Original Cindy is asleep in her bed. Suddenly, the sound of an engine revving fills the air, waking her up. She runs out to the living room (when my first instinct would have been to look out the window, because you would expect revving engines to be outside) and finds Max revving the engine on her motorcycle, which is sitting in the living room. This begs the following question for me: If Max is "keeping her head down" as Logan suggested she do in the last episode, why is she making so much noise? OC runs and hugs Max, thanking God that Max is alive. They hug for a while.
Max shaves her legs in the bathtub, saying that she's wanted to do it for months. Because when you're trying to save lives and possibly society, hair removal is a top priority. OC notices that Max's nails are a mess too, and Max jokes that she had to torch Manticore because they don't appreciate the girly stuff. OC reviews the happenings from last week, and then asks Max about her virus. OC suggests that Logan is Eyes Only, and that's why Manticore wants him dead. Max denies it, but OC congratulates her on "creeping with Eyes Only." Max swears OC to secrecy. OC is sure that everything will work out, because Max and Logan are…well, she doesn't say soulmates (thank God) but that's what she means. OC promises that Manticore can't hurt Max or anyone any more.
Some displaced Manticore soldiers lurk through the woods at night. They spot a flashing light in the sky, and the leader points out that it's "the rendezvous signal." One of the girls in the group is unsure, since Manticore didn't let them out of the barracks when the place was on fire, but the leader reassures that her Manticore was busy defending the place, and that they are supposed to regroup. For every argument that the girl comes up with, the leader has some sort of defense, and finally, they all take off.
The group reaches a bridge. On the other side stands a troop of Manticore goons, and one guy dressed all in black who I'm going to just call Blackie Webb, for all you old school General Hospital fans. The displaced soldiers report in. Aw, one of the little soldiers looks like Webster. Blackie gives the "at ease" orders and then turns and nods to some goons. The goons raise their guns and shoot all of the soldiers -- presumably. I mean, we see them shooting, but we don't see the soldiers dying. But I'm sure that's what happened.
A car drives down the road. Inside, a girl listens to the news of Manticore (or what the news refers to as "a VA hospital") burning down. The girl complains that they can't even get music, and whines to her boyfriend that she wants to go back to L.A. The boyfriend says, "L.A. is full of freaks and weirdos and psychos." Uh oh. The law of poorly written television shows states that in this scene, the couple will now encounter a freak, a weirdo, a psycho, or possibly all of the above. Suddenly, a freaky-looking Manticore escapee runs out in front of the car, blinks his lizard-like eyelids, then runs off into the woods. Even creepier is when the scary A.J. Soprano-look-alike X7s that were guarding the Manticore perimeter last week run up to the car and peer inside. Of course, the boyfriend peels out and heads back to L.A.
The X7s chase Lizard Man through the woods, stopping along the way to communicate via their special bat language. They reach a quarry of some sort and can't find Lizard Man. They proceed cautiously, and suddenly Lizard Man pops out of some sand, where he was buried. Lizard Man manages to take out a few X7s, but then they start hitting him with some sort of stun-gun device, and he falls.
Max and OC stride into Jam Pony, as Max wonders what she should tell everyone to explain her absence. OC claims that she will handle it, and announces to the room at large that Max is back. Was that really "handling it"? Everyone is happy to see Max, and Sketchy runs up and hugs her, asking what happened. Before Max can make something up, Normal spots Max. They banter a bit, and Max says, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." She's no Mark Twain, that's for sure. Normal has a job, but won't let Max do it, since she took an unexplained three-month sabbatical. Max claims that she had a "medical emergency," and going into further detail, "a heart transplant." Normal wants proof, so Max flashes him her scar, and her boobs. Normal compliments her "nice big…uh, scar."
Max's beeper goes off, and she calls Logan on Normal's phone. Logan (whose hair is about a million times better this week) tells her to turn on the television, and we see a news report claiming that Manticore was a VA hospital burned down by the S1W. They have footage of Blondie with a gun at the VA Administration Office. Logan is all upset that the S1W is being blamed, but Max thinks it's better than people knowing about all the escapees. Sketchy comments that Eyes Only said the VA hospital was really Manticore. Logan is still upset that the S1W is getting blamed for murder, and Max wonders why he cares so much. We see that Blondie is at Logan's place, as Logan explains that some friends of his are involved with S1W. Logan drops it, and asks Max to come over later. Max doesn't know if it's a good idea. Logan reassures her and promises some important information. Max agrees to stop by, and they hang up.
Sketchy finishes watching the news report and comments that there are "mutants on the loose." OC reminds him that the news claimed that everyone died. Sketchy points out that Max was supposed to be dead too. And if Sketchy had one shred of a brain cell, he might make the connection there. But he doesn't, so he doesn't. Max picks up a package and takes off.
Blondie pressures Logan to talk to Eyes Only and get him to take the pressure off the S1W. Logan claims that he can't make Eyes Only do anything. Heh. Blondie says that the S1W only went to the VA Office as a favor to Logan, and now they need a favor back. Blondie walks out, and Logan sighs heavily.
A sign informs us that we are looking at the No-Tel Motel. Alec lies in bed with some chick, and she's checking out his barcode tattoo. The chick has some serious buckteeth, so I'm just going to call her Bunny. Alec comments that the tattoo cost more than Bunny did, so we know that she's a whore, as if the heavy eye make-up weren't clue enough. Bunny keeps asking questions about the tattoo as Alec watches rap videos on MTV. Alec gives Bunny some money and tells her to go get them some food. Bunny tosses on some clothes as Alec remains entranced by the television.
Bunny heads over to a convenience store across the street and looks around. Some more escaped soldiers appear in the woods, scoping out the store, and talking about how hungry they are. They decide to go into the store, even though they don't have any money. The clerk is absorbed in a tabloid and doesn't pay them any mind. The soldiers start stuffing food into their shirts and pants. Bunny sees their tattoos and comments that her friend has one just like it. The soldiers ignore her and grab more food, then prepare to leave. Bunny yells at them, and the clerk looks up, and then grabs a shotgun. One of the soldiers super-speeds over to the clerk and grabs the gun, then commands one of his friends to grab the money from the drawer. After grabbing the money and some more food, they take off. Alec sees it all happen out the window and comments, "Great. That's just great."
At some sort of makeshift Manticore HQ, tech goons look at computer screens, and one of them reports a possible sighting of escapees to Blackie Webb. Just then, Blackie's phone rings, and he tells someone on the other end to handle a situation and keep local law enforcement out of the picture. So, Blackie's obviously in charge here. Another tech goon walks up and reports that more escapees are showing up at the rendezvous point. Blackie is pleased, and tells them to keep sending out the signal. Some X7s bring in Lizard Man, and a goon explains to Blackie that the prisoner appears to be designed for desert warfare. Blackie comments on the X7s' "hive mind thing" and then orders the Lizard Man to be taken to forensics and autopsied. Lizard Man slips his restraints and grabs Blackie by the throat before a goon tasers him. Blackie loses his temper a little bit and orders Lizard Man and the X7s taken away.
Alec sits listening to the clock radio when there's a knock at the door. He thinks it's Bunny returning, and gets up to answer it when he sees that it's actually local law enforcement. They bust the door down, but Alec has already escaped out the window and is running through the woods. He sees a discarded potato chip bag on the ground, and then a little further on, he finds a Cheeto. Alec shakes his head in disgust and heads for an abandoned barn nearby. Meanwhile, he ran less than a hundred yards to get away, which doesn't seem like the best way to avoid detection, since in the background you can still see the motel. Shouldn't he go a little farther away?
Alec enters the barn to find the escaped soldiers chowing down. He calls out, "Daddy's home!" and they all leap to attention and sound off. Alec interrupts them and asks why they "knocked over a Quik-E Mart." Alec notices an X7 standing in the corner, and the soldiers explain that they all escaped "the attack on Manticore" together, and have seen the rendezvous signal, so they're headed that way. Alec tells them that Manticore wasn't attacked, but instead was trying to kill their own, and that the signal is a trap. One of the soldiers claims that they are "valuable military assets worth billions of dollars." Alec reiterates that Manticore is trying to kill them. One of the soldiers points out that officers higher up than Alec left standing orders to regroup. Alec backs down, and the leader of the group orders the others to fall in. The X7 doesn't respond. The leader threatens to report the X7 and Alec, but Alec isn't threatened. The leader orders the troop out of the barn, and they leave.
Max shows up at Logan's place, where Logan sits in an Aeron chair, which he could easily sell off if he's still strapped for cash. Logan tells Max that there is military action in the woods surrounding the former Manticore location. Max says that the same thing happened when she and her friends escaped. Logan says that there's a difference, because Max and her friends wanted to escape, while the current escapees didn't. Logan shows Max some footage he got from an informant, and Max realizes that it's a signal from Manticore that gives information on where to regroup. Max starts to take off, and Logan stops her. Max says that Manticore is probably rounding up the soldiers and killing them. Logan points out that they could just be collecting them and shipping them off to "a facility somewhere," but Max doesn't like that idea either. Logan asks if she has a plan, and Max doesn't, but she tells Logan that it's her family. Some of them are "screwed up" and don't look human, and Max feels responsible for them being lost in the woods. Max starts to walk out, and Logan grabs her arm. Max yells, "Careful!" Logan replies, "Now, see, you took the words right out of my mouth." So tired of the virus storyline already.
The group of soldiers that Alec met in the barn heads toward the same bridge where another group of soldiers was gunned down earlier. Apparently, there's a law that each group must contain one cute little kid. This one looks like a mini-Thom Yorke. Somewhere else, Max races along on her motorcycle. The group of kids heads across the bridge, and the goons on the other side raise their guns. Before the soldiers can react, Max shows up and uses her motorcycle to take out the goons, ordering the soldiers to run. One of the soldiers gets hit in the leg by a bullet, and Max rides her motorcycle across the bridge, scooping up the wounded soldier on the way.
Alec sits in the barn and eats some snacks. He offers the remaining X7, who is eerily staring out the window, some "hydrogenated artificial pork product," and I don't know why he couldn't just say "pork rinds." Then again, I don't know why anyone eats pork rinds, so whatever. The X7 doesn't respond, and Alec comments, "All right. More for me." I have to say that the actor playing Alec is really funny, and Alec is growing on me. The group of soldiers runs into the barn, telling Alec that there was an ambush. Alec hears squealing brakes outside and worries that the soldiers were followed. Max struggles in with the wounded soldier. Max and Alec go into doctor mode. One of the soldiers says that she's going to be sick, and runs off. Alec heats up a jackknife with a lighter and Max uses it to cauterize the bullet hole. Ouch. Alec tells the soldier that he'll be okay. Max says that they need to get the soldiers out of there. Alec says, "It's [Max's] party, not [his]." Aw, see, it's like he doesn't care, but you know he really does.
Blackie interrogates a goon about how a girl on a motorcycle took them all out. A suited goon comes in with stuff recovered from Renfro's office at Manticore. Blackie checks it out and finds the database back-up disks, and the DNA work-up of Max that Renfro was being all secretive about before she died. Blackie comments that Max is "not bad-looking for a freak." The goon informs Blackie that the X5 in the work-up is the same girl who took out his men. Blackie orders the goon to find her. He would be a lot scarier if he weren't so damn short. He's about a foot shorter than the goon he's ordering around. He's got the scary voice, but I find his lack of height off-putting.
Max explores the barn and finds an old truck. She checks out the engine, and it's there. I guess that's what she was looking for. Meanwhile, Alec throws pieces of popcorn at the unresponsive X7. Max walks back into the room and orders the soldiers to fall in. She informs them that they've been betrayed by their own command, and they all yell out that that means they are supposed to redeploy. Unfortunately, they don't know what that means, so Max explains that they need to jettison their "blind obedience to Manticore and all it represents." She also orders them to stop calling her "ma'am" and start calling her Max. Of course, they keep calling her "ma'am." Max thinks that the soldiers should all have names too, which I'm all for since I can't just refer to them as "the soldiers" forever. Nearby, Alec rolls his eyes and says, "Oh, for the love of…" Max tells Alec to shut up. Heh. I like it when this show is funny. Maybe they should just turn it into a comedy.
Max tries to get the soldiers to start thinking of themselves as people. One of the soldiers points out that they are soldiers, not people. Max gets up in his grill and yells that she has "zero tolerance" for "mouthing off." Max decides that his name should be Zero. She orders Zero to get out on sentry duty. Max moves onto the soldier, a female who was messing around with a radio earlier. Max decides to call her Fixit, and orders her to work on the truck. Moving onto the soldier, Max realizes that she's "the girl that threw up." Alec snarks that they should call her Ralph. The girl likes the name Ralph. Max says that's it's "a boy's name," which is funny coming from someone who's named…oh, was that supposed to be a joke? Anyway, her name is now Ralph, and Max orders her to check on Bullet, the kid who got shot. Finally, Max reaches the last and smallest soldier, who is carrying a bugle. Max decides to call him Bugler, and orders him to get some sleep. Bugler reveals that he's actually a Canadian extra when he says, "It's not lights oot yet." Max tells him to sleep anyway. Alec wonders if the X7 gets a name. Max leaves the naming of the X7 to Alec, who just tosses another piece of popcorn at him.
Lydecker arrives at the temporary military compound, where a security guard tries to prevent him from entering. Lydecker wants to see White, which may or may not be Blackie, so I'm going to stick with Blackie until I know for sure. It's funny that I was calling him Blackie if his name is really White, isn't it? No? It's not? Moving on. Lydecker flashes some ID and then pushes his way through. The security guard reports that Lydecker is there. Lydecker just waltzes into command central, like, nice security that they have there. Lydecker rummages through the office and takes a bunch of stuff. Meanwhile, Blackie and some goons approach the office. By the time they bust in, Lydecker is already gone. Blackie pops open his briefcase and finds that the disks and the work-up on Max are all missing, so he tosses the briefcase at the wall. For a little guy, he's got a big temper.
Logan answers his phone to find Lydecker on the other end. Logan wants to know how Lydecker got the number, but Lydecker ignores the question and says that he needs to get into contact with Max, but can't say why. Logan hesitates, and then reveals that Max is in the woods outside the former Manticore location. Lydecker says that "he'll be looking for her," and if Logan hears from Max, he should tell her to get the hell out of there. His cryptic message delivered, Lydecker hangs up and studies the work-up on Max some more. So now, Blackie and Lydecker both know about this mysterious work-up. Just trying to keep track. Well, Renfro knows too, but I'm pretty sure she's dead. And whoever Renfro was talking to on the phone in French before she died.
Some techie goon tells Blackie that he's about to send out the rendezvous signal. Then, he does. At the barn, everyone is asleep except for Max. She spots the X7 still standing guard by the window. We hear the high-pitched bat signal noises and see that there are more X7s standing outside in the woods. The X7 looks at Max and then transmits some information to the others outside, presumably about Max and the others in the barn. He's a spy! Well, he's not bad. He was just programmed that way.
The morning, Ralph helps Bullet walk around the barn. Bugler starts bugling, and Max snatches it away. Max explains about the "no training and no orders" thing again. Alec comes into the room and announces that he's leaving. Max is angry, and reminds him that the one good thing Manticore taught them was not to abandon their unit. Alec comments that there is no more Manticore, thanks to Max, and leaves. He'll be back. Mark my words.
Blackie gets a report from some tech goon. Apparently, they are translating signals from some X7s, and those signals contain an image of Max. Another goon confirms that it's the same girl who took out the goons at the bridge. Blackie wants her taken alive, if possible.
Back at the barn, Max, Fixit, and Zero work on the truck. The engine starts. Bullet runs in and reports that there are soldiers outside. Max orders the X7 away from the window, and then realizes that he is transmitting information to the other X7s outside. She orders the X7 tied up and says that they'll leave him, but the rest of them need to get in the truck and leave. I love how they all follow her orders, even though she's told them repeatedly not to follow any orders. Of course, now the truck won't start. Fixit continues to work on it. Some goons outside shoot smoke grenades into the barn, and Max and Bullet wonder why they are using smoke grenades instead of more deadly weapons. They make their way to the truck as the goons enter the barn. Max takes out some goons and avoids bullets using her super speed. Finally, Fixit gets the engine running, and all of the soldiers except Max take off in the truck. The goons give chase unsuccessfully. Back in the barn, Max kicks some ass until she doesn't anymore, and lands unconscious on the ground. One of the goons reports to Blackie that they have captured X5-452.
Max wakes up in a cage somewhere, and finds Lizard Man in the cage to her. She talks to him, and realizes that he's suffering from the lack of sun. Max kills a bug in her cage by stomping on it, and then offers it to Lizard Man, who uses his tongue to snap it right up. Blackie and some goons walk into the tent. Max refers to Blackie as "the new bad guy in [her] life," and says she misses "the old bad guys already." Max banters until Blackie asks her if she's heard of junk DNA. Max informs him (and us) that it's DNA that doesn't serve a purpose, but everyone has some. Blackie informs Max that she doesn't have any junk DNA. Every pair in her DNA is "coded for some specific purpose," but they don't know what the purpose is. Max thinks that the purpose is to "kick ass, mostly." Blackie says ominously that they'll find out the purpose soon, and leaves.
The truck full of soldiers drives down the road. Ralph is upset that they left Max behind. Zero points out that Max gave them an order. Bugler points out, with the clichéd wisdom of a child, that Max said they don't need to take orders anymore. The other soldiers all agree that they should go back, so Zero pulls a U-turn and heads back. Meanwhile, Alec is cruising around in a sweet vintage convertible, listening to some tunes. He sees the truck heading back, and yells at them that they're going the wrong way.
Back at temporary HQ, a techie goon starts sending out the rendezvous signal again. Max's friends creep into the perimeter of the compound and scope things out. Alec shows up behind them and finds out that Max got captured while saving the others. The soldiers take out a security goon and then cut power to the camp. Blackie orders the signal to keep broadcasting while he finds out what's going on. The soldiers swarm into the camp and take out more goons. Alec finds Max and unlocks her cage after some banter. Max wants Lizard Man to be rescued too, and Alec does it, after some complaints. Lizard Man takes off. Alec wants to follow suit, but Max says that they need to shut down the signal first. Alec and Max change the signal. Blackie barks some orders over his walkie-talkie. A goon notes that the signal now tells the soldiers to "scatter and go underground." Blackie orders the satellite disabled immediately. Max realizes that the signal has been transmitted enough, so Alec shoots out the transmitter. Lizard Man shows up too, and starts walking towards Max and Alec. Blackie pulls out a gun and shoots Lizard Man dead, so Max and Alec take off. In his frustration at losing Max yet again, Blackie pumps another bullet into the now-dead Lizard Man. So long, Lizard Man!
The day, Max hands the group of soldiers new ID cards and passports so that they can get into Canada. Zero asks if they'll ever see her again, and Max promises they will. Then Max advises them to stick together, because she lost the group that she escaped with, and their group is now family. Alec says he's going to leave "before the waterworks start." I wish Alec were the star of this show. I wish it were called Dark Alec. Anyway, Max stops him and says that they need to "pay [their] respects to those who didn't make it." The soldiers all stand at attention while Bugler plays "Taps." Then there's a cheesy-ass montage of all the folks who died. Max hugs her new family members goodbye, and they get in the truck and leave. Alec takes off too, but not before waving to Logan, who was standing nearby the whole time.
Max thanks Logan for "coming through on the papers." Logan assures her that she did a good thing "for all of them." Max decides to take a ride and clear her head, and gets on her motorcycle. Logan returns to his Aztek, but not before he and Max exchange many meaningful glances. Max voice-overs that she wants to stay with Logan, but she can't or it might kill him, so she hopes that they can "beat this thing."