We open with a little girl who has apparently not just
survived a plane crash but has managed not to spill her soda while doing so.
She looks quite irked by the whole experience though
Then flash to the… present? Maybe? Where Bellamy’s
name-less boss stops staring into space and holding a can of the same soda to
answer a call from Bellamy. He’s really nastily sick and, to prove the point,
passes out on the phone. (Side note – do not try this when trying to pull a
sicky at work – it never ever ends well)
Bellamy wakes up in spooky hospital ward with a
government doctor ready to make with the sedatives. Bellamy says no to
sedatives and yes to information and the doctor runs down some info on the
virus – brought back with the Returned and only they are susceptible. They can
treat it, but they can’t cure it. Bellamy demands to see Lady Nameless (yes,
until she gets a name this is her new moniker). Lady Nameless isn’t especially
thrilled with Bellamy being awkward when they saved his life, but fills in some
of the virus information including mortality rates and disappearance rates. We
also learn Lady Nameless’s job – she’s a statistician with a reputation for
being able to predict the unpredictable.
While talking to him she recognises the
moon-shaped birthmark on his neck, and connects it to the big cliffhanger
in the last season (ABOUT TIME!)
Later, Bellamy decides to do more fact finding so knocks
out a guard/orderly and goes snooping. He finds Lady Nameless’s office – and she
has a name! Angela Forrester! Awww, I didn’t get nearly as much use out of “Lady
Nameless” as I wanted. Inside is a whiteboard covered in sciency-mathy-stuff, a
cork board covered in clippings plane crashes – and his own file that notes he
is a Double Returned; that he was originally Robert Thompson, a baby who was
born and died in 1934.
He confronts Angela and she talks him through his history
and she confirms that all the Returned were born in Arcadia. He asks after his
birth parents and she mentions the Thompsons, Returned who he has already met –
unfortunately both his parents have died/disappeared from the virus, only his
sister Jenny (a child though technically his big sister) is left. He gets to
see her, to comfort her and promise to look after her.
Bellamy is still suspicious so hides his phone in the
centre. The send him back to Arcadia with medication – only 10 a day supply. In
case we missed it, Bellamy asks about Angela’s interest in all the plane crashes
which she quietly avoids answering. She also adds her skills at prediction and
how she is show she will be able to predict the Return.
Bellamy is taken back to Arcadia unconscious.
To Maggie who is having major issues with her disappearing
mother (and her hair - which may be more traumatic) she’s also super not happy
that Bellamy’s nowhere to be found (because dying. Which used to be a great
excuse before the Returned ruined it). Elaine is there to provide comfort and
declare that, yes, evil Margaret was there when Barbara disappeared.
Maggie decides to go to the Langston house to tell everyone about Barbara’s disappearance and Margaret being there – Margaret lies through her teeth assuring everyone she totally wasn’t there and Elaine must have mistook her for another evil undead lady. The whole family clings to Margaret’s denial and Maggie at least is willing to go along with that
Henry is continuing his plans to open the factory and for
Jacob to one day follow in his footsteps – Jacob is leerier because he’s not
sure he’s going to be around much longer (he’s had waaaay too many
conversations with Margaret) so Henry pulls out some gentle wisdom before they
greet a new arrival at the site – Brian Addison who wants to either buy the
site or, when Henry refuses to sell, invest in it. He has “ominous” tattooed on
his forehead.
Maggie goes to her dad, the annoyingly-redeemed Sherriff
Fred, to tell him about Barbara. He actually manages to be a decent human being
and force Maggie to take a breath and 5 minutes to process. Maggie has a full
blown panic attack which she desperately hides from her father – she goes to
her office and self-medicates
At the diner, Margaret tries to intimidate Elaine into
agreeing she didn’t see Margaret with Barbara but Elaine makes it clear she’s
supporting Maggie in this. Margaret huffs out and Elaine then has to argue down
her brother who has joined a group of Returned-haters called the True Living
who blame the Returned for… everything. Including stealing wifi and keying cars
(I would call this ridiculous, but sadly it’s also very very realistic); more
frightening, they have a map of where the Returned live. Elaine is very clear
how much she disagrees.
Fred goes to see Margaret and confronts her, he’s sure
she’s lying and is the reason why Barbara disappeared (at least someone sees
Margaret for who she is – but why did it have to be Fred?). She tries to guilt
Fred and dodge the question but she can’t reign in her spite for Barbara
Fred goes to the bar and briefly considers falling off
the wagon before managing to avoid the alcohol. He and Elaine discuss the
Returned disappearing and Elaine offers the vague comfort that maybe the
Returned aren’t who we think they are. Fred isn’t comforted since he is now
very sure they are
The Langstons discuss the factory – both Lucille and
Margaret are leery of letting Brian Addison invest but Lucille agrees to hear
him out and support Henry. We also have a little moment with Jacob asking his mother
why adults lie- she tells him about white lies when she really should have been
cluing in about evil mother-in-law
When Margaret puts Jacob to bed he reveals he knows she’s
a liar and she tells him that one day they will both have to disappear. Grandma
is not very comforting. Lucille has definitely become a little suspicious of
Margaret. Henry is still completely oblivious. He makes a call to investor
Brian and they agree to discuss the factory; much to the happiness of Brian’s
Returned grandfather who is apparently no fan of the Langstons.
Bellamy returns to Maggie and she is Not Happy. He gives
her the medication they gave him so she can decide who gets it or not. Using his
cell-phone tracker app, Bellamy finds the location of the secret base. He also
takes a lot less than the recommended dose of the medication.
Was little plane crash girl supposed to be name-less boss as a child? Is that what is supposed to be implied by the fact they were drinking the same soda and name-less boss was staring into space? Is she Returned as well?
Does anyone actually known what the Langston factory
made? Except bodies.
Hey that cliffhanger at the end of the first season? We
finally acknowledged it! About damn time, it’s only episode 6. Of course,
killing off Bellamy’s parents first is a very annoying way of ripping most of
the drama out of it.
The True Living seem almost comic at this point – but this
is how a lot of hate groups operate. They may seem ridiculous from the outside
(the Returned stole my wifi!) but accepting, believing and promoting this level
of ridiculous hate stories keeps a lot of bigotry alive and sharp.
