After a brief flea issue at Joshua’s, Max heads to crash
to see Logan. For the usual work and sexual tension, only this time Alec’s in
crash and he’s just done the big manly “rawr, I drive you away for your own
protection” thing because he’s made in a lab, has people trying to kill him,
killed the last person
he loved, etc. He shares his opinion
of how dangerous they are to humans with Max, referring to Logan and she
bristles. Of course, as happens whenever Max has an angst lens cast on her
relationship, she decides to run and hide, telling Logan she’s tired. Logan
wants to know what’s wrong and grabs her arm.
VIRUS DRAMA PANIC. And Logan grabbed her to keep her from
leaving? Since when is that a natural act for him?
Logan collapses and is rushed into hospital, unconscious
and dying. Max panics outside his door and asks his doctor (who is in the know)
about it – she recognises the virus’s base, a biowarfare agent with no cure,
but the reason Max can be a carrier without dying is because she is a
transgenic and has immunity. Max suggests a blood transfusion of another
transgenic. She calls Alec but on the way he is ambushed by a huge squad of
armed police.
At White’s base, the worker drone transgenic he captured
last week and experimented on is healthy and doing well – not suffering any
lingering effects from the snake poison that was supposed to kill him. White
warns him to keep it secret.
Max becomes more nervous at the hospital as Alec doesn’t
show and goes to collect Joshua instead (though why Mantecore’s first creation non-soldier
would be immune to biowarfare agents is beyond me). And Joshua, outside
avoiding the fleas, is approached by a dog – the seeing eye dog for Annie, who
is blind. Max gets Joshua to the hospital and they transfuse Logan.
Meanwhile Alec is picked out of an identity parade – for the
murder of Timothy Ryan.
One of his twin, Ben’s victims
At the hospital the doctor tells Max that Logan is going
to be ok and is asking for her. But she won’t go in – Logan is fine, this time,
but she doesn’t know about next time. She can’t see him again. She asks
Original Cindy to pass on her happiness that he’s ok and leaves. At work the
next day Logan keeps ringing Max and Original Cindy tells Max if she is going
to stay away from Logan, she needs to give him an explanation. Max calls him
and they have the conversation (haven’t they had this or something similar
quite often in the past) it’s too hard, it’s too dangerous, they can’t keep
relying on miracles. It’s actually a poignant and well acted scene I’d have
more time for if we hadn’t been doing this several times all season.
White has an ominous meeting with the priestess about the
transgenic worker surviving the poison and adds that Max is special because she
didn’t even exhibit symptoms. He says that Sandeman made them immune and this
changes everything – they need to escalate whatever they’re planning.
On the topic of pointless side plots; Joshua and Annie meet
again and she invites him to dinner, which turns into him inviting her so he
doesn’t have to go outside and be seen. And at Crash Sketchy tells Cindy and
Max that Alec has been arrested. Max doesn’t care, she’s busy wallowing in her
relationship angst, but Cindy reminds her of the dangers of exposure.
So it’s her posing as his public defender when he’s lead,
chained into a room. Except seeing as he’s been accused of murder, has been
IDed and there’s a perfect DNA match, she’s not there to help him, she’s there
to rant at him. He asks if she really think he could murder someone in cold
blood
Ok, record scratch, “you really think I could murder
someone in cold blood.” I’m sorry have we been watching the same programme?
Manticore? Genetically engineered, trained and indoctrinated super soldiers? Is
this ringing a bell with anyone?
Anyway, back to our regular scheduled canon mangling, Alec protests the man he was supposed to have murdered had his teeth ripped from his head. Which Max realises is an act of Ben, not Alec. And, besides, the man as killed while Alec was still in Manticore. Convinced, Max takes out the guard and they sneak out and make their dramatic exit.
Back at Max’s Max tells Alec about Logan and her. She
talks about Ben and his need for answers and making up stories and faith to
explain why they were there, how he lost his mind when the outside word
presented too many unknowns for him to explain – and how Max killed him. She
cries and Alec holds her.
At Joshua’s, Joshua has dinner with Annie and she
explains how she went blind – after the Pulse an outbreak of measles with no
medicine. Joshua talks her through his paintings, describing the colours as he
runs her hand over them.
Max and Alec talk plans, having Alec lay low and stay at
Joshua’s for a while until they can resolve things. He says it must be hard for
her having him around with Ben’s face and so many bad memories. She comments it
may be why she treats him harshly (or “such a bitch” as she puts it) sometimes
he counters it could be because he’s a pain in the arse and hugs her – and Logan,
in the background, watches them. ZOMG love triangle! (ugh, no no no, and again,
no. It’s not like Logan doesn’t already know that Max regards transgenics as
siblings). Moving in with Joshua he looks for the TV – which Joshua doesn’t
have, he gives him a book instead. And Alec sees Joshua’s painting of Annie,
Alec thinks it’s a bad idea and tries to talk to Joshua about her but Joshua
says he knows he has to lay low – but he’s tired of it.
White continues his escalation with his very trusting and
simple worker transgenic. He takes him near a sector police fence and tells him
he has to get over it, once he’s over it he’ll be free. But he has to be
careful of “enemy soldiers” called Sector Police who will kill him. He wishes
the transgenic luck and the poor, trusting man thanks him. He gets out the car
and walks to the fence, people noticing him and shying away, a crowd gathers to
stare. When he reaches the fence gate he forces it open, setting off an alarm.
Police arrive and attack him, beating him with clubs until he picks up 2 of
them and throws them – the remaining police shoot him multiple times, needing
several bullets to kill him and stop him coming.
At Joshua’s, Alec introduces Joshua to the television
(which he considers loud and distracting for his reading) and welcomes him to “the
world of the attention deficit” when a new broadcast comes on with recorded
footage of the transgenic fighting. At Jam Pony, the same news plays, watched
by everyone and Logan sees the report as
well. Lots of shock and horror. Alec prepares to leave and Joshua tells him to
lay low (nice turn around) and Annie knocks at the door. Alec tells Joshua to
send her away, with the drama he’s just going to get her killed – send her away
before she falls in love, wants to meet his family and gets killed. Joshua tells
Annie he has to go back home… and she turns to leave, brushing away a tear. She
asks for one thing before she goes – she wants to see his face with her hands.
Joshua gets Alec to stand in his place and she touches Alec’s face.
The news broadcast goes on, even identifying the barcode
on the back of the transgenic’s neck and the reports of what it was for. And
Alec calls Max to help comfort Joshua after Annie. Max comforts him and tells
him he has to do what’s best for the people he cares about even if it hurts
(Max, transplanting her issues onto Joshua since the beginning of season 2).
But while comforting him she notices Joshua’s medallion – it has the modified
caduceus, the same one White’s cult uses and is cut into her hand. Sandeman
gave it to Joshua.
That night she sneaks into Logan’s apartment to add the
medallion and draw a link between the breeding cult and Sandeman on Logan’s
plotting whiteboard. Except Logan was hiding in the dark waiting for her. And
Logan is very very drunk (more than a little upset by Max ending their
relationship and refusing to talk about it). She tries to leave and Logan keeps
drunkenly staggering into her way – he can keep her there all night because she
daren’t get close enough to touch him (heh, she has Alec on speed dial, I’d
drop him). And Logan raises the idea of there being someone else – Alec. And Max
lets him believe it because “if you care about someone you’ll do what’s best
for them even if it hurts”
Oh dear gods save me from fools who think it’s romantic
to lie to people, emotionally batter them for the sake of “protecting” them. This
may be one of the worst tropes in romantic fiction, ever. She leaves
She goes to angst on top of the space needle and Alec joins her.
Annie talks about blindness issues which is a nice
addition, but it’s hard to miss the fact she has been included simply because
she can interact with Joshua without seeing he’s a transgenic. She’s part of
the story because she can be easily deceived. We do get some nice dystopia insight from her
story.
Things really moved forward this episode with actual plot
and touching on a lot of issues – from Joshua’s, to Alec’s to Max and Logan and
finally the big big big reveal which is a major turning point in the series.
Shame this season is nearly over and there never was a
third season. If they’d cut out some of the ridiculous, pointless episodes and
moved this to episode, say, 6 or 7 – or even 10 – then built the rest of the
season from here it may have been redeemable. But it’s too little too late to
get the show back on track.
And, as for Max and Logan – I’m tired of them replaying
the same old tune time and again. And Logan thinking Max is with Alec? Really?
