Can Kirsten use the team’s next victim in this Stitchers episode to get one step closer to perfecting the tech (and therefore saving her mother)? Maybe, but it won’t be easy, especially since the case isn’t easy. Their victim is a John Doe, and he encrypted his memories, so solving his murder is going to take a couple extra steps.

Also in “Mind Palace,” Camille’s relationship with Amanda has been going well — so well, in fact, that she’s happier to keep it to herself, but that can only last so long.

The 10 Sexiest Female TV Characters of Summer 2017 >>>

There’s Professional Courtesy and Then There’s Being Used

To save Kirsten’s mother, they need to perfect stitching, which means fully mapping the brain. And with Camille piloting the stitches, Kirsten comes up with a plan to spend more time in the regions they need to map — without informing Cameron. He’s obsessed with her safety (hence his yips), and lingering anywhere long enough to map the area would freak him out.

All they need is a body. Enter John Doe, shot once in the chest before being thrown off or falling off a hotel roof. The killer also shot off his index finger, and shards in the wound led to the bullet being found in the tile on the roof where his hand was held down.

While the others joke about Cameron’s “performance anxiety” (which, frankly, has already gotten old), Kirsten and Camille plan to map another area of the brain. When Kirsten stitches and finds herself in the part of the brain responsible for symbols and imagery, she and Camille (her stitch, her rules) want to stay, while Cameron wants to move on. (They have no choice but to admit what they were doing after Kirsten bounces.) Kirsten sees a display stand with a swan, sword, patch of grass and apple tree, with four toy soldiers marching underneath the tree around a golden snake. Another stand has a cow on it, with a golden snake wrapped around it.

John Doe, whose tattoo reveals that he was in the British Royal Marines, encrypted his memories. As the death moment approaches, the golden snake around the cow attacks. He built a mind palace, a memory technique used by people to keep secrets a secret. He was a spy.

Kirsten follows Cameron when he says he’s “going rogue” (obviously hurt by her doing the same with Camille). He explains that he has a history of watching people he cares about get into bad situations or worse, and she can’t help but wonder if they shouldn’t be together if she’s causing him more pain than happiness. He’s not the only one who gets to worry about the other person. With that in mind, he says he’ll work on being a helicopter boyfriend, but he doesn’t want her going rogue again without him.

They meet with a member of MI6 at the British Consulate, Dexter Abbott, who refuses to give them anything about their John Doe without getting something in return: one of their own was picked up by the LAPD on a drunken disorderly.

Once Chloe’s out, Abbott tells Cameron about John Doe, whose real name was Harrington. A few months ago, he was there on a case and brought his wife with him. Belinda was abducted and the ransom was paid, but her body was never found. Harrington went rogue and returned to get answers, and Abbott brought in Chloe to find him. How do they know Belinda’s dead? Her index finger was shot off and mailed to Harrington.

What Abbott doesn’t reveal but Kirsten finds out from Chloe is that he and Harrington were partners.

As for Harrington’s encrypted memories, Linus suggested that the golden snake is Belinda; old high German for “bright serpent” sounds close enough to her name. That would mean his dead wife attacked him?

Chloe goes to talk to Abbott but returns to Kirsten and Cameron with a black eye. She tells them that Abbott went off when she asked about his relationship with Harrington. They have her stay at Kirsten’s — the house isn’t in her name and, therefore, Abbott won’t find her there — with Amanda, while the team returns to the lab.

Kirsten figures out that the cow from the stitch represents Abbott; it’s a miniature breed, a Dexter cow. The cow was on the type of tile from the hotel roof, indicating that Abbott was involved in some way in Harrington’s murder. And Fisher confirms that he killed his former partner; the bullet recovered came from his weapon. When Kirsten and Cameron find Abbott, injured in his office, he takes a shot at them before passing out.

The next time Kirsten stitches, Cameron’s back to piloting. Getting shot at scared the yips out of him and made him realize that he needs to be in control of his own mind before he lets her traipse around in someone else’s.

This time, Kirsten sees Harrington and Belinda’s wedding (on March 4, hence the four marching soldiers). The swan and sword are part of a family crest, which Camille identifies as the Lindsey family’s. Belinda and Abbott were having an affair (the snake around the cow), and Harrington found out. They killed him together and shot off his finger to get her family ring back. And all that’s left is for the team to realize that Belinda is Chloe.

Camille texts Amanda to warn her but gets to the house before the ME sees it. One Belinda realizes the jig is up, she attacks. But Camille fights back, and Amanda comes to her aid. So by the time the others show up, Camille has subdued Belinda.

Quiz: Who is Your TV Boss? >>>

Double Date Night Means a Couple Ambushes

In an attempt to have things go from “not okay” to “okay” with Camille regarding Ivy, Linus suggests that the three of them get drinks. Camille ends up telling him about Amanda (but wants to keep it quiet since things are going well) and invites them over for dinner. What could go wrong on that double date?

Well, it is the perfect opportunity for Camille and Linus to threaten the other’s date. Amanda makes it clear that she cares about Camille too — and could kill Linus in nine different ways and make it look like natural causes. As for Ivy, she insists she’s not her father, likes Linus and has no ulterior motives about getting to know him.

Kirsten also meets Amanda after she brings Chloe to the house during the case. While Camille doesn’t want her to make it a thing, Kirsten just lets her know she’s happy for her, and Amanda seems great.

As Amanda patches up Camille after her fight with Chloe, Camille admits, “I don’t let people in. It’s not who I am. It’s not who I raised myself to be. But I let you in.” And, yes, she’s “scared,” but she’s also “excited.” “My life makes sense with you in it,” she tells the ME. And hopefully this does work out for Camille.

One Mystery Solved?

After hearing a buzzing sound coming from inside the cabinet in Maggie’s office before receiving Harrington’s stitch alert, Cameron thinks that whatever’s inside has something to do with how their cases are picked and enlists Linus to break the code.

By the end of the episode, Linus has done just that, and Cameron shows Kirsten the device he found (with John Doe on the screen). If they can find out where it gets its information from, they can find out where their cases come from and pick the ones that will help them the most to save Kirsten’s mother.

How do you think Stitchers is handling its relationships in season 3? Did you suspect that Abbott and/or Chloe were involved in Harrington’s death from the beginning? And what do you think will happen in the lab once Maggie comes back? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Stitchers season 3 airs Mondays at 9/8c on Freeform. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.

(Image courtesy of Freeform)

Meredith Jacobs

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV

If it’s on TV — especially if it’s a procedural or superhero show — chances are Meredith watches it. She has a love for all things fiction, starting from a young age with ER and The X-Files on the small screen and the Nancy Drew books. Arrow kicked off the Arrowverse and her true passion for all things heroes. She’s enjoyed getting into the minds of serial killers since Criminal Minds, so it should be no surprise that her latest obsession is Prodigal Son.