single dad to his young son. These character moments play off nicely against the main plotline, giving us a sense of the depth of these characters.

Overall, Smoking Gun is a solid episode of Take Two that delivers plenty of action and humor. Sam and Eddie’s partnership continues to be the highlight of the show, and their chemistry makes even the most routine procedural elements feel fresh. If you’re a fan of light-hearted crime dramas, Take Two is definitely worth checking out.