This was a hard review for me to write, because I am finding the episodes difficult to watch. Not because they are not up to snuff, but because they are so well acted and work so hard to stick to “reality” while dealing in science fiction. I’m not a fan of watching people unravel.
And Rosen is unraveling. That’s what happens when your only child dies and you feel responsible for it, especially if you are a man. You have to do something about it even if doing something goes against everything that you are. Yes, he is also saving the world. I'm sure that is the justification he uses to himself, but that is the justification Stanton Parrish is using as well. Rosen may save the world, but he is losing himself.
This Week’s Superpower
Our new superpower is the ability to create alternate realities for people. Vince has Skylar and Zoe living in an alternate world where Zoe is happy and Skylar is working to create whatever machine Parrish requests. It must take enormous amounts of energy to maintain such an illusion over a long period of time. I wonder what the downside of his power is? He was under pressure and threat from Parrish and took those threats back to Zoe and Skylar’s world when Skylar refused to continue. I was very happy when they were rescued. Skylar is probably the only one who can stop Parrish.
Our Alpha Team
Rosen definitely went to the dark side and he took Hicks, Nina and Rachel with him. I could understand why he might go after Parrish with his Alpha team, but it didn't make sense to leave out Bill, Kat and Gary. If Bill wasn’t on board that should have told Rosen something. And Kat could have been killed when Mitchell was taken. I know Kat is new but sacrificing people is what Parrish does, not Rosen. He also seemed willing to sacrifice Nina — and she was willing to do whatever Rosen asked. Only Rachel was able to see how off track they were. Hicks is just as much buried in his grief as Rosen. The torturing of Scipio was way over the line. He’s a bad guy but when we use that to justify our actions where does it stop? To Parrish, everyone who doesn’t believe in his dream is a bad guy. The end result of all this tragic foolishness is that Rosen has now been shot. He can’t really die if the show is to continue, can he?
The Anti-Alpha Team
Parrish is willing to kill millions of “normals” (that's us folks) in order to create a new world. He’s created “transition” shelters to help Alphas adjust to this new world. I think he might be surprised at how angry “his people” might be at him for killing their loved ones. His band of people may be made up of those who are alienated from friends and family but there are probably lots of Alphas that have large groups of loved ones that are normal. Not to mention, that it might be hard to run the world with so many people dead. My friend who works in public service says that the real problem isn’t going to be if we lose 99% of the population, it will be if we lose 40% because we will still have lots of people who need our modern world but we won’t have enough people to keep it running.
It was interesting that Mitchell didn’t seem to mind being chipped. He said that he finally felt like himself but it didn’t take long for Parrish to fill him up with memories again. It looked to me that Mitchell was willing to go back to Parrish to help Dr. Rosen. There may be many Alphas who want to chip themselves, or the photic stimulator may be adjusted to help Alphas have better control over their powers. I’m not sure I want many of them to get more powerful but that might just be “normal” prejudices speaking.
Bits and Pieces
Bill looked so happy walking with his wife and Adam but then came the explosion. Is there any chance of a normal life for our team?
Terrorists apparently like anniversaries. Parrish is planning to end the world on October 22, the 150 year anniversary of his rebirth as an Alpha and the date of the airing of the next episode.
The transition shelter is supposed to be Danielle’s idea and legacy. Was she really on board for killing millions of people?
Of course the grid protectors are the mini photic stimulators. Someone should have thought that through — maybe Rosen if he wasn’t so messed up.
Quotes
Bill: “You either grab an oar or get the hell out of the boat. We don’t have time for anything cute.”
John: “How about we switch. You drive and I’ll boss you around.”
Kat: “My feet won’t reach the pedals.”
Hicks: “You just don’t want to get your hands dirty.”
Rachel: “Not this dirty.”
Bill: “You’re a bunch of lying asses. But you know what, I still need you.”
Gary: “Bill, it’s my rescue.”
Mitchell (from Parrish): “I have a plan to change the world. It’s just a shame that so many people have to die.”
Mitchell (from Parrish): “I’m going to watch the world change with a god’s eye view.”
To be fair to Rosen, he did try to get Kat off the transfer team... but she really wanted to go. And Gary probably wasn't around when he put this plan in motion (with his mom in the hospital), plus he can't keep a secret!
ReplyDeleteWas relieved to see them free Skylar, but also relieved to learn she was a prisoner and not helping Parrish willingly! I didn't like the idea of an "evil" Skylar!
Rosen unravelling is definitely scary to watch... :o(
@Crazy Cris. I guess I felt that he didn't try very hard and didn't think to try and bring the whole team in. Splitting up like that made everyone weaker. I wasn't looking forward to evil Skylar either. I thought that maybe Parrish had Zoe captive. I'm certainly looking forward to the finale!
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