Agent Cley: “You can’t actually sit there and tell me none of your co-workers fit the profile of someone who might go over to the other side.”
Bill: “You know what? If they didn’t before, you’re sure driving them in that direction.”
What an action-packed, suspenseful episode. They had me guessing until almost the end, although I started to think that Dr. Rosen was the mole at the warehouse. I was pretty surprised when it turned out not to be him at all.
The trouble begins when several members of the MK-ULTRA committee are murdered and the only people who had the information necessary to find and contact them were our Alpha team. The men were part of a secret project during the cold war that had to do with Alphas. These “poor, old men” were willing to engage in unethical human experimentation and their secrets got them killed by a Red Flag assassin. Our team still has those secrets and Gary is the only one who can delete them. I think that Nathan Cley is right. Red Flag is just going to keep on coming.
This Week’s Superpower
Again, we got two for the price of one: an Alpha assassin who can poison people with his touch, and his partner who can morph into other people. The first is pretty straightforward, but becoming someone else is a pretty complex business. He must have observed Dr. Rosen for a long time and learned a lot about him and the team. I’m not sure that I buy that you could sound so completely like someone else. even if you did completely copy their vocal structures. There is just so much to the development of speech. Maybe he had practiced for hours and hours. (You can see that I sometimes have difficulty with the whole suspending disbelief thing.)
The Alpha Team
I’m worried about our Alphas. It didn’t take much for the tactical team to take them down. I’m sure they will be more wary now, but they must also be wondering who they can or should trust. Agent Cley has a point when he says that if he hadn’t acted swiftly, Dr. Rosen/the team would have been dead or framed — but I can’t see the team getting over their imprisonment very easily.
The one positive note is that they did work together pretty effectively to get out of Binghamton (great fight scenes) but that fell apart as soon as they hit the warehouse. Harkin and Hicks went at each other without much thought (another great fight scene — strength vs. speed and agility). Gary fell apart, Rachel was hysterical and Nina, who should have at least tried to use her power, stood aside helplessly. They need to learn and gel as a team quickly, or they are going to be an easy target. And now Bill is in trouble.
Bits and Pieces
Anna and Gary are still talking — but not about work. Is Anna genuinely Gary’s friend or is she using him in some way?
Gary is learning to lie. It’s a social skill. I am really enjoying Gary.
Building seven is where they send the worst Alphas. Nobody ever comes out. If I was an Alpha, I’d have a hard time not joining Red Flag.
Cameron is a collectible. He makes enough money from being a minor league anomaly to build his son’s college fund.
The tactical team didn’t seem to like Alphas much, even those who are supposed to be on their side.
Quotes
MK-ULTRA guy: “Some mistakes never go away.”
Killer Alpha: “Some do.”
Cameron: “Everybody’s seen Casablanca. It’s the greatest love, bar, spy, tuxedo movie ever made.”
Nina: “Scared of making eye contact with the evil mind-bending Alpha?”
Cley: "Your friend is a Red Flag terrorist.”
Gary: “Ya, I know that, but we don’t talk about work.”
Gary: “You’re a signal bully. It sucks.”
Rachel: “We all worry that men in black will swoop in and we’ll end up here. We’re afraid of this, of today.”
Gary: “Bill doesn’t like being in jail. He likes putting people in jail. Two different things.”
Gary: “The real Dr. Rosen is here and he hurt his leg and he has bad hair.”
Cley: “I’m trying to conduct an investigation.”
Rachel: “More like a witch hunt.”
Cley: “It’s not a witch hunt if one of you is guilty. And one of you is guilty.”
Rachel: “Unless you’re wrong and then you’re turning friends into enemies.”
This was a great season finale. Alphas was a great surprise this summer. The characters are terrific, and in this episode, the suspense was killing us. For a moment there, I really thought Dr. Rosen was a member of Red Flagg (I never suspected Cameron). I didn't see the shapeshifting alpha coming. I'm especially enjoying Gary, too. I think Anna genuinely likes him, though. Ref Flagg doesn't seem to have only nefarious purposes after all.
ReplyDeleteEric has a crush on Rachel? No wonder. She's a catch! Now she's growing emotionally, she's even more of one.
This is the forst time I felt the Alpha team were really a team. Even though Bill and Cameron fought, they were cool on the last scene, because they knew they'd been manipulated.
This has been a very good season, and I can't wait for the next one. I just hope they move the story forward.
I haven't seen the episode yet, or read this review, but I saw that the first line of Gus's comment was "this was a great season finale." Just wanted to note that this was NOT the season finale. The finale airs this coming Monday at 10:00. SyFy will be running every episode of the series in a marathon on Monday, leading up to the finale.
ReplyDeleteSo don't tune out just yet! "Summer" apparently still has a few more weeks.
(I'm sure I'll be back to comment after actually watching the episode.)
Except that it's not the season finale, as Jess said, I agree with everything Gus said. The way they all worked to together to escape was terrific. I like them all so much that I really didn't want one of them to be a mole. Dan figured out early that it had to be Rosen, but didn't see the twist coming. Alphas really has been a pleasant surprise this summer, and I'm looking forward to the finale.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm happy to be wrong. More Alphas for us!
ReplyDelete