Episode Report Card Couch Baron: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Sins Of The Father... And Sister
By Couch Baron | Season 3 | Episode 23 | Aired on 04.13.2009
...and back in the present, Alice tells Angela that she's alive, and Angela's not going crazy. Once again, a second opinion seems warranted. Angela asks if she's been hanging out in this dump for fifty years, and Alice explains that when she found the shelter, it was packed with food, so that lasted her a while, and then when it was gone, she did "what [she] had to do." The potential ugliness of that remark is tempered by the fact that the street trade is probably pretty barren out there, and Alice goes on to clarify that she stole food and clothes. Angela asks the obvious question of why she stayed, so Alice points out that Angela told her she'd be safe if she stayed there, which obviously sounds insane until she clarifies that she thought isolating herself would keep the world safe from her powers. Angela is guiltily heartbroken to hear all this, and asks what happened the night she left. Alice tells her YC came for her...
...and in flashback, we see him attempt to inject her with that same needle, and I can't blame Alice for freaking out because that thing would make a stork jealous. In Alice's particular case, however, her fear causes a storm to brew, and soon a lightning bolt zaps one of the flunky guards in attendance. Horrified at what she's done, Alice runs out into the night, but YC, seemingly aware she's the cause of all this, rushes after and grabs her, assuring her that everything's all right. She's beyond the capacity for calm, though, so he slaps her to try to snap her out of it, but even though he immediately apologizes, another patient misinterprets what happened and uses his power to knock Chandra back, which gets him shot by one of the guards. Alice hides under one of the buildings as a full-scale riot breaks out, and she sees that the lab in which Chandra has been conducting his experiments is called "Building 26." She covers her face in despair...
...as does her older self in the present. Angela consoles her, saying it's time to go home before telling her she has socks for her - whenever she feels lost, she steals socks for Alice "to remind myself there are simple ways to protect the ones we love." Aww to the sentiment, overwritten as it is. Alice cries, "Oh, Banana" (?) and says it's not her fault, but Angela demurs, and confesses she lied to Alice because she was trying to protect her. Even without the suddenly-very-ugly expression on Alice's face, I'd think Angela made a mistake here based on Alice saying "You" in a voice that sounds like the Balrog from The Fellowship Of The Ring, so it's no surprise when the wind starts swirling and a lightning bolt glancingly zaps Angela. Just then, however, Peter and Mohinder enter the place, and Peter grabs Angela and asks if she's okay. Mohinder, however, tentatively approaches Alice, which is a mistake, because all she sees is YC telling her to calm down and slapping her in the face again. Mohinder gets another lightning bolt for his trouble, which knocks him out, but that doesn't deter Angela from trying to talk Alice down. She tells Alice that Peter is her nephew and she has a family, and they can make everything all right. The wind dies down, and Angela reiterates her apology, but when she tries to get her to come with her, Alice refuses. She runs up the stairs, and when Angela follows, she's gone. Angela looks empty and broken at having lost her sister again, and while I think this episode was a big misstep, that's not to take anything away from Cristine Rose, who's surely done some of her finest work here. I want to see her and Ashley Crow have a spinoff, and if they can toss Jessalyn Gilsig in there somehow, so much the better.