You know that special bond between a newborn baby and its mother? It’s fueled by oxytocin, which is the same chemical that makes you feel head over heels when you are first in love. What would happen if there was someone who could mainline that drug for people? We found out this week. Anyone they touched would immediately fall in love and feel wonderful, at least for a little while. Once they lose that contact they go into withdrawal, and it is pretty horrible.
This episode fascinated me. I wonder if there are people who make everyone respond with higher levels of oxytocin. Is this what we call charisma? Or are they the people who become healers, maybe social workers? I was a little bit annoyed about the “mama bear” theme, though. The whole oxytocin thing works for men as well. As Rosen, Hicks and Bill showed, love from the men in your life can be just as healing and important as the love from the mothers of the world. I didn’t get the post-partum depression reference at all.
This Week’s Superpower
As mentioned above, Jessica Elkhart can increase the oxytocin levels in someone’s brain. This makes them feel all warm and mushy and attached to her. The nasty part comes later when she withdraws her contact and the person is flooded with cortisol and starts to literally fall apart. It appears that her power did not really develop until her son Chris died in a car accident, which she blamed on the bullying he received from the local football team. I really don’t like bullying, but murdering people is a bit of an extreme response. The show is making it clear that there are Alphas who are dangerous, and some who are willing to use their powers to kill.
The Alpha Team
My favourite part of the episode was the team getting their badges -- or, more to the point, Gary’s response to the team getting their badges. He makes me laugh at least once every week. They are now an official team with a lovely made-up title: “Defense Criminal Investigative Service”. It was interesting that nobody questioned their credentials. I wonder if I could make up an important sounding name, create a badge and just go investigate things? Of course, it does help to have superpowers.
This episode was mostly about Rachel. She is really suffering from the rejection by her family. This made her vulnerable to Jessica. But, as Rosen points out, she is stronger than she thinks. Her family may think that she is a freak but she has a “home” with her team. The scene where Rosen, Bill and Hicks helped her to fight her withdrawal was very touching. The members of this team really care about each other.
Bits and Pieces
The opening was very clever. It is a classic horror scene where you think it’s a girl being chased by something evil but she is just running away from her boyfriend. Then it switches back when they are interrupted by a “monster” but the monster is one of their teachers. How many flips can you fit into one scene?
Rachel is dating. She can figure out the ingredients of a dish just by tasting it. She is super sensitive to touch as well. Obviously, very inconvenient.
The CDC doesn’t know about Alphas. It was a nice surprise to see Lindsey Wagner as the CDC doctor, Vanessa Calder.
I loved the bit where Dr. Rosen was explaining the action of cortisol and Hicks pretended he understood. They all turned and gave him a look - they knew he was lying.
Rosen is a father and he drives a very cool car. It’s a Fiat Spider.
I loved watching Hicks in action. He’s like a human pinball machine.
Quotes
Gary: “Let me open it.”
Nina: “No, let me open it, please.”
Gary: “No, I want to, oh yeah, let me open it please.”
Nina: “I thought I was the answer to our investigatory hurdles.”
Rachel: “Does everybody know everything about my life?”
Rosen: “It’s an office, Rachel, that's what happens. People watch out for each other and a first date is quite a milestone in any young woman’s life.”
Rosen: “I can say with confidence that none of these people died of boredom or poor food.”
Waitress: “Can I get you anything else?”
Gary: “DCIS. You don’t ask questions, we ask questions. We ask and you tell.”
Gary: “You tell us, respect the badge... Bill is laughing.”
Rosen: “I don’t know what our next steps should be. Murder investigations aren’t exactly the cornerstone of my practice.”
Bill: “Well, I’m sure you didn’t think I just came here for a vacation. I’ve got you.”
Gary: “Hey, Cameron, you’re up in my grill now. You’ve got to get out of my grill.”
Nina: “I’d like to see these fancy badges do that.”
Nina: “Gary, take that jacket off. It doesn’t belong to you.”
Gary: “It looks better on me. I’m a baller.”
Dr. Calder: “The glaring silence of government work.”
Rachel: “The only thing I’m good for is being a walking crime lab.”
Rosen: “What do you say we go home?”
Rachel: “Home sounds good.”
I'm enjoying the little Alphas refresher I'm getting from your retro reviews, Doc. Perfect timing. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGary was definitely hilarious in this episode. "Respect the badge." Tee hee!
For those that don't know: Lindsey Wagner's character in this episode is actually a character that originated on Warehouse 13. So they linked this 'verse to the one inhabited by Eureka and WH13. We might have discussed this in the comments on later reviews. I don't know how far they plan to take the connection, but it opens up the possibility of future crossovers.