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Alphas: God's Eye

Rosen: “What the hell am I doing? I’ve never stolen anything in my life.”

Seriously?! Seriously?! Well talk about your cliff hangers. When I got to the end of this episode I really couldn’t believe that it was the last one of the season. I actually went and checked several sources just to make sure.

I guess the whole series could end this way, with everyone dead, but that would definitely suck. They saved the world but killed themselves? And will Rosen wake up an Alpha? I kind of thought he might already be one. Parrish can’t die but would his ability (amped up) kill him? Can you heal and not die extra well? Despite the nasty cliffhanger, this was a good episode and Rosen actually redeemed himself as well as Cameron for good measure.

This Week’s Superpower

The new superpower this week is being able to reach into someone and heal them, or at least cauterize their arteries so they don’t bleed to death. Talk about alternative medicine. We also saw, with the homeless man who woke up an Alpha, what the possibilities are of the photo stimulators. It will be interesting (if we get to see it) to find out how many people wake up in the station as new Alphas.

Our Alpha Team

I can’t say enough about the calibre of the acting on this show. Each character is believable and there were some stellar performances this week. David Strathairn, John Pyper-Ferguson and Ryan Cartwright were just spectacular, and the rest of the cast weren’t slouches either. I thought that Kathleen Munroe did an excellent job of playing the Dani in Rosen’s head rather than the “real” Dani.

Our team is still fractured from the betrayals of last week, but they managed to work together to save most of the world. Nina is obviously not over Cameron, but she is managing her feelings for the most part. Rachel is in love with John and vice versa, but she stuck with her loyalty which is to Rosen and then the team. I felt for Kat as she confronted the part of the team that had betrayed her. What they did to her really was quite callous, and in a lot of ways she is defenseless. On the plus side, Bill can throw Kat into a group of bad guys and she can take them out. That was pretty cool. Skylar worked well with the team, and if we get another season I would like to see her as a permanent fixture. Hicks is still in a funk of grief, but he might wake up after this and Gary is just Gary. I loved the scenes with his mother and Dr. Rosen.

Rosen staggered through the streets of New York talking to Dani/himself. I was surprised that nobody paid any attention to him, especially as he was bleeding. I know it’s New York but you think at least a police officer would be interested. I really thought Rosen was going to kill Parrish and then die. I’m glad he decided not to go through with it, but I’m not sure I like the ending we got any better.

The Anti-Alphas

Well the world didn’t end, but you have to admit that it was a pretty clever plan to get society to sabotage itself. The hook-up to the ancient generator was a great back-up. We just don’t make things like we used to. It looked like Parrish was even having second thoughts. I was surprised that Parrish was counting on Rosen to lead the survivors. It was smart of him to understand that they would need a different leader to move past the tragedy he was creating. I said last week that they hadn’t considered how angry most Alphas would be at losing their loved ones, but Parrish obviously had and knew that he could no longer be at the forefront of change. He was willing to sacrifice himself and his loved ones. Zealots really are the most dangerous kind of people.

Bits and Pieces

Gary hasn’t been affected by the photo stimulators. They finally get him used to people and then they kill them all off.

John told Rachel that he loved her. She made him say it twice.

Bill knows how to prioritize. I admire that.

Loved the bit about the ceiling in Grand Central Station even though I can tell you that most of that filming was in Union Station in Toronto.

I didn’t know what a BOLO was: be on the lookout.

Cool shot through the floors to the generator.

The God’s Eye puzzle was intriguing. The church bells were a nice red herring and the Empire State Building made sense. I’m glad it was something more interesting.

Quotes

Kat: “The only people I know are in that room and they hung me out to dry.”

Rosen: “How is she doing?”
Gary: “Oh, she’s boring.”

Gary: “I don’t like horses. They look confused.”

Skylar: “He’s so pretty, but so useless.”

Rosen: “He said he painted them that way because he wanted people to see the stars from the other side of the sky.”

Gary: "You’re bleeding and you’re alone. You’re not fine. You help everyone on the team, like you’ve helped me and my mom helps me. So now it’s fair Dr. Rosen that I help you. I’m not going to go anywhere. It’s my turn. It’s my turn.”

Kat: “So anybody have any gum?”

Skylar: “It’s old. Really old. Old tech is tough.”

Parrish: “In a few minutes I’ll be a mass murderer. I’ll have served my purpose. You’ll be the man they need. I want you to lead them.”

Rosen: “No, I’m not going to do it. I’m not that man.”

Gary: “Oh, it’s time.”

11 comments:

  1. Good review, Doc.
    I like this ep, too.
    But not as an end to a season though.
    Perhaps Gary was not affected by the stimulator because his mind is already wired. :)
    I'm just a little confused on a scene with Kat where she remembered something about generators and stuff being underground.
    We were made to know that she forgets everything about anything after a month; only retains the physical aspect of whatever she learned which at times confuses even herself that she knew those stuff.
    Whew! Now, even I is now confused. hahaha.

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  2. Thanks for the thoughtful review, Doc!

    We did film a lot of the final sequence in the Toronto Train Station -- good eye! It's an amazing building, and they were so kind to let us film there.

    I just wanted to tell you that the details about Grand Central Station in the episode were actually taken from real life. 1. The ceiling was painted backwards, and the artist did say it was to show "God's eye view." 2. There is a generator called the m24 deep inside the station, to provide power to the train system in an emergency. It looks pretty much like the one we created for our show, just a little smaller.

    Thanks for watching

    Bruce Miller
    Executive Producer
    Alphas

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  3. Wow, Doc! You never know who's reading. Very, very cool.

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  4. @GentleReader Ummm, wow! I am from the GTA so I have really enjoyed seeing places I know in this show. I also appreciate how hard this show works to stay close to reality while taking us outside the normal, everyday.
    @PlatinumRose I think that bits and pieces of information float to the surface for Kat but she doesn't know why she knows them.
    @ChrisB Ummm, wow!

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  5. Yei! If there is a website that deserves producers and creators reading the reviews and what the fans say it's this one! Good to know you are interested in your fans Mr. Miller!
    I just wanted to add that I am not so sure Nina loves Cameron. Ever since she held Dani's hands (or vice versa) when she died I have suspected Dani passed on her own emotions to Nina, or at least unblocked/clarified something Nina already felt. I don't doubt that Nina has feelings for Cameron, but if the writers do decide to explore this further next season then I personally hope to be wrong and that her emotions are completely hers. I mean, no guy - no matter how annoyingly pretty and gifted he may be - deserves that much bad luck in love.

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  6. I really hope we get another season of this show! I've enjoyed this past season tremendously, and I really want to see where it goes from here. Even without the potential "amping" up of our team, seeing how they all deal with the fallout of their choices this season could make for some great drama. How do you move forward when you feel your teammates betrayed you, and your therapist has abused your trust and risked your mental and physical well-being for questionable ends? How do you come to terms with how far you were willing to go to in the service of the "greater good"? So many questions and possibilities.

    Plus, I'd really hate to see this great series end on the bleakest note since Space: Above and Beyond. Oy!

    Thanks for your reviews this season, Doc. I haven't been commenting much, because I've often been behind on my viewing, but I've definitely been reading and enjoying your insights and reactions. Of course, I'm sure you are much relieved to be back down to two shows in your reviewing roster!

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  7. Great review Doc! I too found it a really good episode, and I'm pretty ok with it as a season finally, but definitely NOT as a series finally! So the suits over at SyFy had better give us another season! (seriously, they took away Eureka this year, they wouldn't go and leave us bereft of Alphas as well, would they?!)

    Re: Gary. I think the fact he wasn't affected probably has to do with the way his brain is wired. We already know that he can't be pushed by Nina. Perhaps this is another manifestation of that difference?

    As for the others, I seriously doubt they're dead! All the Alphas we've seen get exposed to this tech get knocked out and then wake up after a bit with their powers changed, concentrated. So these guys will wake up. Will be interesting to see how it affects their abilities! I'm a bit worried about Rachel, how will being zapped with this twice1 affect her??? As for Rosen, I'm currently more worried about that gunshot wound than his being zapped (he's probably a latent Alpha anyways).

    I definitely got more involved with these characters this season than in Season 1. Bring on Season 3!!! :o)

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  8. I think I can explain the issue on Kat's memory. I'm not a psychologist,but, from what I know, there are several types of long-term memory. First, there is procedural memory, which is not the ability to remember every episode of all Law and Orders and CSIs, but the memory you use for things you do without consciously thinking, like riding a bike, playing the guitar, or driving. Kat seems not to have any problem on that.

    Then there's declarative memory, which, again, is not the ability to recite the declaration of independence by heart, but the kind of memory you can verbalize. It's divided into semantic memory and episodic memory. Episodic memory is the one associated with experience. This is Kat's problem. So when you don't trust a person, it's probably because they did something to you and you remember. Semantic memory is what you use for general facts and meaning of things and words. So, even if you've never received red roses, you may know that this means passion, so you know whoever gave them to you is in love with you.

    The thing about the generator seems to fall in these last category to me. That would explain why Kat knew the high-density-bone guy wouldn1t float, but couldn't tell if she could swim. Again, I'm no psychologist, so if anyone wants to correct me, feel free.

    Mr. Miller, if you want to use this explanation on the show, be my guest. Just name an awesome character Gus and I'll be happy. If you cast Naveen Andrews, even better, because I look like him and I may fool somebody into thinking Alphas are real.

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  9. Now, for the episode, I enjoyed almost every minute of it. I just hope they didn't kill everybody. I'd be siriously pissed.

    I liked that Rosen's subconscious had solved the puzzle long before he realized, given that Dani led him to Central Station.

    I'll miss your reviews, Doc. I'm crossing my fingers for a 3rd season.

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  10. Thanks for the explanation re: Kat, Gus. It makes sense.

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  11. "Shiny" (as from Firefly) that Gentle Reader was Exec Producer Bruce Miller, guess didn't stop show from being cancelled. Sigh. Such a good show. Any followup after tonight's Big Bang Theory where Sheldon finally phones the writer to find out how the cliff-hanger would have been resolved?

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