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Summer Glau guest stars as a woman named Skylar whose Alpha ability is inventing stuff. As it turns out, some scary people are after her, and even when Rosen and the Alphas swoop in to the rescue, she's not happy to be in any kind of government office at all. These feelings prove well-founded when the people after her turn out to be from the National Security Agency. She escapes again, using another super-invention, and the race is on for the Alphas to find her before the government suits who want to put her to work at Binghamton can. Adding to the tension is that Nina not only shares some history with Skylar, but is also on her side, while Rosen feels bound to follow orders. Of course it's all moot if they can't find her. Nina crosses over to Skylar's side to accompany her on a road trip to destroy Bob, one of her own inventions, the very supercomputer the NSA's been using to track her. Gary, whose mom has freaked out and decided he isn't working for Rosen any more, snaps his leash and uses one of Skylar's other inventions to track down her and Nina. Alas, Skylar gets away yet again, but the team is able to track her to a house in Maine...where her daughter Zoe is stashed. Zoe, as it turns out, is a mathematical genius. After wrestling with his conscience (and some verbal sparring with Nina), Rosen not only covers their escape, disregarding the consequences from the DoD or the NSA, but later meets up with Skylar outside the country (Toronto, but still). Apparently her part of the deal was to hand over Bob's surviving processor core...which Rosen promptly destroys rather than using it to track down Alphas like he kind of wants to. So much for following orders. Also, Bill's resistance to the idea of having kids seems to weaken when he learns there's such a thing as a second-generation Alpha. There are also second-generation grumpy jerkwads, but apparently that wasn't good enough for him.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!In Bushwick, Brooklyn, a cadre of black-clad commandos approaches a warehouse building. Their movements are captured by a security camera inside a cluttered workshop, where Summer Glau notices them on the screen and launches into action. After grabbing a couple of things and stuffing them into a red-and-yellow satchel -- all the while being watched by a hovering metal bee that lands in her palm -- she keys a code into a pad on the wall. The intruders burst in, their faces masked, but she's already on the roof of a neighboring building, releasing the zip-line she must have ridden over there. Before hitting the remote detonator attached to the bomb she left beeping on the wall, she hollers at them, "Run, idiots!" They'd have had to run a lot faster, because the place blows up about a second later. Summer makes a runner.
It's a late night at Alphas HQ while Dr. Rosen and Agent Sullivan go over expense reports, which soon veers into discussion of Agent Sullivan's lengthy history of exotic travels that outstrips even Rosen's. Rosen obviously underestimated her. He admits as much, which is probably his first step towards getting her into bed.
Morning at Bill's place and now that he's happily ex-FBI, he's got a whole new problem: his wife is haranguing him about having kids. Bill's clearly not feeling it. And it's not like he needs one more thing in his life to be crabby about.
Rosen's driving his convertible to work while on the Bluetooth to Gary's mom, who's calling in sick for him. Very unconvincingly, I might add. And then once she's off the phone, she tells a very disappointed Gary that Rosen gave him the day off. Hmmmm.
At HQ, Cameron's tinkering with the toaster, giving Nina an opportunity to flirt with him. Rosen busts her at it and privately asks her what's going on. What, he doesn't want to talk to Cameron about it? Rosen's glad to hear it's nothing. But then as soon as Nina's back in the hallway getting flirted with some more, Rosen pops out to say that there's a missing Alpha named Skylar Adams. That would be Summer Glau, I'm thinking.
While they're all looking over the homemade, yet highly advanced gear in the blown-up workshop, Nina explains to Cameron that when they met Skylar she was always inventing things. So that's her Alpha ability. If she were a comic-book hero I guess she'd be Super-Edison or Patent Pending. Rachel spots tracks from assault boots and a little blood on the floor, so the people who came rushing in must have gotten out without getting blown into too many pieces. Like Cameron, Bill also came along after Rosen and Nina did a "catch and release" on Skylar, so Nina also gets to exposit to him, saying Skylar didn't pose a threat. She describes her as "more interested in things than people." Bill reassures Nina that they'll find her. And Rachel seems to have spotted a clue: a part stamped with a tiny logo of a gear underlined by the word "Klauswerks." One of my favorite techno bands.
So Bill heads over to Klauswerks, where he braces the dude who apparently sold Skylar a lot of the customized parts he manufactures there. Klaus is in the middle of an anti-government tirade with Bill when Nina steps over and Pushes him to tell her when he last talked to Skylar. Naturally, Klaus comes over all cooperative, saying that when he saw Skylar the night before, she was planning to head to the Brooklyn Heights Farmers Market to sell some stuff and raise some cash. The team is off, leaving Klaus to blink in confusion, either over what just happened to him or why someone as obviously paranoid as Skylar would advertise her movements like that.
At the market, Skylar meets some guy in a track suit and sells him a device that looks like a domed speakerphone, but apparently it makes ten minutes of sleep feel like eight hours. I could use one of those. I'd still sleep eight hours a night, obviously, but it would feel like I'd slept forty-eight. He hands over a bundle of cash, and Skylar books just as some familiar-looking thugs show up and give chase. Fortunately the Alphas have arrived, and although they can't see what's happening in the part of the market where the chase is happening, Rachel can hear the sounds of pursuit. The team splits up to try to cut them off. Meanwhile, Skylar releases a few electronic bugs from her satchel to slow down her pursuers, who are luckily crippled by a phobia of metal insects. Rachel and Cameron spot Skylar just as she reaches the market exit, and when a thug shows up with a gun to her head, Cameron yoinks a Thermos out of some dude's hand and hurls it the hundred yards or so between him and the thug's gun hand, disarming him. Bill moves in to lay down some more direct smack, and once the dude is down, they whisk her into the minivan, which Rosen drives off. But not without first quavering, "Is everybody in?" He's Action-Grandma.
Back at HQ, Skylar doesn't seem too grateful for being rescued. She's also not terribly forthcoming with Rosen and Nina about who's after her, other than people that got upset after making her an offer for some of her stuff and getting turned down. "Sound familiar?" she asks Rosen. He admits/exposits that he offered her a job back in the day, but didn't get upset when she turned him down. He insists he wants to protect her, but to do so he needs to know who's after her. She expects Nina to Push her, and when that doesn't happen she assumes she's free to go. Not quite, says Rosen.
In the break room, Bill and Cameron bond over the vending machine before Bill gets curious about whether Cameron's son is an Alpha, which he isn't, for reasons Bill doesn't share. Nosy of him, yes, but by Bill standards that was almost as friendly as a hug.
At Gary's house, Gary confronts his mom about lying to him and she retorts that Rosen lied to her. Apparently she's decided Gary's not working for Rosen any more, probably as a result of some stuff Gary must have unwisely shared about his adventures from last week. Instead, she's gotten him a job with his Uncle Alan doing data entry, which will be awesome. Gary's so pissed at not getting to go to work he yells at her to get out. And yet, he's still easier to get along with than that kid on Parenthood.
At HQ, Skylar is looking at a computer tablet, which becomes an exploded version of itself in her eyes so she can start tinkering with it mentally. Nina comes in with a lame joke about making it a time machine, and Skylar makes an even lamer joke about how she already did and she's visiting from the future. They talk about Skylar's tattoos (and Nina's lack thereof). Meanwhile, in Rosen's office, he's talking to Sullivan, who breaks the news that Agent Cley from the DoD is on his way over to pick Skylar up. Obviously Rosen's rather taken aback by this. Which is why it's a little ironic that in the other room, Nina is trying to convince Skylar that she can trust Rosen. To his credit, he's at least arguing with Sullivan about the government's plan to stick Skylar in protective custody and put her to work.
Just then, a black SUV rolls up to the building's loading dock. Luckily, Gary's tuned into the building's security cameras, even if no one else is, and he texts to someone, "MEN WITH GUNS OUTSIDE." Soon they're inside, while the Alphas and Sullivan go into lockdown mode and Skylar is stuffed into the server room alone. Genius plan, that. Bill and Cameron cover the hallway to the elevator, and luckily (?) Cley and his team have just rolled up and enter through the front door, having been alerted by Sullivan to the invasion. The thugs make their way up the hall, and Cameron and Bill are just about to engage them when Cley and his team pop out of nowhere, guns leveled at the intruders and hollering, "DoD!" The leader of the thugs responds, "NSA!" He's got a badge and everything. Oops. That's not even a fake agency like DCIS. Watching this unfold on the security cameras with Nina, Rosen, and Rachel, Sullivan decides she needs to join the party, but Rachel points to another security camera, where Skylar is just setting up some kind of device on a tripod, which she's pointing at the multi-agency standoff. "Later, flunkies!" she calls, and everyone in the building but her, from Alphas to Omegas, is incapacitated by a blast of light and noise from the device while she makes her escape. Seeing this at home, Gary grabs his jacket. Good thing Bill taught him to drive last week.
During the ads, Gary's has gotten on the phone to Uncle Alan, who was oblivious to his exit. At HQ, things have calmed down and Rachel (who, it turns out, can conveniently shut down her senses when she needs to and thus is not dead) is looking over the stun device Skylar left behind, built entirely out of crap she scavenged from the office in less than ten minutes. Maybe time they should stash her on the roof instead of in a room full of electronics. Nina takes Skylar's side, saying she doesn't blame her for bailing, given how guys with guns are after her. Rosen says it's not up to them any more, which is when Nina realizes Skylar was right: "We're flunkies." Just now getting the memo?
Gary's not driving after all, but he hails a cab to Queens, with very specific instructions for the driver to avoid streets beginning with certain letters and numbers. That must put a crimp in the team's field missions. I just hope he has cash.
Cley is back at Alpha HQ, giving Rosen an update: Skylar had been both working for the NSA and sending unbreakable coded messages to someone named Z. He suspects Skylar may have been spying for some other country, or worse -- given the complexity of the code she was using -- Red Flag. And he doesn't seem too interested in anything Rosen might have to say to try to calm him down. Okay, good talk!
Nina gets home, and who should be there but Skylar, busy with bits of Nina's electronics scattered all over the kitchen table. Nina thinks Skylar's just there to raid her apartment for materials. "Not exactly," Skylar says.
Back at HQ, Rachel is looking at the electronic bee Skylar left behind and wondering where it's transmitting its signal. Gary would come in handy, but obviously he's not in. Bill enters with the news that a car that was hotwired nearby after Skylar's escape just turned up outside Nina's apartment. That's some pretty speedy detective work and would be even more impressive if we viewers didn't already know where Skylar went.
She's not there any more, though. Nina's driving Skylar somewhere and, after a short argument, even agrees to ditch her phone so they don't get traced and nabbed. Nina wonders what's . All Skylar will say is they're going "off the map," but first they have to kill Bob. Nina looks shocked, as though it's not immediately obvious that by the way Skylar is referring to him that Bob isn't a human. Not that Skylar cares much about humans anyway.
They make it to an "NSA Research Facility" in Cheshire Connecticut, and by this time, Nina seems to be on board with killing Bob, who apparently is the reason they keep finding Skylar. Skylar gets them through the automated security systems having, of course, designed them. But soon they're stopped by a uniformed security guard who's aiming a gun at them. "You ladies lost?" he asks, not sounding as helpful as he looks. I think we just found out why Skylar brought Nina along.
Cameron, Rachel, and Rosen have easily ascertained that Skylar was in Nina's apartment by the pile of microchips on the table (including the guts of the espresso machine that Rachel says she just figured out), and Bill says that Nina was seen leaving with Skylar in her car. Rosen says, "Let's go," although it's not clear how he knows where.
At the NSA building, Nina gets tired of being led at gunpoint and Pushes the guard into opening a door, waiting outside, and counting to a million. Inside the room is Bob, a supercomputer that can apparently track anyone on earth using satellites and people's bioelectric signature. Luckily there's a processing lag that allows Skylar to keep half a step ahead of her pursuers, although it won't be long before they catch up. They must only be able to track her when she isn't moving, because otherwise it seems like her Bob-ward trajectory would have been kind of a giveaway and there would be a small army waiting for her. She takes an electronic core that looks like a transparent Thermos full of blue lightning out of the machine and replaces it with another device that's counting down from ten minutes. That looks like it's a wrap for Bob.
It's completely dark when Gary finally gets out of the cab at Alpha HQ and tells the driver to wait while he heads inside. Of course no one's in the office because they're all out looking for Nina and Skylar, but Skylar's electronic bee gets his attention, with its traceable signals that he examines for a few seconds before getting an idea. He takes it back down to the cab and tells the driver, "Follow the bug." "The bug better have money, my friend," the cabbie says.
The Alphas have arrived at the NSA building and apparently have the run of the place. They've just finished putting out the smoking ruin of Bob, and Rosen's getting the call from Gary's mom that he ran away, when suddenly Cley stomps in looking pissed. Probably at how long it takes him to get anywhere. Cley tells them that Skylar stole the processor before melting the mainframe, and since her contacts with Z have increased (without Nina noticing, apparently), she must have something planned. "Apparently so," Rosen sighs defeatedly. Cley says, "Misjudged another patient, doc. Gotta work on that." These two do not have a healthy working relationship.
By morning, Nina and Skylar have reached a gas station in Waterville, Maine, and Skylar is being cagey with Nina about what's . Nina actually Pushes her, but Skylar's only amused by the attempt because she's wearing modified contacts. "I came prepared," she grins. Just then Gary gets out of his cab with the electronic bee, which he used to track to Skylar's phone. He also asks Nina to pay the cab driver. "I don't have 812 dollars and 90 cents." Well, who does? He adds that Rosen's on his way, at which point Skylar starts rummaging in her bag. "This was a mistake," she says. "Thanks for helping." And with that she tosses a handful of metallic cubes into the camera, electrical arcs zapping between them. Uh-oh, she's rolling for initiative!
After the ads, Rosen and the others have caught up with Nina and Gary, who were apparently stunned. Skylar's obviously nowhere in sight. While Gary goes back to the bug Skylar continues to insist on leaving behind, Rosen is lecturing Nina about what he thinks her motives are, but she retorts that helping Skylar was the right thing to do and it felt good. "Maybe you should try it some time." Burn! The bee has shut down, but luckily, Skylar seems to have stolen some other traveler's car that has a convenient biodiesel fuel leak to help with the tracking.
Skylar drives her stolen Volvo up to a country house, where a gray-haired man who has obviously been expecting her comes out to meet her. Apparently Z is inside, upstairs. Before going in, Skylar releases a couple of bees from her satchel, presumably to set up a surveillance perimeter. The Alphas are closing in, following Rachel's nose to the house, where they all set up behind the shed while Rachel does an auditory recon and determines that there are three people inside. Bill suggests Nina sit things out, because of how Nina has kind of a conflict of interest going on and Bill's kind of a dick. Rosen gets off his phone and says Cley's on his way, but they can't wait. Gary will be the one guiding Cameron using the hovering security cameras, steering him through the gaps in coverage. With Gary's help, Cameron makes it in and parkours up to the second-story window and inside, because houses on TV never have screens. Luckily he accomplishes this just before the gray-haired dude cocks a shotgun at Gary and asks who he is. "I'm a secret agent," Gary says. Still not clear on the "secret" concept, though. Bill grabs the gun and the guy, and Nina steps in, Pushing him to come off of any information he might suddenly be in the mood to share. Inside, Cameron has found the one and only "Z," who of course turns out to be a little girl, busy coloring and scribbling and writing her name, Zoe on paper. "Are you looking for my mommy?" she asks Cameron calmly. I'm guessing that's probably the case with most of the people Zoe meets.
Cameron looks around the room, whose walls are plastered with complex mathematical diagrams that were nonetheless obviously executed by a child. It's like Good Will Hide & Seek in there. Skylar pops in out of nowhere, and Cameron keeps pointing the gun.
But soon, everyone's all friendly-like, sitting in the kitchen and marveling over Zoe's post-calculus mathematical genius, which, according to Skylar, goes back to at least age three. Skylar knows the NSA would never let her keep Zoe, so she parked her with Uncle Wesley. And as for that super-unbreakable code Skylar's been using? Zoe invented it. "She's a second-generation Alpha," Rosen says. Bill's obviously thinking about that conversation with his wife earlier, because I can't imagine why else he would be regarding another human being with the kind of interest he's currently directing at Zoe.
Outside, Nina finds Rosen staring out across the fields and ignoring a call from Sullivan. Nina asks who will be if they let them take Zoe and Skylar. "It'd be nice if we could do exactly as we pleased, but life doesn't work like that," Rosen says. Nina stomps away like she lost the argument, but for now Rosen lets his phone keep ringing.
A black government SUV rolls up later anyway. When Cley and his team get out and head inside the house, Rosen intercepts him and says Skylar's gone, making up some lame lie about how Skylar distracted them all with one of her inventions. Cley gets in Rosen's face and threatens, "If you think I'm gonna let this slide, than you've really misjudged me too."
Gary's mom's on the phone reporting to Uncle Alan that Gary's fine when Gary himself comes in. She greets him lavishly, and Gary says he's going to keep working for Rosen. He reminds her that she wanted him to be happy. "I'm a secret agent now and I am happy," he says. Looks like that's settled, then.
At Alpha HQ, Sullivan looks over Rosen's report, which apparently has a few gaps in it. Rosen is unrepentant about the stink Cley's making at the DoD. "Well I guess that just leaves me in the middle," Sullivan snots. On her way out, she adds, "You know what the hardest part of my job is? Protecting your ass. And you don't make it any easier." Looks like he's not getting her into bed any time soon, after all. On the bright side, at least she stormed out before she spotted the line item on the expense for report an eight-hundred-dollar cab ride.
Rosen and Nina walk right up to Skylar at a park in Toronto, where she's watching Zoe play with what Rosen calls, "quantum physics and lollipops." Rosen tells Skylar their story worked, more or less (unless someone's tailing him and Nina right now, duh), and Skylar hands Nina a gift for Gary to make up for stunning him. It's just a regular phone with some extra features. "Press the right button six times, you get a direct line to me," Skylar tells Nina. Just what Gary always wanted. Rosen mentions "our agreement," and Skylar reaches into her ever-present satchel and hands over a black cloth bag which contains "pretty much the coolest thing I ever built." Rosen opens the bag, holds up the sparkly blue cylinder of Bob's brain and intones darkly, "With a few modifications I could find every Alpha on the planet." "Serve 'em up to your bosses on a platter," Skylar agrees bitterly. Rosen nods, then slowly walks over to a trash can and smashes the bag against the side of it before tossing it inside. "You're right, that felt good," he says to Nina. Bet it didn't to Skylar.
At HQ, there's a new espresso machine, sent by Skylar, but nobody can figure out how to use it. Except Nina, who figures out that it's voice-activated and orders her drink verbally like it's a Star Trek replicator. As Nina flounces off with her fresh, hot beverage just the way she likes it, Rachel wonders if it can give her advice on men, which reminds Gary of a joke Bill made about Rachel liking her coffee and men the same way. Fortunately Rachel leaves in a snit before Gary can remember the punchline.
At Bill's house, his wife opens a package addressed to Bill that turns out to contain a book about fatherhood. Apparently ordering books is his way of breaking the news to the missus. "I'm not promising anything," he says, leaving the room. She smiles anyway, because that's about as close as he ever gets to being nice to her.
And Skylar drives Zoe through the countryside, accompanied by a bee that flies along behind, in front of and over their car. It opens up in midair, either scanning the horizon for pursuers or, one hopes, telling the owner of the still-stolen Volvo where to find his car already.
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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