Well. Shit. That episode was an utter kick in the teeth
and the feels. But looking back, at the end, what exactly could they have done
differently? I mean, I know what they could have done – but that’s easy to say
when you don’t have to live with the decision. I know what the “right” answer
is – but the right answer comes with a vast amount of risk which is easy to
discount when you’re not taking it.
So, the other plot lines first:
Vanessa and Susan make their way through the tunnels filled with naked feral mutant vampires. They get out and, in the process, have some excellent bonding moments and shows us really clearly what excellent friends they are. They get free – but not before Vanessa is bitten
Julius’s minion tries to follow but eventually retreats,
scared off by the mutant vampires. Julius isn’t convinced Vanessa is dead, he
knows protagonist plot armour when he sees it.
Sheema’s resistance cell uses her information to run
right into an ambush. Oopsie. The survivor of the ambush blames this on Sheema
and is willing to torture and kill her for her betrayal but she is saved by…
Rebecca. Ominous sexy vampire who let her go last episode
Sheema didn’t betray the resistance but, as Rebecca told
her, she “has her scent”. She could smell where Rebecca was and which tunnels
she’d been in. With this cell dead she now wants clues to the Resistance leader
– known as Taka. And she’s going to use Sheema to get it
Now to the hospital – and one of Brandon’s group and the
little girl Callie go exploring and decide all the dramatic “stop” “keep out”
signs are just there for funsies and set off one of Axel’s booby traps which
would have killed Callie if she weren’t a little girl and short.
Brandon’s group, especially the woman who saw Callie
nearly die, is absolutely enraged and furious and wants to kill Axel for this
Ok, there’s a whole lot of reasons why I’d want to kill
Axel dead. But him booby trapping his besieged base of operations while
constantly being under attack by vampires and then having the decency to warn
people about said booby traps isn’t one of them. It’s quite reasonable, this is
actually one decision of Axel’s I actually agree with
Brandon brings out Axel and asks if he’d like to totally
tell the people who have taken over his base, locked them up, banished one of
them to their doom and are considering doing the same to the rest his nice
little booby trap map, please, ‘kay?
Axel decides no
Brandon decides to go for some violence
Axel still decides no.
Brandon keeps trying to play good guy but honestly fails
badly at it. It’s actually really creepy the way he constantly does the “now
look at what you’ve made me do!” act.
This is when Vanessa and Susan arrives. Now Brandon has a
bit of a quandary especially since she reminds him that she literally
sacrificed herself so his people could be safe and reach the hospital and this
is what Brandon does? He clings to the murder as a reason for why they have
been the world’s worst house guest and Vanessa declares she will be Switzerland
– as soon as the Doc has patched her up
Does Brandon believe her? I don’t even know, but what can he do given how much he owes her?
Of course Vanessa makes a plan working through Doc – and it’s
a plan that relies on Axel trusting someone else which may actually get some of
the more background characters involved. And good timing because Sam just read
the lips of Brandon’s gang planning to execute them all – all the while angry
lady is trying to stab Axel with a spear (Brandon again tries to play nice guy
ignoring the fact he just beat Axel and banished Mohammed).
The plan works, the lights go out and Axel gets out and
goes on an utter killing spree- including people lying helpless in their beds,
blatantly untrained in the face of his military professionalism and generally a
whole lot of cringeworthy deaths that make you think “he didn’t have to kill
them”. He doesn’t hesitate and cuts through half of Brandon’s people with
brutal efficiency before capturing the rest. Including Brandon.
Callie is safe – but only because Vanessa, who Callie
likes and trusts, convinced her to hide as part of a game.
In the aftermath, not all of Axel’s group is remotely
happy with what he did- or the plans for Brandon’s survivors: exile. Flesh is
horrified by what they did – killing people and John pipes up as well. Axel
hits back that they didn’t have to do anything – it was all him (a fact he uses
to shame criticism) and brutally asks what alternative they have or had
Which is the whole moral quandary of this. Should Axel have
been less brutal in his taking over of the hospital? Should he have spared
people? Should he have let them stay?
And how much of this could have been avoided if there
hadn’t been so much hostility when Brandon’s group first arrived?
Brandon begs for them to stay, begs them not to banish
him along with his fellows – the lady who stabbed Axel sobs that she can’t go
back out there. But, they point out, everything that’s happening to Brandon’s
group is exactly what Brandon planned to do to them.
This has to set up a comparison between Brandon and Axel
who are very similar. In some ways they’re the same. Doing brutal, vicious things
they think are necessary for the safety of their faction (though how many of Axel’s
group he considers his faction is another matter). But while Brandon has that
abusive “I’m a nice guy, why are you making me hurt you, you’re forcing me to
do this” creepy vibe which is really nasty; Axel has loud and overt violence
and intimidation – growling about what he has to do and demanding other people
step up if they think they can do better or have a better idea. Ultimately, it’s
a similar tactic even a similar abusive dynamic – the use of necessity as an
excuse and motivator and absolver, but the methods are very different.
Callie, the child runs from Vanessa when she says Brandon’s
gang can’t stay. They try to get Callie to stay – but the child runs out with
Brandon’s group, following them out into the vampire haunted wasteland and near
certain death
In the aftermath, Doc tells Vanessa that different rules
apply here. And she responds “nothing matters now”. Which is much broader and
more bleak – at it’s widest it could be interpreted as saying there’s no point
in this world if they’ve thrown out morality entirely
And for more ominousness, Doc cuts her finger. She puts
the cut in her mouth – and seems to enjoy the blood. Add to that that Susan
recognises Flesh – and is scared of him. Looks like he was an important,
powerful vampire and now we have an indication that the cured may not be all
that cured.
