Bill: “I’m not shooting anything, okay? Look, I’ll call them again.”
Gary: “No, Bill, no more talking, it’s time for action.”
Gary: “Give me the gun, I’ll shoot it.”
Bill: “Gary, I’m not giving you my gun.”
Gary: “Yeah give me...no, you’re right, give me a grenade.”
Bill: “Gary-out.”
Gary: “Bill, give me the grenade.”
Bill: “Gary, good-bye.”
Gary: “You don’t even have a grenade.”
This very fun back and forth did two things for me. It set the tone for the episode, which is all about violence and going over the top. And it reminded me of why I like Bill and Gary so much together. I was laughing out loud during this exchange. On a more serious note, this episode was about anger and what happens when it runs amok. Alphas can be very, very dangerous to themselves and to others.
This Week’s Superpower
Mathew Hurley can release pheromones that produce uncontrollable anger in anyone who comes into contact with them. This is a powerful form of protection as once it is released people attack each other and chaos ensues. And this useful but nasty superpower belongs to an angry adolescent who doesn’t seem to like anyone but his terrified girlfriend. He is willing to instigate a riot where he knows people will be killed in order to serve his own ends. It is intimated that he was also responsible for the deaths of his mother and sister. We are certainly convinced by the time he is captured that he belongs in Binghamton under the strictest controls. But the just-as-macho reactions of Wilson and Clay to Mathew are also over the top. This is still just a kid — a human being — not an animal to be put down.
The Alpha Team
Hicks is not happy about being put in the role of investigator and tracker but, as Rosen points out, he now has an excellent health plan. By the end of the episode it appears that Hicks is starting to bond with the team. This is evident by his choice to take care of the hum that is annoying Gary with a well-placed baseball.
Rachel was trying to learn to be more assertive and was making progress. Mathew's pheromones made her aggressive instead of assertive, and she ended up screaming at her mother on the phone. Maybe some part of her wanted to do this for a long time, but the result is that she was rejected by her family and had nowhere to live. Nina offered her a place to stay, and now they are roommates. I like that the women on the team are bonding. It will be interesting to see how that friendship evolves. Nina was also trying to be helpful to Hicks by sharing her own troubled past and work with Rosen.
Don Wilson, who is portrayed as one of the most obnoxious FBI minders I’ve seen on TV, meets a horrible, untimely end. It appears that Kathy Sullivan will step in. She is, as Rachel says, "much nicer." I found it very interesting that once they recovered from the pheromones and it was obvious that Wilson was dead, Hicks held Rachel back from viewing the corpse, and Nina held Gary back. Rachel and Gary are the “innocents” on the team. I wonder if they will stay that way.
Bits and Pieces
The filming at the beginning of this episode was very clever. It is difficult to portray emotions in a crowd. I thought it was very effective. I also haven’t commented on the opening credits which I really enjoy.
I said that Wilson and Sullivan were FBI, but they are actually Homeland Security.
We found out a little bit about Nina’s power to push people. She can’t push a whole crowd, and her power is time limited.
Rachel spent four years at Langley translating Farsi.
Nina is realizing what it is like to be pushed and she is questioning what she does.
It was uber cool to watch Cameron get Tracey to safety using his kinetic powers.
From the count of the tapes, Mathew was the 21st Alpha to go to Binghamton.
Agent Wilson smelled like stomach acid and Tums — yikes, poor Rachel!
Quotes
Gary: “Hicks broke another one. That’s three.”
Bill: “My badge still works.”
Nina: “Pending disciplinary action.”
Don Wilson: “Score one for Rainman.”
Gary: “That’s a movie. I’m not allowed to watch that.”
Dr. Rosen (hears a scream): "What was that, Clay?"
Clay: “Someone else’s problem. I’m tactical. So back to these injections, can we use a smaller needle? That was like a horse shot.”
Rosen: “My people didn’t complain.”
Clay: “Well sue me. I’m human.”
Rosen: “And so are they, and so is Mathew Hurley, and you need to treat them as such.”
Rosen: “Nobody can do what we can do. And it’s going to be messy. I’m not saying we won’t make mistakes. None of us are trained for this kind of thing, Bill being the exception. But nobody can deal with the Alpha phenomenon like we can.”
It's been awhile since I've seen season one, but I suspect this is the episode when I began to love Gary. He could be such an annoying character, but instead he's just so lovable.
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