Matt runs from outpost to outpost in the ruined city
replacing the batteries in their massively huge radios; Dani and Ben are
playing the geekiest word games known to mankind to keep themselves amused.
Pope’s berserkers want to know why they need to be on watch with the Volm’s
security field but Pope agrees with Tom on this one – no matter how good your
security is, extra look out can never hurt, especially with the Espheni attack
expected. And for Pope and his gang, Matt has some tasty treats he’s stolen as
well as the batteries.
A sniper watches their position – one that seems to have
human hands in a human glove.
Tom watches Hal make some great progress with being able
to walk again, though Maggie and Hal are both troubled by it, before going to
talk to Marina. He’s worried that most of the information about how everything
works and the whole war is held in the hands of the military, there’s only about
4 civilians who have the same level of knowledge – and they need someone who
can stand up to the military (especially General Bressler who isn’t the
brightest bulb). They walk past Jeaniene who is making a metal tree to
represent – life, liberty, that no damn green stuff grows around there – pick one.
Now Tom needs a speech to celebrate the creation of really ugly metal things
Back out in the ruins, Crazy Lee steps out to take care
of business – and the sniper opens up. Tector covers Pope going to check on
her. The bullets didn’t go through her vest – but she can’t see. She’s fallen
back and a spike in the ground has stabbed her head; she can’t feel it. Pope
runs back to Matt and tells him they need a hacksaw.
In the war room, Tom is told of the situation and he and
Weaver insist on going out to see what’s happening when they learn it’s the 2nd
Massachusetts under fire. Tom and Weaver head out and get a brief recap of the
situation from Ben: several hidden opponents. After exchanging lots of fire
back and forth, Tom manages to shoot someone. They go to his body and find – a human
being.
Ben votes for talking to them and Tom agrees though
Weaver thinks that if they wanted to talk they would have, y’know, talked
rather than opened fire. Tom points out with the Espheni planning to invade,
they really don’t need this.
Matt brings a chainsaw to Pope and they realise the rebar
in Crazy Lee’s head goes all the way through – in the back, out her temple.
Away from the action, Anne is still all kinds of creeped
out by her baby, Alexis – including her apparently being able to predict the
prick of a blood test needle – saying “don’t”. Then to really up the creepy –
she stands up in her crib. Not bad for a few day old baby. Anne,
understandably, freaks out a little.
Lourdes comes in and finds Anne freaking out – and is
concerned since it’s the second time a freaking Anne has tried to convince her
she’s fine. Anne tells Lourdes what happened and how abnormal it is. Lourdes
assures the distressed Anne that she believes her (in a tone of voice that begs
the question).
Out on the battlefield, Tom tries to talk to the
attacking humans, who keeps firing. So Weaver shoots a bazooka at them. Next
time, talk. Amazingly the shooter – a woman - survives Weaver’s “diplomacy” and
can be taken for questioning.
Back with Crazy Lee, Pope saws through the rebar (actually
it really looks like he’s cutting his own hand off) while Matt tries to
distract her. But the story she tells about her dog ends up having the moral “it
was her time” which she tries to pass on to Pope. He stops sawing – and Matt
tells him to keep sawing, he’s not letting Lee die in that hole.
Lourdes takes her concerns to Tom – telling Tom that she
thinks Anne may be post-partum or even succumbing to a psychosis; that what
Anne claims is impossible and that she already did all the tests on Alexis –
she’s fine
Next drama – Hal is packing to leave and Maggie catches
him at it. She demands to know why and he admits to seeing Karen, that she’s
planted something inside him and controlling him. Maggie thinks it’s easily
fixed, let’s make with the cutting – but Hal sees himself as the president’s
son with ridiculously high security clearance and he could be the mole.
All possibly true (except him being the mole) but none of that means he shouldn’t just go and try and have the wormy thing cut out.
Maggie starts to storm off but then returns – every relationship
she has had ended like this, something happened she didn’t like and she bailed,
she won’t let it happen again. To be fair, I’m PRETTY sure the “something
happened” in past relationships wasn’t “my boyfriend was infected by an alien
lifeform that is causing him to betray humanity and hump his ex.” Pretty sure.
Time for an awkward conversation – Tom goes to see Anne
being nice as nice can be and very apologetic for neglecting her and, by the
way, Lourdes thinks you’re… having problems. Tom promises to keep an open mind
and Anne tells him their daughter isn’t human. Not that open!
Cut to Tom changing Alexi’s nappy and dressing her for
bed, she acts like a normal baby. Anne assures him she’s not crazy but Tom sees
her as a perfect, beautiful baby. He asks Anne not to let the aliens take her
baby away from her. She repeats that she really isn’t crazy.
Elsewhere in the hospital, Lourdes talks to Pope about
the rebar in Lee’s skull – as well as the damage to her sight it’s also
ruptured an artery and the only thing keeping Lee alive is that it’s blocking
the hole. They’re not going to be able to remove it
And the sniper regains conscious and is very
uncooperative. Bressler has been unable to make her talk (no surprises given
that he’s pretty much unable to do anything) beyond name (Catherine Fisher),
rank and serial number, so Tom sits and talks with her. He guesses that she has
been watching them and saw the Rebel Skitters, the spiked kids and the Volm and
assumed they were collaborators – he explains the situation. Catherine doesn’t
agree with that – the only good alien is a dead one nor does she respect Tom’s
supposed rank. She says she works for the real president – Benjamin Hathaway
Who was the actual president before this mess. And that
could mean that her squad is running back to said president to report them as
collaborators. Weaver and Tom want to send someone to set the record straight. Bressler
believes it’s all fiction and they can just ignore it.
Really? Does Bressler just LOVE being wrong that much?
Of course it doesn’t change that they don’t know where
the president is and Bressler says the sniper won’t talk unless they take the
gloves off. Or she’d be an ideal person to send with a messenger to physically
take them to the president.
Leaving that drama alone, it’s time for Lourdes to talk
to Anne, who welcomes her kindly and they have a drink. Thank gods, I was
waiting for Anne to pull the “how very dare you!” line but she didn’t. That’s
some redemption. Anne says that looking at Alexis now, she looks perfect.
Lourdes believes that for 2 years all any of them has done is run and that now
they’ve had chance to catch their breath and stop running, it’s catching up
with them. Anne cries and Lourdes offers to stay with her all night. But then
Anne realises that Tom may have sent her – that Tom doesn’t trust her with her
own baby and she demands Lourdes leave. Gah and it was going so well.
Away from that drama, Weaver talks to Jeanine, his daughter, about her ugly tinfoil tree and she doubts the point of it – if the Espheni are going to kill them all isn’t it really pointless to be making metal topiary? (yes). But Weaver reassures her that while they’re alive they have to keep on living and doing what they do. He did not add that it’s a shame what she does is so damn ugly.
On to the hospital with Tom seeing Matt who hasn’t left
Lee’s bedside, he gives him some words of encouragement and how sometimes all
you can do is be there for someone. He tells Lee she could be a real pain in
the arse, but she fought like a banshee – and kisses her forehead. As he
leaves, Pope (who isn’t dead) has a rant – his berserkers are working on
projects or on the front line with neither rest nor explanation. Tom just tells
him he’s right and leaves.
Lee and Pope then have the chance to make their own
goodbyes in a very good, touching scene before she dies, giving him her
necklace. He puts it on Matt.
Back to Hal and Maggie and Hal’s talking about turning
himself in and Maggie’s trying to talk him out of it, given the whole fact the
mole murdered the vice president
Tom is having his schedule organised by Marina and she
discusses who he will choose for Vice President now Arthur’s dead – and he says
her. She splutters that she’s not ready but he kind of brushes it off with a “you’ll
be fine”; he could have spared her a little more reassurance than that.
Time for Tom to give his speech around the ugly metal
tree. After starting a boilerplate one that Marina had prepared for him he
tucks it away and speaks without a speech. He gives a much more powerful
speech, not one with false hope but one about the fallen and the lost and a
tribute to Lee. They will inscribe the names of all the fallen loved ones on
the leaves of the tree. While the choir sings they hang up leaves for the
people they’ve lost and keepsakes - some of which they have kept since season 1.
During the ceremony, Hal begins to walk towards Tom –
when they’re interrupted by an explosion. The Espheni attack. People scatter to
where they need to be and in the dungeon Catherine yells to be let out so she
can fight. In Anne’s arms, creepy baby Alexis looks up and smiles.
Ok, what is going on with Creepy Alien Baby, because I
think I have a limited tolerance for the whole “Anne is delusional” storyline
where she is gaslighted by her own infant.
On the one hand I like that Tom is taking the time to see
his dying soldiers, on the other – when he paid his last
respects to Lars he didn’t kiss him. And it’s not like he and Lee had a
gentler relationship. Her goodbye with Pope was impressive though, extremely
well done. It would be the scene of the night if not for them hanging the
leaves on the tree. Those 2 scenes alone boosted the rating for this episode.
I’m interested to see how this whole president thing
works out. But I wish we’d learned more about the Volm this episode.
And I am getting tired of Bressler having all the common sense of the furniture he sits on. It's getting old
I’m feeling a little… glutted. This season is only 10
episodes long and, because of the double episode last week, we’re already 3
episodes in. We only have 7 to resolve things and in that time we have the volm
and their plans, the mole, the demon baby, Hal’s issues and now this president
and more human forces? That’s a lot and the show already feels like it leaps a
lot.
My money’s on Marina being the Mole, btw.
(And they called the episode Badlands? It was begging to be called "one voice")
