Max sits at a desk in The Dreaming, looking through some papers. Joshua asks if she's working on finding an antidote for her Logan-specific virus. She is, using the papers she was given by the extremely nervous former Manticore scientist who was helping her before he left town. Max is frustrated by the doctor's lousy handwriting. Joshua turns on a lamp so that she can have better light, and then there's a whole bit of business where he can't get the lamp to reach her because the cord isn't long enough, so he ends up picking up Max and the desk and carrying them over to the lamp. Max is touched that he wants to help, but wants to get him out of her hair, so she asks him to find her another pencil. Joshua slaps the table and yells out, "Pencil!" Joshua is kind of annoying.
Speaking of pencils, Logan is tapping one on his desk while he speaks to a doctor on the phone. He is also searching for a cure for his virus. The doctor on the phone seems to think Logan is a nut, and hangs up. Logan breaks his pencil in frustration and then tosses it across the desk. He is so manly!
Joshua searches in the basement for a pencil. While searching, Joshua finds a painting on an easel, and nearby, some tubes of paint. One of the paints is called "Chocolate Mousse," so Joshua thinks it's candy and sticks some in his mouth. He immediately starts choking, so he uses a piece of paper to try to wipe it from his tongue. He eventually spits some paint onto the painting, and then uses the paper to wipe it off. The paper sticks to the painting. They couldn't have picked another color besides brown? Because it looks like a big mess of poop. Anyway, Joshua is still choking and drooling, so he picks up an old ashtray to spit into, but then he sneezes and blows the ash all over the painting, and the ashes get stuck in the paint. , Joshua grabs a cloth and some turpentine to try to remove the extraneous paint, but apparently he likes what he sees, so he keeps doing it. The brown paint dripping from the painting just looks like diarrhea. I'm sorry, but it does. Max comes downstairs to try to find Joshua. At first, he doesn't want to share his work, but eventually relents. Max thinks the painting is good. It also looks nothing like the painting he started -- all the poop paint is gone somehow. Joshua informs her that it's a painting of their father. Max thinks it's good that Joshua has a hobby, because it will keep him out of trouble. Joshua repeats her warnings about people being afraid of things that are different.
Meanwhile, over on the evil side of town, Otto and his goons have apparently captured another transgenic, and are briefing White about it. White asks the transgenic what he's supposed to be, besides ugly. The transgenic has a shaved head and weird, cataract-like eyes. White grabs the transgenic's face to get his attention, and the transgenic bites White's hand. White responds by punching the dude in the face. White orders the transgenic to be transferred, because the scientists have wanted to take apart a transgenic while he is still alive. White walks away, and Otto turns away to order the transport. While his back is turned, the transgenic does some sort of shape-shifting trick where the bones in his hands disappear, and he is able to slip his hands out of their shackles. The transgenic attacks Otto, and then uses Otto as a human shield in order to escape. White and another goon draw their guns. Otto begs them not to shoot, sure that he will be hit. White doesn't listen, and takes several shots, hitting only the transgenic. As the transgenic slides to the floor, White orders Otto to never turn his back on a transgenic. Good advice.
In his apartment, Logan reaches a voice mailbox and leaves a message for someone, saying that he hasn't received any mysterious phone calls in a while, and is wondering if the person can help him find a doctor to help with the virus. I think we're supposed to wonder who Logan is calling, but it's clearly Lydecker. Who else would it be?
Alec enters The Dreaming and informs Joshua that he has some ham hocks that he wasn't able to sell. Joshua salivates at the prospect of ham hocks. And who wouldn't, really? Alec checks out Joshua's surroundings, including his painting. Well, Joshua thinks that Alec is admiring the painting, but Alec is clearly looking at the frame instead. Joshua offers the painting to Alec in return for the ham hocks. Alec doesn't think it's a fair trade for Joshua, but Joshua insists. Joshua grabs a marker and signs the painting. Alec seems a little amused by Joshua's enthusiasm as he leaves with the painting.
Max shows up at Logan's apartment in order to "raid [his] library," and she picks up a book on organic chemistry. Logan tells her that he's been trying to get in touch with Lydecker, because last time they spoke, Lydecker said he had some sort of lead. Max says that sounds like Lydecker. Logan informs her that the police pulled an SUV from the water a few months ago, and the plates on the vehicle were registered to Lydecker. The police didn't find a body, but they say that no one could have survived the crash. Max thinks that the police don't know Lydecker. Logan notes that she sounds hopeful, and Max jokes that when you spend ten years running from someone, "you kind of miss not having them around." Logan points out that she still has White. Max doesn't think it's the same. Logan shows Max a folder full of photos that were discovered near where Lydecker's vehicle was recovered. Max says that the photographs look like a dig site, and Logan promises to run them through some databases and see what he finds. Meanwhile, Logan has to take off to meet with a woman who contacted Eyes Only regarding the kidnapping of her six-year-old son. Max didn't know that Eyes Only handled missing persons. Logan says that the woman reached him through a trusted informant, and the family (the Olsens) is desperate because the police have reached a dead end. Plus, Logan notes, her husband is rich, and they've promised Eyes Only a sizable donation. Max jokes, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Logan reminds her that even Eyes Only has to pay the bills.
Alec has taken Joshua's painting to an art gallery. The owner, Rita, says that she likes it. Alec offers to get the painting out of the way, thinking that she wants the frame. Turns out that she wants the painting. Rita uses big art-type terms to describe why the painting is so good, and offers Alec six thousand dollars for it. Alec is stunned, and Rita mistakes his hesitance for a negotiation tool, and offers seven thousand. Alec accepts gladly. Rita says that she must meet the artist, Joshua. Alec tells her that Joshua is kind of shy. Rita says that her clients want to meet artists. Alec claims that Joshua is a homebody. Rita asks if Joshua is prolific, at least. Alec accepts the cash from Rita's assistant, and assures Rita that Joshua will be producing many more paintings.
Back at The Dreaming, Joshua is working on another painting, with Alec coaching him. Joshua basically tosses paint on the canvas while Alec yells encouragement. Joshua freaks out and yells that his work is his face. Alec agrees, and remembers that Rita liked that Joshua included papers in his last painting. Alec picks up the papers that Max was studying earlier, and tosses them on the painting. Joshua joins in, yelling and screaming. All of Max's research now appears to be part of the painting.
Logan meets with Ms. Olsen (Hee! I wonder if her first name is Harriet). She explains that her son was taken from their home in the middle of the night, and neither of the parents heard anything. The police didn't find any forensic evidence, but they do have videotape from their security system. There's a glimpse of something, but nothing anyone could make out. She gives Logan a copy of the tape. Logan asks to come by the house to see the scene of the crime. Ms. Olsen insists that he come while her husband is out, because he doesn't care much for Eyes Only. Her husband thinks that Eyes Only is "subversive." Ms. Olsen gives Logan more background on her son, Ray, including how smart he is, and a photograph. Ms. Olsen overshares that she'd lost two babies in childbirth, so this son was their whole world. I'm not sure what that has to do with the investigation, but it does come in handy as a plot point later. Logan asks why the son's last name isn't Olsen. Ms. Olsen explains that Olsen is her maiden name, and Ray uses her husband's last name -- White. Logan realizes that her husband is Ames White -- the White we all know and hate. Ms. Olsen (whose first name is Wendy) gives Logan a family photo with a picture of White, Wendy, and little Ray. Wendy begs him to find her son, but Logan just looks stunned.
At The Dreaming, Joshua starts working on a new painting while Alec counts the money they made from his last one. Alec tells Joshua that Rita wants to meet him. Joshua is interested in the idea, but Alec explains, "One look at [him] and [his] benefactress is going to run for her life." Joshua isn't happy, but he remembers that people are afraid of things that are different. Alec encourages Joshua to continue painting, but he's not happy. Max arrives and asks what Alec is doing there. Alec says he's just paying a friendly visit. Max goes over to the desk to get her papers, but they're gone. Alec asks what they looked like, and Alec and Joshua both realize that they used her papers in his last painting. Max decides to search the basement, but then she gets a page from Logan. Alec and Joshua offer to go search for the papers. Once Max has left the room, Joshua grabs Alec and snarls that they need to retrieve Max's papers.
At Logan's pad, Max takes a look at the White family photo and confirms that Ray's father is her nemesis. Logan still wants to help Wendy, because she doesn't know what her husband does for a living. Max doesn't think that's possible. Logan points out that if she knew, she wouldn't have come to Eyes Only. Max still isn't very sympathetic to the cause, since White is trying to kill her and all the other transgenics. Logan gives her a Look. Max calls him on his Look, saying that he appears to know more than her, and he is about to tell her. They sit at the computer. Logan explains that the kidnappers disabled the security system, but Logan was able to catch something reflected in a gazing ball in White's garden. Who ever knew that those ugly lawn ornaments might actually come in handy? Logan shows Max how one of the kidnappers leapt up to the second story, and Max realizes that the kidnappers are transgenics. Max thinks that White brought it on himself, but Logan points out that the little boy is innocent, since he can't help who his parents are. Logan says he's not asking Max to be involved, but he wanted her to know what's going on. Logan is going to help Wendy however he can. Max wonders what he can do. Logan shows her that one of the kidnappers was wearing a badge, and he's going to try to enhance the readability with his computer. While he's waiting for that to render, he's going to pay Wendy a visit. Max insists on coming with him, because "otherwise [she's] no better than [White] is." They leave.
Alec pays another visit to Rita's gallery. Rita shows him that Joshua's paintings have been reviewed in an art publication. Alec reads the article, which is hugely complimentary. Rita annoyingly nods her head with her eyes closed, as if to say, "Oh, yes. That's exactly what I was thinking." Alec tells Rita that he needs Joshua's second painting back. Rita says that's impossible. Alec thinks that she sold it, but Rita tells him that she's keeping it for her private collection. Alec gives her the money back (but not before sniffing it lovingly first), but Rita still refuses unless Joshua explains the situation to her in person. Alec says that it's not possible, and asks what it will take to get the painting back. Rita looks interested.
Alec shows up at The Dreaming and wakes Joshua, telling him that they need to give Rita two more paintings to get one back. Joshua is totally not into it. Alec tries to help.
At White's house, Logan and Max have just finished telling Wendy about White's true profession. Wendy refuses to believe it, and orders them to get out. Logan says that they just want to help. Wendy insists that her husband loves her and their child. Suddenly, White arrives, with a gun pointed right at Max. Oh no! Will she die? That's the thing about television shows -- generally you know that the main character isn't going to die. Unless it's Buffy.
After the commercial break, White asks Max what she's doing in his house. As usual, he yells and chews the scenery. Wendy begs her husband to tell her that it's not true, but she realizes that he's known all along that transgenics took their son. Max uses the moment to super-speed over and disarm White, knocking him to the floor. White snarls, "You animals took my son." Max says that she could break White's neck, but she's not that kind of animal, and releases him. Wendy rushes over to comfort her husband. Max starts to walk away, and then glances at the family photo. She turns and says that they have a lead on the kidnappers, and will follow up on it. White wonders why she's helping him. Max explains that White doesn't deserve it, but his wife and son have done nothing wrong. Max storms on out. Logan ineffectually follows her. It's times like this that it must suck to be the brains of the organization. White and his wife cuddle on the floor.
Alec has delivered the two new paintings to Rita's gallery. Rita is unhappy with them. Alec insists that they look just like the others, but Rita can't believe that Alec thinks that. Rita says that sometimes an artist starts off strong, and then fades away quickly. Alec suggests that she call the paintings his "blue period." Rita again asks if she could talk to Joshua, to help him find his inspiration again. Alec says that it's not going to happen, so Rita calls the deal off.
Back at his apartment, Logan reports that the badge should be legible soon. Max looks out the window and says that she wasn't expecting to see White's house be so normal. Logan thinks that things won't be so normal anymore, but adds that perhaps the fact that Max is willing to help will cause White to reconsider his line of work. Max thinks that Logan is an eternal optimist, but she has serious doubts.
Back at The Dreaming, Joshua laments the loss of both Max's papers and his artistic skills. Alec assures him that his art career isn't over, and explains that Joshua needs to make his paintings more rare, and thus they will be more valuable. Joshua insists that they need to get his second painting (and Max's papers) back, and suddenly realizes that they can steal it. Alec isn't up for it, because Rita will know that it was them. Alec suggests that Joshua tell Max that he lost her papers. He assures Joshua that underneath it all, Max is a big softy. Suddenly, Max calls out from upstairs, and Alec quickly takes off, not wanting to face her wrath. Heh. Max appears and asks Joshua if he had any luck finding her papers. Joshua hems and haws, and finally admits that Alec sold his paintings. Max is pleased to hear it. Joshua says that they need to talk about the paintings, right now. Max's phone rings. It's Logan, informing her that the badge on the kidnapper says that he works at RCF Disposal, and gives her an address. Max says that she'll talk to Joshua later, and takes off.
Max pulls up outside a warehouse on her motorcycle. She uses her super-vision to see a sign that says "RCF Environmental Clean-Up and Disposal." Interesting, because Lydecker took those bone photos at a place called RCF Demolition and Disposal. Max sneaks into the warehouse. Well, not exactly sneaks -- she slams the door behind her. The kidnappers are holding Ray inside, and one of them wanders out to see what all the racket is about. Max tells him that she's from Manticore too, and she knows that he took White's kid. The kidnapper assumes a fighting pose. Max says that she doesn't like White either, but that doesn't excuse kidnapping. The other kidnapper comes out of the office where Ray is being held, and does back handsprings into the area. Max looks worried now that they have both assumed their ready fighting stances. She says, "Let me guess. You're with him."
As Max looks on warily, the two kidnappers grab hands and do a fancy flip. Suddenly, they're all Cirque du Soleil. Anyway, they fight. It's actually probably the best fight sequence that I've seen this season, with lots of wire work. In the course of the fight, Max discovers that her adversaries do not have bar codes on their necks, and asks who they are. After more fighting, Max gets tossed down a ramp into the basement. She uses her supervision to watch the kidnappers lead Ray into another room. But then something else catches her eye. She wanders further into the basement, and finds what looks like an excavation site, featuring bones that are the same as the pictures found near Lydecker's car. In addition, she sees the Manticore symbol on the wall.
Back in Logan's apartment, Max complains that the kidnappers didn't have bar codes, and they had a different style of fighting. Plus, she couldn't hurt them! Imagine that! Logan informs her very seriously that his research has shown that Max found a burial ground from the early 1800s. Max wonders why the Manticore symbol was there. Logan tells her about some other sites where the Manticore symbol was found, some from thousands of years ago. Max wonders what it means. Logan says all he knows is that Manticore, or some version of it, has been around much longer than they thought. Max points out that they couldn't have been doing genetic engineering thousands of years ago. She wonders how Lydecker is connected, and Logan reminds her that he had pictures from the site where the kidnappers are holding Ray. Logan is trying to hack into Lydecker's voicemail to get more information. Max says that she'll pay White a visit, since he probably knows more than he's telling.
Wendy sits in Ray's room. White comes to the door, frightening her, then walks in and sits by her on the bed. He starts to talk to her, when the phone rings. His wife overhears him talking about his son. White asks the kidnappers why he should believe them that Ray is still alive. Apparently, the kidnappers put Ray on the phone for a second, and then give White some instructions regarding a ransom. Wendy asks White if they should call the police, but White insists that they go alone, or else Ray will be killed. Max sits outside, watching as White and his wife leave their house, and then she follows them.
White and Wendy stand in the middle of the warehouse, waiting. White tells Wendy that he loves her. Max peeks over a wall, watching the proceedings. Her phone rings, and Logan asks what's going on. Max explains what she's doing. Logan says that he got into Lydecker's voice mail, and there was a message from The Expert. Meanwhile, Wendy is sure that something is wrong, since the kidnappers haven't shown up yet. White informs her that they're not coming. Wendy asks how he knows, and White admits that he staged the whole thing. Wendy yells that she wants her son. White says that Ray isn't her son anymore.
Logan tells Max that there is some kind of genetic breeding going on, where women were forced to have children. Meanwhile, White tells Wendy that she was chosen for him, and that the earlier ones were smart, because they got rid of "the breeding host" right away. Wendy hauls off and slaps White across the face. White says that he made the mistake of falling in love with her. White is angry that Wendy couldn't accept that Ray was taken, and had to try to find him on her own. Max listens as Logan says that the women were always forced to have three children, and that White and Wendy had two miscarriages before Ray was born. Thus the reason for the oversharing earlier.
White pulls out a gun and tells Wendy that he didn't want it to end like this, but she's left him no choice. The police will be told that they came to meet the kidnappers, were double-crossed and Wendy was killed. Logan tells Max that they kill the mother when they are through with her. White explains that he'll say he took a bullet himself, and he casually shoots himself in the arm, with no visible reaction. Wendy screams. Max scrambles up to get a closer look. Wendy asks, "What are you?" White replies, "I am the future." He tells Wendy goodbye, and raises his gun. Max crashes through a window and manages to get White to drop the gun. They fight. White is strong, stronger than Max, able to deflect her every blow. White taunts Max, saying that the transgenics are nothing special, and that she has no idea what she is up against. Max manages to grab a thick beam and smash it over White's head, but he has no visible reaction. He tells her, "Pain is a phantom of the mind." Max hears sirens, and looks around to see what's going on. When she looks back, White has vanished.
Remember the whole storyline about Joshua and the art? Oh, yeah. Joshua sneaks into the gallery. We see that a silent alarm has been activated. Joshua grabs the painting and starts walking off. Rita walks out with a gun, and threatens him. Joshua uses the painting to hide from her. Rita realizes that it's Joshua, and says that she wants to see him. Joshua panics when he hears that the police are on their way. Rita assures him that it doesn't matter what he looks like. Joshua finally relents and peeks out from above the painting. Rita looks a little surprised, but not repulsed. She says that it makes sense now, that his paintings were "an expression of an artist literally seeing the world for the first time," but now he's realized that he can't be a part of that world. Rita tells Joshua to paint for himself, not for the art world, because he's special. Rita walks closer to Joshua and puts her hands on his face. He shrinks back. She kisses him on the cheek, and he smiles. Man, imagine what his breath smells like.
At his apartment, Logan checks on a sleeping Wendy, saying that she's not safe there, and they need to get her out of town. Max asks what's going to happen to White. Logan says he had Matt Sung check the house, but there was no sign of White. Max is disgusted that White is basically untouchable. Logan notes that his group knows how to cover their tracks. Max snorts that they've been doing it for thousands of years. Logan wonders what the breeding program is about, and who is behind it. Max wonders what they want with Ray. Well, isn't it obvious? He's the son of their leader. He must have special powers or something.
White squats down to talk to Ray in an alley outside the warehouse. A car is waiting nearby. White is so short that he barely needs to bend down to be at eye-level with the kid. White explains that Ray did well, and his mom didn't suspect anything. Ray wishes that his mom could understand. White says that it had to be this way, and it's time for Ray to be with "other people like [them]." Ray asks if his dad will come visit, and White promises to do so someday. White says he loves Ray, and admonishes him to be good. Ray gets into the car and takes off. White looks after him sadly, then drops his wedding ring onto the ground and walks away.
Joshua enters The Dreaming carrying his painting. He sees Max sleeping nearby, and sets up the painting so that she'll see it when she wakes up. The music playing made me think that he was going to start making out with her or something. Joshua studies Max, then grabs a blank canvas and starts painting her. Or his representation of her, which basically consists of a bunch of black curvy lines.
The new episode airs on Friday, January 11th. Apparently, some big fat guy has visions, and it will lead to a shocking secret being revealed.