As in “Revelations,” Threshold does better than it should in this episode. Adams’s slow pull away from his humanity could feel like a tacky cameo death: new character introduced only to die and make everyone consider the stakes. But it works, because “The Crossing” is the moment in which the impact of the alien invasion hits home for Molly, Cavennaugh, and the rest of the team.
Carl the water delivery guy snuck into Molly’s home under the guise of being…Carl the water delivery guy. It’s a little weird that Molly is still living at home, given all the hullabaloo about everyone else on the team observing weird protocols. Why shouldn’t she be sequestered, too?
It’s a moot point, now, since Carl the water guy is working for Manning, who is emerging as quite the leader of the infectees. His assault on the convoy was great fun: it proved Molly right about not putting all the infected eggs in one basket. Cavennaugh’s brother was lost in the attack, which brings this situation home to him, too. (Where did Cavennaugh acquire a brother? Why couldn’t he be a friend, or a lover? These are not questions asked in the writers’ room of a CBS show.)
Adams’s slow decline provided the emotional counterpoint to the action-film hijinks. It’s fascinating that he almost became more human, or more aware of his humanity: he remembered things he shouldn’t have remembered, like learning to walk. And he, like Molly, experienced the “memories” of the glass forest. Molly thinks that means the memories are implanted so the changing world feels familiar, like home. Because in this new world order, even home isn’t home anymore.
Molly has to deal with her home being invaded (again!) by someone who seems friendly, Cavennaugh has to deal with the loss of his brother, and Ramsey has to deal with the loss of Adams, who—for the prickly Ramsey—might be one of his closest friends. And, for poor Lucas, it’s even worse: his lab assistant is just a hallucination, which means he’s stuck in the med lab for now. (Who didn’t see that coming in the previous episode?) Threshold isn’t yet willing to take huge risks (like a massive infection--although that may change with the food-supply infection), but it is finally emphasizing the human toll of a situation like this.
Adams’s decision to die rather than become unhuman was understandable. I probably would have made the same decision: as Ramsey said, “the beauty of being human is that we get to decide our own fates.” And that what makes the alien infection so frightening: the [insert scary voice] hive mind. Eek!
Contingencies:
• Senator: “Is that really the problem? Or is it that the person in charge of keeping America safe was bested by a water delivery man?”
• Ramsey: I am a great excuse to be in a bar right now.”
• The gory dead bodies were really gory. I’ll bet the makeup people had fun that day.
Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)
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