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A subway car full of commuters suddenly seems overtaken by some kind of Rage virus, and Dr. Rosen and the team are brought in to figure out if an Alpha was behind it and other recent riots. After Rachel ascertains that the car was redolent with pheromones that trigger aggressive behavior, it sure looks like that's the case. They soon track down a young woman who seems to have been the epicenter, but in trying to nab her, they instead get their hands on a young man who was also there. He claims to be the girl's brother Matthew, the only one who can control her, although he clearly sucks at it. Rosen has just about convinced the kid to help them find his sister when Don Wilson (a returning Callum Keith Rennie) shows up and gets all pissy, just as the team realizes that Matthew's lying. Which not only blows the whole deal, but leads to the reveal that Matthew is the one who's been triggering the pheromone-fueled riots. Which he forthwith does, right there in Alpha HQ, with the unfortunate result that Callum Keith Rennie suffers yet another violent death on the SyFy channel, although it's at least as a different character this time.
So Matthew's on the loose again, but at least Rosen's figured out that Bill was immune to Matthew's pheromones thanks to his high serotonin level, which allows Rosen to inoculate him and Cameron before sending them out to catch Matthew again. Turns out the girl is just his ex-girlfriend who's been on the run from his creepy stalker ass, and although he starts not one but two rage-riots at the bus station, Cameron saves the girl and Bill catches the bad guy. Who ends up at Binghamton under Agent Cley's not-so-tender mercies, while the team talks some more about its tenuous future. I think I'll probably understand the show's premise better if it just explains it to me a few dozen more times.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The camera zooms into, over and under Manhattan, landing in a crowded subway car being patrolled by a New York cop and a long-haired busker. A young woman angrily moves away from a dude in a blue hoodie, who tries to follow. The cop asks her if she's okay, taking her by the arm. The shot goes yellow as she pushes him away, leading to a chain reaction that instantly escalates from a guy spilling his coffee to everyone on the car beating on each other while the young woman cowers on the floor. The train screams through the stations without stopping. In the melee, someone grabs the cop's gun and, after a short struggle, shoots him in the head. The moral being, I guess, avoid the express train.
At the Alphas HQ, Gary is whining to Bill some more about that persistent hum he was complaining about last week. Apparently Bill had the cell phone company shut down the tower across the street, but now that it's back on and Gary wants Bill to just shoot it. Bill sends Gary out of the room without so much as a grenade.
Gary's visit is to Nina, who also refuses to Push anyone into helping him out. Their conversation is interrupted by Cameron's bouncy baseball from all the way down the hall, which he's sending through the corridors and back while arguing with his ex about getting to spend time with their kid. Dr. Rosen finds Rachel in the midst of an aromatherapy session, which tells him her folks are bringing her down again. But at least she has the stones to interrupt him while he's lecturing her about being more assertive. Cameron's stray bouncy-ball interrupts again, and Rosen finds him frustratedly hanging up on his ex. Rosen tries to calm Cameron down, but all Cameron does is throw the ball out of his office again, this time breaking what (according to Gary) is his third window. Rosen makes a calm observation about stress, which is fortunately interrupted by a cell phone call. Yay, they got Callum Keith Rennie back, so it's Agent Don Wilson, calling from the back of a limo. "Hope you got your Metrocard," he tells Rosen. Then we get a look at the inside of the bloody subway car before anyone else does. And that's all that happens before the first commercial break. Riveted yet?
During the ads, the crime scene folks have finally managed to show up at the subway. So have Rosen and Nina, who has apparently been Pushing a cop that vouches for the dead officer. Bill shows up, grumpy as usual, and while he leads them over to Gary, he says the now-recovered rioters are all completely confused as to what happened. While Gary chatters uselessly, Bill goes over to the cops at the cordon to get them to let Cameron in, and bitches at him for leaving the crime scene. Which makes Bill look like a dick and lets Cameron make a lame donut joke. Win-win.
Wilson walks Rosen through the car, telling him that there have recently been similar riots in Cleveland, Pittsburg, and Philadelphia, and he carps at Rosen to A) figure out if an Alpha's behind it; B) find them; and C) do it now. Rosen deals with Wilson's pushy rudeness by politely asking Wilson for help getting the surveillance tapes from the riot. And Wilson's on his way back to his government limo.
The CSI: NY guys seem finished with the car for now, so Rachel has it to herself, apparently having sneaked in. Going into synethsete mode, she soon collects what looks like a very stinky stuffed monkey. You can tell by the extra-thick smell-clouds coming off it when Rachel looks at it. I probably wouldn't mind bad smells so much if I only had to look at them.
Back at HQ, the team discusses how the rioters experienced after effects like when Nina pushes someone, but since she can't do a whole crowd, it must have been something different. Apropos of whatever, Rosen shows a video of some swarming ants attacking a scorpion, driven by pheromones, which is what he thinks the Alpha instigator used to set off the crowd. Rosen justifies the team's involvement to Cameron (who, as an ex-Marine, gives a dry "Hoo-rah.") Gary suddenly announces that Wilson's surveillance tape is coming through, but then the persistent hum (and everyone else's lack of sympathy) drives him from the room. Go, hum!
Cameron's in his office, bouncing pencils off the doorknob so they fly up and stick in the ceiling. Rosen needs to get him a computer, if only to minimize the property damage around here. Nina comes in to try and get him to stop pouting, for whatever reason, but all she accomplishes is to get him to miss with one of his pencils. Like that's hard.
Rachel pulls Rosen and Bill in to show them what she found on the surveillance tape: the stuffed monkey was attached to the back of a backpack on a young woman -- the woman from the opening, of course. They figure she's their Alpha and must be stopped! Any other show, I'd figure that was too easy. This show, it's only a possibility. So I suppose it's keeping us guessing in that sense, at least.
After the ads, Bill tells Rosen what they've found out about her so far: her name's Tracy Beaumont, age 17. Apparently she was taken to the hospital after the riot, but ducked out before the cops got around to talking to her. Cameron, whose job I'm starting to suspect is to make Bill seem cheerful by comparison, points out it might not even be her real name, but Bill's off to look. Or, rather, to tell Gary to look, via ATM cameras and shit. Gary would prefer to continue complaining about the hum. Rosen points out the time (Gary has to be in bed by 9:30) and as everyone scatters but is put "on call," Cameron asks if this is like a real job. "If it's any consolation, you now have an excellent health plan," Rosen points out. Always looking on the bright side, that guy.
There's a pointless scene where Rachel's mom harangues her in their apartment about her "condition" and not being single forever. I think it's just to underline that situation and let some time pass. That much accomplished, Gary calls Rosen from home to report that he's located their wanted Alpha and is tracking her movements. The rest of the team arrives at the appointed street in the Alphamobile and follows Rachel's nose down a pheromone-redolent alley, until she gets a snootful of cigarette smoke from a clubgoer and loses the scent. Bill has everyone split up, taking Hicks with him, because splitting up worked out so well last week. Rosen gets on his phone and wakes up a protesting Gary to walk him, Rachel, and Nina through the pursuit. Rachel spots their quarry at a ridiculous distance with her super-senses, but the girl runs into a youth hostel. Rosen calls Hicks and Cameron in, and seconds later, rioting youths spill out onto the sidewalk. So at least they know they're on the right track. Rachel warns the team to stay away from the spreading pheromone cloud, and as Tracy runs across the street, they lose her -- only to be distracted by the dude in the blue hoodie she was trying to get away from, both just now and in the opening scene. Upon being recognized, he bolts too, but Hicks stops Blue Hoodie's panicked sprint by...stepping on his shoelace. Meanwhile, Bill is still pursuing Tracy down an alley, but then loses her in a street full of cabs. Rosen talks to Blue Hoodie man, who realizes that they know about Tracy's "thing." He claims to be her brother, and also immune to the effects. He adds that he's been looking for her for months. "I'm the only one who can stop her." So when does he plan to start doing that, then?
With Tracy still on the loose, Gary is complaining to Cameron about being called back in, although that's apparently nothing compared to what his mom said. Rosen's on the phone to Wilson, telling him to back off while he talks to Tracy's brother. Wilson hangs up, which Rosen foolishly interprets as consent. He heads into his office where Blue Hoodie is waiting, and admits that he and his team aren't cops, but "trained specialists...and I don't think you want the cops to find her before we do." Rosen sets up a video camera to record the interview, and starts with getting the kid's name: Matthew Hurley. Bill's already on the phone to get a background check while Matthew explains that Beaumont was their mother's maiden name, until his father beat her to death. "And you are concerned that Tracy caused that?" Rosen says, cutting right to the chase. Matthew says his sister's name is actually Alice, so she must have changed it. The rest of the team is watching from the other room while Bill's on the phone, complaining as usual. Back in Rosen's office, Matthew blames the subway riot on the cop, and says Alice panics sometimes, repeating that he's the only one who can control her power. He's doing a bang-up job so far. Gary bitches some more about the persistent microwave hum, while Rosen explains to Matthew that Alice has a medical condition and Matthew may be the key to helping her, thanks to his "longtime, low-level exposure to her." Rosen tells Matthew they can help, but only if they can find her. Matthew seems receptive to the idea, which can only mean it's all about to go pear-shaped.
The rest of the team are discussing this in the other room when Wilson and his pair of goons walk in, looking for Rosen. Rosen comes out into the hall to try to intercept him, but Wilson is already going off half-cocked about needing the Alpha at Binghamton. Matthew overhears this and gets a little worried about how it sounds. Gary butts in to report that Alice/Tracy just bought a bus ticket to Chicago, leaving at 6:00 AM. Wilson's halfway to the door, but Matthew insists on coming along, again saying he can stop her. Which, of course, sends Wilson onto a whole new tangent of assholery. Amid all this chaos (which, for some reason, includes Rachel talking on the phone to her mom at this hour), Bill shows Rosen a MISSING poster of Matthew's sister, who is a completely different girl. So Matthew's lying -- and realizing the jig is up, he reveals that he releases pheromones as well. He does this by extending a hand so the camera can zoom in on it microscopically, getting a nice look at the spiky green spores that scatter into the hallway. The screen goes yellow and red and everyone's hitting and screaming at each other, including Rachel into the phone to her mom. Luckily for them, Rosen and Gary's anger seems to be inwardly directed, but it's clear that turning into CT from The Challenge doesn't affect Cameron's hyperkinetic abilities, at least. Bill is immune -- either because he's out of range or for some other reason -- and tries to make a run at Matthew, but just gets caught up in the melee. Matthew runs for the elevator. Wilson, in rage-ball mode like everyone else save Matthew and Bill, breaks free and catches up with Matthew at the elevator. He's about to shoot him in the face when one of Wilson's own agents jumps on him and beats him flat with a chair while Matthew rides the elevator down alone, scott-free. Way to handle that, Wilson.
After the ads, everyone gets up off the floor (Rosen's glasses aren't even askew, which makes that the worst riot ever) and finds Wilson's former subordinate-turned-killer crying over the corpse of his boss. Which tells me Wilson was a better boss than I thought, and maybe even a better boss than some of the ones I used to have.
After the sun comes up, Bill is asking Rosen why he was the only one unaffected by the pheromones. Rosen seems to know, but he's too busy with his drug cabinet to explain right now. Gary's worried about the sheet on Wilson getting all bloody, Rachel complains about the persistent smell of the blood, and Nina's talking about the Pushing shoe being on her own foot, although Cameron quickly assures her that it's not the same. Yes, we get it -- they're hot for each other. Rachel rushes home (she probably has a few fences to mend there) and Rosen asks Nina to take Gary back to his house. He's also got a serotonin injection for Cameron, which is how he thinks Bill controlled his flight-or-flight response. Handy how Rosen always seems to have the exact pharmaceutical remedy on hand.
At the bus station, Alice or Tracy or whoever she is is getting ready to board when Matthew shows up. He kisses her and is all excited about buying his own ticket to Chicago to go with her. But she's not down with that. Matthew thinks they can be together, since she's immune to him, but she can't take it any more. She tells him he was the one she was running from, not their podunk little Ohio town. Cameron and Bill arrive, telling everyone to get clear and Matthew to get away from the girl. Of course he refuses, flinging pheromones into the air instead. The crowd starts fighting each other, with Tracy caught in the middle. Matthew really knows how to impress a girl, doesn't he? Cameron and Hicks are trying to fight their way through the battling crowd. And just before the ads, there's a shot of the swarming ants, just in case you missed the point.
The riot's still underway after the break, which makes this the longest one so far. Cameron uses a fire extinguisher to clear a path to Tracy, and after picking her up, uses his Alpha ability to make a path over the backs, heads, and shoulders of the rioters, carrying her up and over a railing onto the mezzanine level. "How did we get up here?" she asks. Congratulations Cameron! You saved one person.
Bill is searching the bus yard for Matthew, spotting him standing on a crowded bus. He gets on and yells Matthew's name through the crowd rather than waiting until he's close enough to grab him, which just makes Matthew throw another fistful of riot-pheromones so he can go for the emergency exit. Unaffected, Bill easily forces his way thought the rioters and grabs Matthew by the shoulder. "Leave me alone!" Matthew says. "Can't do that," Bill says, knocking him unconscious. Lame.
time we see Matthew, he's unconscious on a table in a yellow room at Binghamton. Agent Cley's there with him and some guys in hazmat suits, complaining to Rosen over videophone about how they'll apparently have to suit up or drug themselves every time they go near him. Rosen asks about a scream in the background on Cley's end, and Cley calls it, "somebody else's problem. I'm tactical." He bitches some more about the needle, and Rosen says his people didn't complain about the horse shot. "Sue me, I 'm human," Cley says. "So are they," Rosen says with uncharacteristic shortness. "So is Matthew Hurley, and you need to treat them as such." Cley asks if he should tell Rosen how to do his job, and then does so anyway: "Don't get your handler killed." Stung, Rosen says that was uncalled for. Cley mentions Red Flag and says the "situation" is getting worse, whatever that means. Rosen offers him a little therapy, while unloading the video camera he used during Matthew's interview earlier. After Cley hangs up, Rosen labels the tape "Hurley" and puts it in a case labeled "Binghamton" with numerous others, and locks the case in his safe. Don't worry, Rosen, I don't think anyone cares enough to try to watch them.
Nina finds Rachel staring out her office window, feeling guilty about how she didn't like Wilson's smell. Nina's just trying to forget the whole thing. Can't she just tell herself to do that? Rachel says she told her mom to shut her mouth and that she hated her and is moving out. "I'm glad something good came out of it," Nina says, but Rachel isn't amused. She says she'll be staying on her cousin's couch, until Nina offers to let Rachel stay with her. A super-bossy person living with someone with super-senses? What could go wrong?
Rosen calls a meeting in his office. "Here we go again," Rachel says. It's actually a group therapy session, but it quickly moves on to establish that even with Wilson gone, they're still going to be a group, probably with Agent Sullivan from last week taking over as their liaison. Rosen says Wilson's death is partially attributable to his not trusting them, and they're going to have to keep going after Alphas despite their lack of training. Gary starts talking about death, but is interrupted -- by the hum, naturally. "We caught Matthew, but no one has helped me with the humming. No one." Cameron, probably affected by Rosen's inspirational talk about the team, is the one who gets up and follows him. Up on the roof, Gary points out the microwave antenna on the adjacent building. Cameron takes out his baseball and bounces it off a few buildings before it knocks out the antenna. Gary's about as grateful as he gets, and Cameron invites him back inside to worry about the future. "I'm not worried," Gary says, leaving Cameron to unconvincingly tell himself, "Neither am I." What, has he seen the ratings?
M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter , or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.
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