Episode Report Card M. Giant: B+ | 7 USERS: A YOU GRADE IT Bring it On
By M. Giant | Season 1 | Episode 2 | Aired on 10.04.2012
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Man, there's a lot going on with this show. Okay, here's the deal. Ships are surrounding the island, though Chaplin and the Colorado enforce his 200-mile perimeter pretty aggressively considering it's only one submarine. But no sooner have they gotten back to the island when they spot what looks like a 747 high overhead. Although it turns around the moment Sophie gets on the radio, Chaplin and Kendal figure that was no off-course passenger liner, but a secret mission to drop Delta Force soldiers onto the island. Kendal volunteers to take an away team to meet them -- and by "meet," he means "have a shootout with," while Chaplin basically works the phones. The mission will also include Cameron, Sophie as a guide, and two sailors loyal to the now-incarcerated Chief Prosser, who hints that he wants Shepard fragged in retribution for her killing of Stern. They also invite along King, the Navy SEAL, but he's staying out of it.
Chaplin, meanwhile, is busy trying to get the dogs called off by making threats on the phone to Curry, who's been promoted to Secretary of Defense in the meantime. Curry denies any knowledge of the incursion, and it turns out he's telling the truth: the invaders are in fact Russian. Which means they're not exactly open to Kendal's spur-of-the-moment decision to try calling a truce. From the listening post, Chaplin manages to orchestrate things so Curry overhears a Russian official confessing to the operation, which he's forced to immediately call off. Or he would, if not for the fact that the severely outgunned Kendal and Shepard manage to pull off a victory against the odds. With the help of King's sniper rifle at the last moment, that is.
There are also developments in Washington. Kylie Sinclair blackmails a friend into trying to find out who gave the order for the Illinois to fire on the Colorado, so she can then blackmail the government into not taking away her precious prototype. Said friend ends up in a vegetative state, but Kylie gets her order number and that's what matters. And Kendal's wife Christine is still in the clutches of the government spooks, who try to crack her loyalty to her husband by showing him a video in which he talks about men killed under his command while he was a POW -- none of which Christine ever knew about. That doesn't work, but parachuting in an old friend of Kendal's who's pretending to be here to help Christine just might. Or, more likely, it totally won't.
When most of the away team comes back to the village alive, and with prisoners no less, Chaplin stops the captured Russian from being shot in the street with a stirring speech. But Prosser's got a speech of his own to make. In front of every crew member in earshot, Prosser reveals some news that Chaplin's been otherwise keeping to himself: his son Jeffrey was killed two weeks ago. Obviously Prosser's aim is to make the other sailors question Chaplin's judgment and motivations, but it doesn't work, at least in the case of Kendal. And that might just be enough to get them all through the next 24 hours.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!While the Colorado is underway, Kendal interrupts Chaplin, who's watching a video dispatch from his son in his quarters. As they join the scene on the conn, Cameron reports from the radar station that the 200-mile perimeter Chaplin laid out last week in his warning video is now being lined with American ships. They're also in touch with Shepard at the listening post, who confirms more ships closing in. Luckily the Colorado has that signature-concealing prototype Kylie Sinclair had installed, and it looks like they're getting ready to test it. Sophie, the station boss, is clearing out, telling her employee she won't be part of this. Back on the boat, Kendal reminds Chaplin that the prototype could bring down the whole ship if it goes down, and besides, they should be trying to fix things with Washington before it's too late. I'm thinking that boat's already left, but this is a weekly series, after all.
Chaplin responds to Kendal by addressing the whole crew through the mic about the twenty-odd warships closing in. "These are our brother in arms, sent now to kill us. There will be a time to talk, but right now, we show strength." Chaplin then gives the order to engage the Perseus prototype. It comes on, the lights briefly go out, and Shepard reports over the radio that the Colorado just dropped off their screen. Hooray for Perseus, which nobody ever said while watching Clash of the Titans. Cameron reports from the onboard radar station that their old buddies on the Illinois are weaving in and out of the perimeter, in a sort of naval version of the ever-popular sibling game "I'm Not Touching You." Chaplin, not playing, orders battle stations. Kendal reminds Chaplin there are 134 on board that ship, but then backs the captain. He's the guy with the nukes, after all.
On board the Illinois, that sub's captain learns from his radar guy that the Colorado just dropped from sight, which tells him that "Marcus has a new toy." He's about to initiate a game of cat-and-mouse when the Colorado take the initiative, launching a torpedo. The Illinois helplessly watches it come in on the sensors, but then it just breaks open on one of its tail fins. "Disabled warhead's a hit, sir," Cameron reports. The Illinois cuts and runs, Chaplin orders the torpedoes kept lock and armed this time, and they head back.
Back in DC, one of the government spooks babysitting Christine Kendal in that Matrix-like interrogation room tries to scare her with the mushroom cloud off the coast, which she points out is farther than the distance between Vegas and White Sands. Another guy says Sam and the rest of his crew are going to die, even though he's sure Sam just wants to do the right thing. Christine can't exactly argue with that second part, can she?