Max gets an urgent call from Logan – catastrophe has
struck. He sounds panic, there’s crashing and things breaking and the phone
goes dead. Naturally Max launches into action, crossing the town to reach his
penthouse and finding it in disarray. Logan is on the floor – with a little
girl.
Turns out it’s his cousin’s sister’s daughter and Logan has been stuck with babysitting and needs help because he can’t handle the child. He needs help (I’m going to give the show the benefit of the doubt and assume it’s Max’s day off and she isn’t actually blowing off her job so she can babysit)
This ends up with Max telling the Little Mermaid story to
Britney – in a totally natural segue to today’s transgenic. Cut to a group of
fishermen pulling up their nets on shore and discovering they’ve snagged a body
(something they consider more irritating than shocking, which is another of
Dark Angel’s wonderful hints about what society has become that it did so well
in the first season). But when examining her they find she’s alive – and she
has gills in her side.
This info gets passed on to Ames White (remember him?)
who sets his agency to find her
Back at Logan’s, a much happier Britney leaves with her
mother and, before she goes, she kisses Max then kisses Logan. Seconds later,
Logan begins to feel feverish and weak, a rash appears on his arm and face;
they quickly decide that the virus Max is carrying was transmitted through
Britney’s kiss Max calls Asha and they rush the unconscious Logan into
hospital.
In desperation, Max goes to the chapel to pray and beg
for Logan’s life. A moment later, Asha comes in to tell Max that he’s going to
be all right. Turns out Logan caught chicken pox off Britney, despite his
childhood immunity (what? He’s exposed to the disease and within hours he has
rashes and is passing out? What kind of mutant super virus is this?) Logan goes to see Max but she’s spooked and
won’t let him near her, or drive home with her., her panic over him possibly
having the Manticore virus frightening her badly.
Meanwhile, at Jam Pony, Sketchy and Alec end up inviting
Normal to come to a strip club with them to avoid being saddled with a last
minute delivery. When they get there it’s clear Alec is both a regular and
doesn’t bother to remember the names of the girls there – and they find the “mermaid”
in a tank. As she swims back and forth, Alec’s X5 vision notices the barcode on
the back of her neck.
At home, preparing for a bath she tells Original Cindy
that she went to the chapel and believes she got a miracle – Logan’s Manticore
virus being turned into chickpox (I rather think Logan touching something Max
has touched would result in Logan being dead several times over by now. The
miracle would be that he’s not already dead). She doesn’t want to ruin the
second chance. Which is when Alec arrives to tell her about the mermaid. At the
same time, White gets a report of where she is as well and is told there’s
already a man onto it.
Switch to the club where we see a man going into the club after having ripped down a poster of the “mermaid” and Alec and Max following him in. Except Max can’t go in – no women allowed in unless they’re dancing and there’s a line out back for women who want to dance in the club, they show up each night hoping for a chance. She’s reluctant but Alec talks her into it. She goes round the back and there’s a large crowd of women vying to get in, showing their bodies to the bouncer in the alley. He turns the women away, saying they’re full. Max walks up to him, removing her t-shirt (she has a tank-top on underneath and yes the camera pans up and down and settles on her backside) and she walks past the bouncer, he doesn’t stop her, just watches her looking faintly stunned.
Inside Max shows the mermaid her barcode and they
communicate with Manticore hand signals (the mermaid talks using whale song).
Max finds Alec with a dancer (who he shoos off when he sees Max approaching
with massive disapproval) and starts to yell at him for being distracted when
he points out someone he’s pegged as White’s man – the one we saw go in before
them, with no drink and no girls. Max pretends – awfully – to be a dancer with
Alec. They snark back and forth, Sketchy and Normal leave since Normal blew all
his money on dancers (which we got a montage of) and they see Max pretending to
be a dancer.
They see the man makes his move towards the tank and Max
intercepts him, pretending to be a dancer who has been groped – and Alec swoops
in pretending to be a bouncer, pushing him outside. Outside he actually manages
to get Alec in a hold until Max intervenes and knocks him aside – damaging his
rubber suite and revealing gills in his side. The suit circulates water around
him, without the suit he can’t breathe. They hear gun shots inside, leaving
Alec to help the merman, she runs inside as the crowd streams out and finds the
tank empty.
They take him to Logan’s who is being treated by Asha
(and not only had the quickest onset of chicken pox ever but is now totally
cured without a single crusty spot either! Maybe Max’s right, maybe it is
divine intervention because nothing else explains this) they put the merman in
the shower, the water running over him allows him to breathe while Max and Logan
discuss a local base they feel White must have since there’s so much transgenic
activity in Seattle.
Asha repairs the merman’s rubber suit while Max and Logan
have the “it’s too dangerous” “but I have to” discussion for the 86785786990th
time. Seriously, Logan, give it a rest, you have never ever won this argument. Merman grabs Max and Alec and leads them down
to the water to see his eggs. Yes, the merfolk lay eggs. Eggs. I’m not even
touching this one (they’re not even fishy eggs! They’re hard shelled bird or
reptile eggs! And her genetic code has changed this much that she lays eggs,
but she still has breasts? What, is she a monotreme? And they’re like a tenth
the size of a new born baby! How much do they grow?! Ok I’ll stop poking now)
At white’s base, White has a phone call with his wife and
young son which contrasts sharply with the way he treats the mermaid – treating
her as a thing and with utter contempt. And confirming that the merfolk are
incapable of speaking English – or human languages.
They raid the base, taking down guards and having the
merman swim inside through the water pipes of the old steam plant to open a door
and let them in. They rescue her – but the alarm goes off when the guard they
took out is noticed missing. They escape by ramming a fork lift into a steam
tank
Happy ever after moment (did the babies hatch and become
minnows? Ai…).
The strip club wasn’t handled as well as it could have
been at all. If they were going to have a strip club and felt it necessary,
fine – but Alec not being able to remember the dancer’s name? Having the
wonderful chance to explore the world and class with the women trying to get in
to dance and not touching it? Dark Angel has been very good at this in season
1, and seem to try a lot less in season 2. And we certainly didn’t need the
slow camera pan on Jessica Alba removing clothing. Or Normal and his string of
dances
I suppose this is a BELIEVABLE transgenic creature they’d
create. Though one has to think that an acquatic, yet air breathing, transgenic
based on whales or dolphins or seals would be better – then it could speak
English and actually function on land. And not lay eggs. Or if it’s meant to be
entirely water based, why not some webbed hands or feet? (And don’t see it’s so
it can fit in with humanity – they communicate with whale song and can’t
breathe air). Yes, I know, nitpicky and you’re not meant to take the show that
seriously – but it’s the gap between season 1 and season 2 thinking from the
writers that really shows.
