After the previous episode’s threat of a massive foodborne outbreak, “Vigilante” keeps the story on the small scale by focusing on a man partially alienized and the effect of his actions on the team. While this is a solid episode, it’s a pity that Threshold didn’t keep the momentum going: a gradual escalation in scale leading towards the season (and series) finale would have made these last few episode live up to the promise of the series.
What “Vigilante” does do well, however, is the character bits. Ramsey was deeply upset by what happened, and he reacted with snarky anger—his hard veneer masks real human compassion, as we saw in his interactions with Adams and Lucas when they were sick. Lucas, meanwhile, seems to be all better, but he’s still the peacemaker on the team. Caffrey’s arc, meanwhile focused on her relationship with the vigilante: sexually fraught and emotionally complicated.
Caffrey’s showdown with Sloan was tense, despite the cheesy effects. Caffrey treated Sloan as intelligent and logical, telling him his questions were flawed—and he responded with equal intelligence, as well as a healthy dose of moral soul-searching. Sloan may not know he’s killing innocent people, but his ability to see elevated theta waves seems useful. I agree with Caffrey: I would have elected to have him join the team. Although keeping him as a potential recurring guest star has promise, too.
Ramsey’s “relationship” with Kandy Kane brought his actions to Baylock’s attention. Baylock’s history with his son makes him sensitive to issues of substance abuse, but I’m not sure his reaction was an over-reaction. After all, the fate of the world rests, in part, on Ramsey’s shoulders, and he’s acting like every day is a Saturday-night kegger. I wonder if we would have gotten a tragic backstory for Ramsey, had the series continued. Or maybe he’s just a compulsive thrill-seeker and addict?
Regardless, we now have another strategy in play for possibly defeating the alien invasion. Last time, it was mild exposure to the alien signal, infection, and then a second dose to act as a vaccine. Now, we know that all it takes for humans to be naturally (partially) immune is a heart defect. Sadly, that’s not the kind of thing you’d want to give people: one of my favorite cousins died of a defect like that, and it was, as Fenway said, completely unexpected and sudden. Sort of like the death of Manning, which was a bit of a letdown for a man whose big-badness had been built up for a while.
Contingencies:
• Ramsey: “Whoa! Whoa! I had sex with an alien!” Kids, that’s why you should use protection on your one-night stands, please. It’s just common sense.
• I loved Lucas using the MRI machine as a weapon.
• We have not forgotten that Cavennaugh’s brother is still infected, and out there somewhere. Is he the new big bad, now that Manning is dead?
• This week’s wacky guest star: Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice.
Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)
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