In our Stitchers Roundtable 3X05 “Paternis,” we’re reminded to hug our parents and make the most of love

It’s already been quite the eventful few weeks for our stitch squad while Maggie’s gone. Now that Mama Bear’s back in the den, it’s business as usual, right? Wrong. No sooner has she returned does a most unusual case end up in their lap (at her request, of course). Cameron has been attempting to visit his father after watching Linus miss his chance for closure with his own. Unfortunately for him, he is denied just before a fire alarm breaks out. Shortly after, a prison guard named Carson is found killed, and Cameron’s father James Miller is the accused killer. He maintains that it was self-defense, so the team stitches into the victim to discover the truth. Fortunately, his father is telling the truth, but they also uncover a plot to have James killed. Trying to track down the coconspirator, they discover their only viable suspect is exactly the opposite.

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Meanwhile, during a briefing with Maggie, Cameron lets slip that Kirsten knows the location of her mother’s cryochamber. He keeps it a secret, worried about her reaction. When Jacqueline later disappears, he comes clean to Kirsten only to have her walk out on him. Linus is not having any better luck. Ivy has been ghosting him for days and he has no idea why. Even when Maggie announces she’ll give her a chance with the team, it doesn’t get a response from Ivy. Third time is not the charm, as Camille’s commitment issues finally force a wedge between her and Amanda. Add to that a murder who framed James for fraud and Stinger making contact with Ivy, all bets are off. While some relationships are mended, others are torn apart, and it’s anyone’s guess who will make it and who won’t.

The writers showed us a new side of our favorite NSA scientists this week, and it was a doozy. Are you ready for to relive the drama with us? Let’s check in with our roundtable.

Wanda (@WandaDeane) - Tax Administrator, Paralegal and Mom.

Tess (@CamstenCupcake) - Administrative Assistant. Watching Stitchers & Camsten feels like home.

Lauren (@laurensloves13) - Australian made, Stitchers enthusiast, cat mom.

Lauralea (@DExHooker) - Writer, dog momma, Stitchers obsessive, Camsten addict.

Manuel (@Make_The_Bounce) - Web designer & consumer of entirely TOO much caffeine. Unabashed Sci-Fi nerd!

1. We finally get to learn a little more about Cameron’s father this episode. Did we expect the twist that came at the end?

Wanda (@WandaDeane): I think Cameron being unable to make an arrest in front of the suspect’s son is very Cameron-like. He has always been a sensitive guy and he is very in tune with both the people around him and just generally in tune with how his actions affect others. We see that further when he tries to tell Kirsten about his mistake with regards to telling Maggie that Kirsten knows where her mom is. He was devastated by his mistake, but he knew that Kirsten would be furious. He immediately knew he had messed up. We saw it on his face when Maggie questioned him about what Kirsten knew of her mom’s location.

Tess (@CamstenCupcake): Cameron learned that his father wasn’t to blame for the Ponzi scheme, his dad got threatened and did 7 years extra in jail to protect Cameron. I love how Cameron doesn’t want history to repeat itself so he didn’t arrest Zeiss yet cause his young son answered the door and Cam was so, so affected when that happened to him. Hopefully Cam does arrest Zeiss asap!!! I love how surprised Cam’s dad was that Cam can actually arrest people now, that was brilliant! I did see it coming that Cam’s dad was framed and he wasn’t as guilty as he seemed, because of the focus in this episode. I liked seeing how Cam’s past made Cameron so protective and worried, he’s got that from his dad.

Lauren (@laurensloves13): How great was it to get a little more depth to Cameron’s family? His mom was so harsh and cold in season one (that one time when he got her on the phone) and it seemed to horrid to me that a person with such a big and beautiful heart could be so emotionally shunned by both parents. Now it turns out that it was just his dad trying to protect his son, the way a father should, even through all of his flaws and mistakes. Hopefully this can bring Cameron some closure. Also, we all really love a geek reference on this show, no matter how obvious, though I doubt the nickname is going to stick in Cameron’s case.

Lauralea (@DExHooker): I have to admit, I hated Cameron’s father for the first half of the episode – how could he turn his son away? Ugh. As it progressed, I started to understand more. I caught the Bruce reference before the reveal, so I was pretty happy when I started babbling about Bruce Wayne and then the announced it lmao… hey, a girl’s got to take her kicks where she gets them! By the end, I had the warm fuzzies. His dad never stopped looking out for him, no matter what it cost him. Cameron is going to have what he didn’t think he ever would again – a relationship with his dad. It may be strained now… but at least the seeds have been planted and moving forward, they can try to get past the anger and abandonment issues that are just below the surface.

Manuel (@Make_The_Bounce): I think one of the hallmarks of great writing is that you don’t see every twist coming even though you probably should. This is one of the things that I think the writers of Stitchers excel at. They can expertly write a twist! We all had the pretext that Cameron’s father was a criminal so if you were like me, I had him vilified in the opening scenes, especially when he didn’t even come out to see Cameron in the visitors area. But looking back on the episode, there were signs all along that he REALLY loves his son! From the movies to cheer him up, to how he spoke to Young Cameron. Even when he got arrested his genuine concern was that Cameron didn’t get worked up because of his recent heart surgery. As a father myself, I can tell you that this storyline really touched me (read: I was a hot mess) by the end of the episode. Just thinking about that last scene where his father reached out and grabbed his hand and Cameron grabbed it back…OMG…I can’t…I’ll be right back…

2. Do we really think Maggie moved Jacqueline to a new location? If so, why?

Wanda: I absolutely think Maggie moved Jacqueline. I don’t think she did it to hide her from Kirsten though. I think she did it because she’s afraid that Kirsten will mention the location to Ivy or that someone (namely Daniel Stinger) might follow Kirsten and be able to kidnap Jacqueline. In her way I think Maggie is protecting Kirsten from potentially being the reason her mom is taken again. Remember, Maggie doesn’t really trust Ivy, either so with Kirsten knowing where her mom was I think Maggie saw Kirsten as a weak link in keeping that spot a secret from Ivy.

Tess: When I saw that sneak peek of Cam accidentally telling Maggie about the secret chamber, I immediately was like “Please don’t let this be how Jacqueline is moved to another location”! Cam only spilled the beans by accident. He is constantly looking out and worrying about Kirsten, and he genuinely wants to help Kirsten’s mom as well. When Maggie learned the information, her reaction wasn’t just surprise but she became pushier and more direct as well, which I thought was a bit suspicious. It could also be that Stinger found out Maggie knew where Jacqueline was and he moved her to keep her away, because he doesn’t trust Maggie at all. If Maggie moved Jacqueline it could be to protect Kirsten, but the question is: from what? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.

Lauren: If it wasn’t Maggie that moved Jacqueline I think I might actually have a coronary. She did seem pretty unhappy about the fact that she hadn’t been clued in to the location of Mama Stinger before, so clearly there’s more to this story to unfold. Maybe there’s someone else in the NSA that can do research on other aspects of Jacqueline while the Stitchers team work on the brain mapping. Or maybe Maggie is just finally clued in enough to know that risking losing Jacqueline to the wrong hands is really no longer an option.

Lauralea: Everything Maggie does is to protect her team. If she did move Jacqueline, I firmly believe that she did it in an effort to protect Kirsten. If Kirsten doesn’t know where her mother is, she can’t accidentally reveal that location to the people who are out for ill intent… whether that be Stinger or the NSA higher ups… I believe that moving Jacqueline was a move to protect Kirsten from herself.

Manuel: Oh they want you to think that don’t they? I’m probably wrong here but I really don’t think it was Maggie. If for no other reason than that it would be inconsistent with her asking Cameron if he had told Kirsten that he had told Maggie where Kirsten’s mom is. I think that someone else has Jacqueline, whether that is Stinger or Blair or an unknown third party we will see. It just doesn’t feel like a Maggie move to relocate Kirsten’s mom without telling anyone, especially given that she owes her current position to Kirsten.

3. We had a chance to see three sets of childhood flashbacks this week. Which was was your favorite and why?

Wanda: I really liked Linus’ flashbacks. I think I enjoyed them so much because they showed just how vulnerable Linus is and why he can be so overly nice and accommodating. It also explained a bit how it was so simple for him to trust Ivy. As a kid he wasn’t accepted for who he is so he is overly accepting of anyone who shows up, shows an interest and accepts him. Potentially this will be to his detriment, but I really hope not.

Tess: My favorite was Cameron’s. I’ve been the most curious to learn about his youth and his past with his parents. We know his relationship with both of them is fractured, and now we’ve learned more about his dad and what happened. The flashback with Cam’s dad getting arrested in front of him as a little kid, it was really significant in the episode as Cameron wanted to prevent history repeating itself. I felt so bad for young Camille, she really had a tough upbringing. The whole Stitch squad had.

Lauren: I’m going to pick Linus, because he was so cute I just wanted to squeeze him, but also because I always loved Linus’s father. The flashback definitely gave some insight as to why Linus is always so eager to please. It’s so hard to fit in when you’re young, and kids can be so cruel. It’s nice to know that Linus really does have now what he always craved as a child, and the boy bonding scene between Cameron and Linus was brilliant too.

Lauralea: My favorite was Linus. I will always have a soft spot for Linus – seeing him as such a lonely little boy and his father trying so desperately to build him up… his father made Linus the man he is today – encouraging him, building him, putting him back together when everything seemed to fall apart around him. These scenes just reinforced why I loved Linus’s dad, and justified the tears I shed when he passed. They were beautiful father son moments that deserved to be shared.

Manuel: They were amazing weren’t they! They were all so heart wrenching in their own way and do a lot to help us understand why these characters are the way that they are. I don’t think I could pick a favorite per se, but I can say that while Linus and Cameron’s flashbacks were sad, Camille’s was downright TRAGIC! It is so easy to understand why she is the way she is now. She has had to look out for herself her whole life, she couldn’t even rely on her jerk older brother at all. It’s interesting how all of these people carry so much baggage and yet have managed to come together has a family.

4. There was more than one father making a reappearance this week. How shocked were you to find out who really created little Cameron?

Wanda: I’ll be honest and tell you I didn’t expect for one moment that it was Ivy who created little Cameron in the stitches. Not for one moment, did I think she knew as much as she obviously does about how stitching works. This disappoints me. I’d hoped for better from her. I think her only move now is to be forthcoming and tell Kirsten. Almost always these types of secrets come back to bite our characters in the backside. Her keeping this secret and the team finding out will cause Kirsten to lose faith in her and Linus will feel completely betrayed because he truly trusts her. I hope she does the right thing, and also tells the team that Stinger has been in contact.

Tess: I didn’t see it coming it was Ivy. I thought Ivy worked with Stinger, but not when it comes to young Cameron in the stitches last season. I love that we finally know more about the side Ivy’s on. She’s been on her dad’s side, but ever since she met Kirsten and learned about the crazy things her dad did, Ivy really wants to be there for her sister. That scene of Kirsten crying in Ivy’s arms was so good and emotional. But to really build a steady sister relationship, Ivy first has to come clean about everything she did for Stinger and about how much she knows. Especially cause Kirsten thinks that she can only trust Ivy right now, but trapping her in her own memory is so bad and Kirsten is gonna be so upset once she finds out. Ivy might be too scared to tell Kirsten, but she’s gonna have to if she wants a trusting sibling bond.

Lauren: I need the Stitchers Squad to know I’m finally making the migration to Team Ivy. She looked so mad at Stinger, I actually now officially believe that she wants to be on Kirsten’s side when this all comes to pass, and therefore, I was less shocked and more sympathetic to Ivy when Stinger threatened that exposure. Ivy was so angry at the world when she had a hand in the creation of the anomaly, but unfortunately things like these have a habit of coming back and biting people in the butt, so hopefully Ivy is able to convince the team of her reasons at the time and why it’s no longer important.

Lauralea: Oh, Ivy. *sigh* I had a feeling from the moment that Linus started mentioning Ivy avoiding him that Stinger had returned. The guilt she’s under right now is suffocating.. she’s riding it out well, but avoidance can only work for so long. Eventually, all the details are going to come out, and I’m not sure how the team is going to be able to move past this. I always felt that it was Stinger involved in the creation of little Cameron, but to bring Ivy in like this? It’s just brutal – the road is not going to be smooth for big sister, that’s for sure. Stinger has crossed a line at this point, using not one, but both of his daughters to meet his end game. These girls deserved so much better than him. It broke my heart to watch Ivy start to drown under the weight of her own actions.

Manuel: My jaw literally hit the floor on this one! I don’t think it is a surprise that Ivy would have been involved, but to that extent? Jeff Schechter tweeted last night that “Ivy used the anomaly to trap Kirsten because she was mad Kirsten called in the NSA on Stinger”. That tells me that when provoked Ivy can do some pretty vicious things! If that ever comes to light, that may destroy her relationship with Kirsten. I feel like there is this terrible stew of everybody’s bad deeds and complicated situations that seems to be about to boil over. I fear our little Stitchers family is really about to be put to the test!

5. Speaking of which, do you think Stinger is right about Maggie, or could his paranoia have finally pushed him over the edge?

Wanda: I think Stinger is very much overly paranoid. Maggie has a good heart and protects “her kids” I think that Stinger in his quest to be “as smart” as those who created the Stitchers program has let his ambition override his common sense. Also I just don’t think that Linus is the kind of person who could get close to Ivy as an assignment. He is a very open and genuine person and he would abhor playing with someone’s emotions in that way. Stinger is volatile in that he has seen now that Ivy isn’t on his “side” any longer. I’d hate to see what kind of chaos that causes him to create.

Tess: I’m not sure. Maggie’s always so vague with her motives, you just don’t know what Maggie knows or why she does things. But I believe Maggie a lot more than Stinger. Stinger did crazy things and he went too far too many times. I look forward to finding out more about Stinger and why he has such crazy ways to reach his endgame.

Lauren: Paranoia, one hundred percent. He’s so desperate to get his hands on Jacqueline that he’s willing to sacrifice anyone and anything at this point. Maggie is so not the bad guy in this situation.

Lauralea: Maggie might be moving with the concept of keep your friends close and your enemies closer with her decision to bring Ivy on board, but I don’t think she’s using Linus to get to Ivy. Honestly, I think she’s trying to keep an open mind with one hand, while protecting her team with the other hand. Maggie doesn’t strike me as the type to set out to use one of her team for nefarious purposes. I think she’s trying to make the best out of an awkward situation.

Manuel: It’s so easy to write Stinger off as a nut job, but I feel like a lot of what he says may be rooted in some kind of truth. He is paranoid, for sure, and willing to step on anybody to get what he wants but he may be truthful to a degree also. Maybe he is misguided about Maggie, reducing her to a simple adversarial role. But when judging him I think it’s important to remember that we still don’t fully know who is pulling the strings behind the Stitchers program and all of the why’s about the program yet.

6. All three of our couples suffered a major setback this week. Which do you think will recover? Which one is unsalvageable?

Wanda: I am 1000% sure that Cameron and Kirsten will overcome this hurdle. I think that when Kirsten calms down she will remember all the time and in all the ways that Cameron has looked out for her, even when it put him in danger. He loves her and his love is pure. Kirsten will remember that he looked out for her even when there wasn’t a relationship/friendship between them. She knows, deep in her heart that he would never betray her. She will come around, I’m sure of it. Unfortunately, I think that Camille’s relationship is over. The one thing that Amanda failed to do was allow Camille to express herself and accept where Camille is in this moment in time. A true partner hears their partners feelings, acknowledges their difficulties, tries to at least understand where they are coming from and accepts them anyway. Amanda didn’t do that. She didn’t accept Camille’s struggles in opening up and wasn’t thankful when Camille put herself out there. I think that’s a death stroke to the relationship unfortunately.

Tess: Camsten will always recover. They have such a strong connection that they will figure things out. They both have the other’s best intentions at heart. I feel so bad for Kirsten because she’s so focused on helping her mom and now she doesn’t have any control of helping her anymore. Also, she finds it hard to trust people and every time she does trust someone, it doesn’t end well. I think maybe Camille isn’t ready yet to completely open up to Amanda or anyone, so I think their relationship is in danger the most. Until she completely deals with her youth and everything that bothers her about it, she won’t be able to move on from that and completely let someone in. Ivy is gonna have to open up to Linus in order for him to understand what’s she’s been up to and why she has been working with Stinger in the past. Because Linus has been so trusting, maybe it will bother him too much, or maybe he will choose to believe her cause he has been so trusting so far.

Lauren: So I genuinely snarled at Amanda Weston when she casually took Camille’s heart, tossed it to the ground, and then stomped on it with her little pin-up girl heel as she walked away. Camille’s shattered, and so is that relationship. That was Camille Engelson opening herself up like she never has before, and it’s going to take a lot of time to heal that burn. As for the others, there’s no keeping Cameron and Kirsten apart. The poor boy meant no malice. They’ll have their moment of shaky ground, like all couples do, but this is not a break up determining moment. And with Ivy in Kirsten’s corner and Linus in Cameron’s, maybe the reuniting of our power couple will be what brings Ivy and Linus back together as well.

Lauralea: I have no doubt about Camsten – they’re endgame. It may take them an episode or two, but I firmly believe that they will recover. The biggest hurdle they have to run with is Kirsten’s inability to control her greater emotions. Kirsten not only doesn’t fully understand her emotions, she also doesn’t fully understand the passage of time. Camanda – right now I’m not a huge fan of Amanda. Whether they come back from this or not, what this episode has made me step back and see is that I don’t think they are endgame. Camille needs someone that understands her, that will support her, and love her even with her particular brand of crazy. I’m not sure we’re going to see Camille come back from this entirely… and I don’t think we’ll see Camanda riding off into the sunset together.

Manuel: I think that Linus and Ivy have the easiest road back to happiness. Once Ivy starts talking to him again I can see Linus forgiving her (the question is does she tell him the REAL reason for her silence). Camille and Amanda…I don’t know about this one. They are in a predicament. I totally see Camille retreating back behind her wall again which could make reconciliation really tough. Which brings us to Kirsten & Cameron. Did anybody else scream at the TV during their fight? I do think (hope) they are going to be okay, especially if it turns out not to be Maggie who moved Jacqueline. But boy Cameron is going to really have to work hard to regain her trust. Can he do it by the season finale…I don’t know. The short term for Camsten looks very very rocky.

7. With all this going on with our squad, how is Maggie going to pull this group of broken hearts back together?

Wanda: Honestly I don’t think Maggie will be the one to pull them together. If she does it will be in her usual “get your head in the game, we are all professionals here” sort of way. The team is strong though they will all lean on each other. I believe that Linus will be the one who reminds Kirsten of Cameron’s love and unending support of her and her mission to save her mom. I think that Kirsten will talk to Ivy on Linus’ behalf. I believe they will behave as they always do - as a team and as a supportive unit for each other. I’m excited to see the rebuilding of this team. They are truly best when they work together.

Tess: It’s gonna take some time for everyone. The whole squad is gonna need the whole truth from each other and from the whole Stitchers program. Trust has always been a huge thing for the whole Stitchers squad – not just about the program, but so much more in real life and with each other. That’s why Kirsten’s hurting so much. She tries to trust people but feels like she’s always getting proven wrong, no matter how hard those people try. Camille is really pushing everyone’s limits by not stopping about her lack of trust of Ivy. Maggie might have to start by opening up herself about if and why she moved Jacqueline and about everything else she knows! Good luck Maggie, you will have a tough time dealing with Kirsten. Kirsten goes for what she wants 100%, so I have faith she will be able to get the truth out of Maggie!

Lauren: Time for a heavy hitting Stitchers case! Maggie seemed to do a lot of hiding in her office this week, so maybe it’s time to get back out on the floor and take back those boss reins. Or… shut the lot of them in the interrogation room and make them talk out their feelings… it’s very un-Maggie-like, but it’d make for some interesting conversations!

Lauralea: Maggie will tell them exactly what they need to here – they’re in that lab to do a job, that job is not about who is getting horizontal, it’s about solving crimes and mapping the human brain. If they can’t do that as a team anymore, then this isn’t going to work – their choice, learn to function as a team again, or find new team members. The shock of having it laid out for them may be enough to at least start to open the lines of communication again. They’re a family, they will make it through.

Manuel: If anyone can keep this group together I would like to think it is gonna be Maggie. Mama bear has a way of smacking sense into her cubs. During the hiatus I remember Jeff Schechter stating that one of the questions to answer going into this season is that, now that you have this family of sorts, how hard are you willing to fight for them/to keep them? I think that might be how she could approach this situation. This is a group of people in an extraordinary situation. Nothing is gonna be smooth, there are gonna be bumps along the way but she needs to convince them that if they don’t fight for each….who else will?

Final Verdict: We have our own love/hate relationship with Stitchers 3X05 “Paternis”

We’re going to say it…this episode hurt all of our hearts! We were excited to catch glimpses of young Cameron, Linus, and Camille in action. However, their older counterparts faced immense challenges this week. Cameron is making amends with his father, but loses Kirsten after owning up to what he told Maggie. Linus finally convinces Maggie to give Ivy a try, but now she’s ghosting him. It turns out Ivy is trying to avoid another man in her life - her father. Camille’s past catches up with her as Amanda calls her out on her defenses. When she finally opens up, her girlfriend surprisingly leaves her broken and battered. Our entire crew has been through the ringer this week, and we have no idea how they will piece things back together. They’re going to have to figure it out, though, because Maggie’s back and she won’t take no for an answer!

Stitchers returns next Monday, July 17th at 9/8C on Freeform.