Last week saw the demise of Phyllis (and, like so many
characters, some more complexity to her emotions arise). This has got the whole
collaborator authority quite agitated and raised Will to being boss of the unit
(which seems… dubious given his coerced loyalties but I’m guessing they have
few real options given the givens).
He leads his team to continue to try and track down the
mysterious Geronimo, continuing to showcase the brutality and suppression of
the regime and the violence it inflicts. By brutally threatening some teenagers
putting up posters they manage to follow a trail to find Geronimo…
…and Phyllis is right. Geronimo doesn’t lead any cell,
Geronimo is certainly not the overlord of the resistance. Geronimo is a couple
of not very menacing art and design professionals who produce good scripts and
posters. They’re advertisers, not militant leaders
This puts Snyder in an awkward position because he has repeatedly
put out fictionalised and rather ridiculous propaganda pieces on how the
Occupiers have won and the Resistance lost only to learn over and over again
that they’ve not really won anything. He needs a plan to save this, especially
since his boss (Helena, aid to the governor – yes another hint that no-one
seems to actually report directly to the aliens) is very hands off. She wants
Snyder to succeed and do his own thing. I like this, it sounds so nice and
sensible but you can almost hear the undertone “if you fail it’s entirely your
responsibility”. A very nice subtle threat there.
So Snyder decides to put on a show trial with the
captures Luis pretending to be the fictional Geronimo. Why would he go for it? Because
he’s desperate, afraid and will to grasp at the straw offered by Snyder… of
course he’s lying. Of course Luis isn’t living through this – but how many
people would take that desperate chance?
The show trial is desperate propaganda and ends with “Geronimo”
being hanged. And it’s likely to backfire because Kate’s cell is already
planning something big and dramatic in response. I’m going to bet it involves
blowing up a car with Snyder – and Will – in it.
Though Kate does seem almost a little shocked by the fact
*gasp* Phylis was killed. Uh-huh did she think they were going to get a stern
talking to?
Through this, we still get some development of Snyder
because this show doesn’t like to create villains for the sake of villains. Snyder
reminds us constantly how terrible the days after the occupation were and they
only exist at the sufferance of their alien masters. Appeasement may be
distasteful but from his home on the hill it’s definitely the easiest path.
Similarly, Jennifer, the uber quisling absolutely loathes
the resistance not because she’s so pro-alien
but because the resistance killed a loved one of hers. Because, yes the
resistance are terrorists there is collateral damage and innocents are dying
Now the bit of the plot and development I don’t get. I
know Will is supporting Snyder so she can find his son… but why is he trying so
hard? Can’t we see more struggle from him over what he’s actually doing? This becomes
especially dubious when it’s suggested to him that Kate may be the mole for the
Resistance (which she is) and he decides to investigate her…
…uh, we remember that Will isn’t actually loyal to their
alien overlords, right?
In other news, Bram is using his new found route outside of
the wall to a convenient warehouse full of cool stuff. He’s going to use it to
find a lens for his teacher’s telescope
