Cal and Ben receive bad news; several passengers share alarming Callings; and Jared and Zeke work together to borrow someone from a nursing home.
Cal’s in bad shape, the cancer progressing. He is told he is about to die, and that he should be thinking in days and not weeks. It must be hard to give this news to patients over and over, but that’s what oncologists often have to do, and Dr. Alex Bates’s words are heartfelt.
Of course, it’s even harder to receive such news, and Ben and Cal are each in their own form of denial. Cal – who must feel how sick he is – begs to hide his expiration date from Michaela and Zeke because he doesn’t want their anniversary celebration to be about cancer Cal. Ben doesn’t want to share the prognosis either, because he’s still in real denial, clinging to the idea that something will save his son. Ben has reason to hope in miracles; Cal was saved before.
Michaela and Zeke are preparing to celebrate their third anniversary, when Jared shows up. He’s still mulling over the Registry position, offered to him in the previous episode, which will let him become a detective again. They invite him to the dinner, and he sticks around, making up for the fact that he skipped out on their wedding. However, what’s strange are the people who are not included. I can understand why Drea doesn’t come – as Drea works at the Registry, Michaela and she would be hiding their friendship. But where is Steve Stone, Mick’s Dad? And Zeke’s parents? Or even TJ – especially as the actor is getting paid for this episode, as he shows up later? Of course, I understand it’s inconvenient to have too many people in a scene, so I’ll stop fussing. Besides, Eden is adorable and seems to be at home with her real family now and steals the scene as she waves goodnight from her daddy's arms.
Eagan is working at the Masonic Temple of the Omega Order. It’s not really like Eagan to work in a soup kitchen, but being there gives him access to the basement. We meet his coworker Kenroy, also working there, who has a Jamaican accent and who doesn’t always answer to his name. It seems like this soup kitchen is a good place for those trying to stay off the grid.
The celebration is broken off by alarming Callings shared by the passengers. Moreover, Olive, Jared, and Zeke appear, sitting in the seats belonging to Mick, Cal and Ben (note Zeke no longer receives Callings). Everyone gets to work, with the females running up to Ben’s attic, while the males stay downstairs, taking care of Cal, who cannot manage the stairs.
The ladies and the gentlemen are involved in different Callings. Michaela and Saanvi follow the compass; it leads them to the boiler room where they first hid Thomas. The boiler room belonged to Kelly and her corrupt husband, who may still be in prison (but not for murdering her). Maybe it’s still tied up in legal issues? Anyway, Eagan smashes in from the other side, accompanied by Kenroy, who we learn is actually Leo, who was the lover Thomas could not find.
In the meantime, Cal and Ben figure out the seat with the call button belonged to Marko. Jared and Zeke go to the nursing home with the patients and take Marko on an unauthorized excursion. Saanvi thinks Marko’s probably in a perpetual state of Calling, which is better than being completely without brain function. I liked Jared and Zeke working together but when Jared returns Marko – Zeke, whose leg was shot in the previous episode, stays home – Jared runs into Registry guys and tells them he’s working there as a detective. Now, I don’t really like this; Jared should have done it before, and it seems at odds with the moral compass he was touting before, and if anyone looks at the timing of his acceptance and his run-in with the Registry guys, there will be trouble. Of course, they don't seem like the sort of guys who show attention to such detail, so I expect Jared will get away with it. And now he’s a detective with the Registry.
Mick, Saanvi, Eagan and Leo work together in the search for the sapphire, breaking through two walls. It helps a lot that Leo is a big guy, compared to the others, because the project requires height and muscle. A lot gets combined: volcanos, tarot, Al-Zuras, papyrus, Ma’at, and yes, they find the sapphire. Eagan, who we know has sticky fingers, runs off with it during some sort of rumbling, deliberately trapping the others in the room. It’s really rude, but everyone has to understand it’s probably not lethal as they have working phones. Eagan is not trying to kill them, but to slow them down as he makes off with the jewel. Leo is injured, and Mick and Saanvi are trapped inside. Of course Eagan is a jerk, but karma pays him back really quickly; he is lying unconscious in the motel.
Zeke is quietly helping Cal, taking on some of his pain, even from a distance. But he also feels the relief when Cal finally accepts some morphine. Is morphine as addictive when it’s via empathy? Finally, after the party, after the visit from Marko, Cal tells Olive how sick he is. Of course, she already knows.
The Calling near the end increases the stakes. It’s not just the passengers who are facing the death date. The passengers have all died once, so they’re all sort of on borrowed time. No, everyone is facing the death date.
Title musings: “Rendezvous” is the title of the episode. I found one definition for rendezvous with respect to flight, although it seemed to have more to do with space than airplane flight. It means bringing together two or more spacecraft. The word rendezvous has other meanings, mostly referring to meetings, sometimes romantic in nature. This is true for Leo and Thomas. But we also have the meetings of Michaela and Saanvi with Eagan, coming from different sides of a wall. And then there is the meeting of Cal with Marko, which, given the fact that Cal has been in the glow twice, and Marko seems to be stuck there, implies they are meeting in a higher plane than usual, and certainly with great difficulty, given their physical conditions. Anyway, the title is good enough.
Bits and pieces
We have several indications that it’s about a month since the last episode, because that’s how much time Cal has been receiving treatment. Let’s say, late January, 2023.
Michaela says repeatedly that she doesn’t want to be a parent. Now, with a death date hanging over her, that makes sense, but I wonder why she’s so adamant about it. Why bring it up at all?
Did Michaela and Saanvi walk all the way to that boiler room? Or did they use the compass in a car? Yes, I’m asking unfair questions.
Leo and Thomas were separated for years – for Leo, it has been nine years; for Thomas, four. It’s wonderful to see them reunited.
I don’t agree with Eagan on everything – I think he should be nicer to the Stones – but I have empathy for his attitude to the tiles he finds in the basement of the temple.
“Watson and Holmes” – uttered by Eagan, of course – is a perfect description for Saanvi and Michaela.
Eagan’s running off with the sapphire is completely consistent with his character. He’s stolen many times before. But he’s a thief, not a murderer.
Eden plays with a cell phone. Who gives a toddler a cell phone? Well, obviously Ben, but someone seems to be listening in.
In the last Calling in the episode, Alex Bates seems to see the passengers while the other non-passengers – Zeke, Jared, Olive – do not. I wonder if this is significant or a goof. It must be hard not to look at the camera sometimes.
Quotes
Alex: Sometimes, as much as we want to, we can’t buy more time.
Eagan: Most people respond to their name ten out of ten times, but you're more of an eight-out-of-ten guy. So, what gives?
Kenroy (Leo): My hearing's not so great.
Eagan: Right. What are you running from?
Ben: To my sister. My rock. To Zeke, my brother. Mick's rock.
Olive: And, uh, sometimes my rock.
Cal: I think what we're trying to say is that you rock.
Ben: Together, you've shown us how to live for today. And how to love.
Leo: I'm only down here to stop you from trespassing. And stealing! You cannot do that.
Eagan: Come on. We both know whoever built this place was flush with cash built off the backs of people like us. They won't miss an old tile.
Cal: The Death Date isn't just for the passengers. It's for everyone.
Michaela: It's for all. It's the whole world.
Overall rating
I really liked the idea that everyone’s death date is at stake, which makes up for the bits of logic that bothered me. Four out of four snow globes.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
Victoria, I really liked this one, too. I had no idea who Leo was to Thomas, but what a lovely way to pick up and resolve that thread -- it was beautiful. I'm also enjoying Eagan not because he's likeable, but because he's not. He's such an outspoken, ambiguous character. It's hard to tell which way he'll jump in any situation.
ReplyDeleteYou said, "Is morphine as addictive when it’s via empathy?" Lol. :) For Zeke's sake, I sure hope not.