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We enter with Maggie and Hal returning to Camp Second Mass with a whole lot of drugs, thanks to Maggie's knowledge of where the local dealer lived. Everyone else is way too pure and square to even know what drugs look like, except for Dr. Anne who has seen them on TV. Tom is gearing up to go rescue Ben, and Anne reminds him that they're still not sure that everything has worked perfectly with Rick's de-harnessization. I mean, no shit, given that he put that thing on again himself last week and basically named the alien as his favored stepdad.
The Skitters are still using an abandoned hospital as a home base, and we learn that one group of the harnessed kids didn't make it back there, though Ben's group did. Time is of the essence, so Tom has devised a rescue mission plan. Weaver isn't keen on it, and points out that their success depends on keeping the Skitters asleep as long as possible. Hal suggests breaking in very quietly and killing the sleeping Skitter, and Weaver likes his thinking. Meanwhile, there's a pregnant lady who isn't so keen about Hermie the Skitter P.O.W. remaining alive in their facility. She's got a point, there. Uncle Scott has found a record player and listens to Jimmy Cliff, which makes Weaver very sad. I think it's because his kids are dead. He takes the record away, and tells Scott that he can play anything else, but "Many Rivers to Cross" is off limits. Weaver gets much less squinty when he's sad, probably because he doesn't want to squeeze the tears down his cheeks.
Hal and Maggie have crossbow practice and she kind of gets on his jock as she's training him. In spite or because of that, he is unable to shoot straight. Maggie tells him that she knows the Skitter hospital well, because she used to visit her aunt there a lot. She is seriously the Second Mass MVP. Meanwhile, Dr. Anne continues to treat Hermie the P.O.W. Skitter humanely, as Dr. Wings is a dickwad per usual. With Anne out of the room, Hermie starts to make some different noises, and is also blinking a lot. Dr. Wings opens the giant cage door and shines a flashlight right into the Skitter's face. And then it happens! We cut to a scene with Uncle Scott encouraging Anne to deal with her feelings about her dead kid, and then they hear a ruckus, and then we cut back to Hermie choking the shit out of Dr. Wings! He is DEAD! And really, he kind of had that one coming, along with anyone who thought that giant door was a good idea. Weaver wants to kill the Skitter, knowing that civilians will panic and also it wasn't a terrific idea to have it there in the first place. Anne argues for keeping Hermie alive, since she was making progress in communicating with him. Weaver gives her 24 hours, after which he is going to kill Hermie himself.
And then there's Rick. He's still alive, and even is out and about, but is a total weirdo. Hal pumps him for info about life with the Skitters, and learns that all the harnessed kids sleep together. Hal asks if the harnesses ever break, and Ricky takes this opportunity to bid Hal well on his Ben-rescuing mission with the encouraging words, "They'll kill you all." Additionally, since Dr. Wings is dead, Anne is going to have to be the one to conduct the de-harnessing operations. Tom is fine with this prospect, since Anne actually cares and also isn't a total dickwad. He also thinks that she should put a picture of her dead kid on the board, since every male within a 100-foot radius seems intent on telling her how to deal with her grief.
Meanwhile, Hal wants to go undercover! He plans to strap on Rick's harness, enter the hospital, and pretend to be a harnessed kid. Weaver (who pops some mysterious pills) is all for the plan, but Tom doesn't want Hal to put himself in that much danger. Plus, he says, they still don't know how to kill the Skitters without making any noise. Anne notes the soft palate / concussion connection, and then proceeds to taser the Skitter, open the cage door proper, walk right in and stick a scalpel in the Skitter's maw. It's pretty hot. Also, RIP Hermie. Anne has freaked herself out but good, which can't be helped by the fact that she has Skitter slime-blood all over. She tells Tom that it was easy to stab the Skitter when she pictured her family. She also says that she doesn't even HAVE a picture of her kids to put on the stupid board, and so makes a big bloody handprint up there instead.
Tom & Co. head to the hospital. Hal has the harness on his back, and is going in as the others evade the Mech on guard and wait for his signals. Hal slinks in the hospital as quietly as he can, and I think he's even put dirt all over his face so he'll fit in. He sees a Skitter roaming the hallways, followed by a parade of harnessed kids. Hal joins the line, and all of the kids wind up in a room. The Skitter gives Hal a once-over, but doesn't do anything about it. The kids all lay down together in a pile, and then in the greatest and creepiest thing that has happened on this show to date, the Skitter sits on top of them like a bird on a nest and starts stroking their hair with its creepy fingers. It's so awesome, and also makes me want to vomit!
Tom is getting antsy outside, and so wants to check on Ben. Anthony and Dai wait outside as Tom and Maggie -- who knows of another entrance -- head in. Back in Skitter Dreamland, Hal grabs his switchblade. Ben wakes up and looks at Hal, and then the Skitter takes note, and then Hal jumps into action, plunging the knife into the Skitter's mouth. There's a face-off as the other kids gently try to tear Hal away. Tom and Maggie arrive just in time to throw a crossbow into the mix, but ultimately it's Hal's knife that finally kills the Skitter. Dai and Anthony respond to Hal's signal, and everyone grabs the kids to bring them back to the school.
The de-harnessing surgeries have to be done very quickly, one right after the other. Dr. Anne works her hardest, with Lourdes as sous-surgeon. The kids' blood pressure and pulses are dropping, and one of them dies. Anne is very upset about it. Tom points out that she saved five kids, but Anne is apparently a glass half empty person when it comes to emergency surgery on zombie children. Meanwhile, Hal is curious about Maggie's hospital knowledge, and she finally tells him that when she was 16 she had cancer. So she was in the hospital quite a bit, and also learned of the local dealer when her doctor suggested she smoke pot for nausea. She had a 50/50 chance of survival. Hal is glad that she made it. Meanwhile, Tom commends Hal on his bravery, and is proud that he's a man now or whatever. And then there's a baby shower for the pregnant lady, because life goes on and hope and whatever. That lady sure picked a bad time to get knocked up.
Matt, Hal and Tom hang out with unconscious Ben while Weaver looks on, teary-eyed. He retreats into the empty lab and listens to Jimmy Cliff, because this is the episode where everyone deals with their emotions. Anne cleans off the gunk from her hands just in time for Tom to grasp them meaningfully! It's in the guise of comfort, but he's really trying to get into her pants. But then there is no opportunity for a romantic interlude because Ben wakes up! And he recognizes Tom as his dad, meaning that Rick is solitary in his Skitter-loving weirdness.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously on Falling Skies: Alien overlords! Ben was alive! Dr. Harris de-harnessed Ricky, who then re-harnessed himself and spoke for the captive alien Skitter! Also, this show tried to convert us all to being religious and thankful and shit. Nice try, Spielberg!
It is night, and Maggie and Hal come racing back to Camp 2nd Mass on their motorcycles, bearing large backpacks. Hal points out that he thought Maggie was going to leave him in the dust on the last turn, and she says she paid attention when Pope taught her how to ride since she figured she'd have to outrun him some day. Though Pope and his crew did things so nefarious to Maggie that they can't even be mentioned, they also really did teach her some handy post-apocalyptic life skills. Hal tells Anthony and a couple of other guys that they discovered an untapped water tower. I guess somewhere deep inside I was wondering why these people haven't died of thirst yet. Thanks, writers.
It turns out that Maggie and Hal are carrying lots of drugs in their backpacks. Hal asks Maggie if she's ever going to tell him how she knew where they were. She points out that, as a senior in high school, he might have had some idea where the local dealer kept his stash. Oh no, not Hal! He was too busy at lacrosse practice and polishing his biceps and keeping his teeth perfectly white. Maggie says, "That explains a lot." Deep down, though, like every living woman under 70, she still wants to bone him.
Maggie and Hal unpack in the lab with Dr. Anne Glass, noting that they have Percocet, Demerol, oxy, and heroin. Tom comes walking in just in time to say that he's never even seen heroin before. I always did take him for more of a meth guy. Anne says it looks like cocaine, which she ONLY knows because she watches a lot of late-night cop shows. This prompts Tom to say that he once had a student who wrote a thesis on the history of the American police drama. Tom graded him down because he didn't mention Miami Vice. Maggie looks on like, how can you bunch of squares turn a backpack full of heroin into the most boring mating ritual ever? It's almost impressive in its commitment to dullness.
Hal and Maggie (who really goes by Margaret now) leave, and Dr. Anne says that they need to work the drugs into a usable form. Tom asks if it will all be ready by tomorrow night, which is presumably the night that he's once again going to try to rescue Ben. The other times were all just good practice! Anne tells Tom that harness removal isn't her area of expertise, and that he should talk to Dr. Wings. She also wants Tom to understand how risky the de-harnessing is. Tom says that it worked on Rick, because obviously he didn't see how Rick put the harness back on and then tried to let Hermie the captive Skitter out of his cage. Dr. Anne doesn't get into that whole mess, and simply says that the operation seems to have worked, but they're not sure yet. Tom understands that Ben could die, and realizes that Anne can't perform miracles. He notes that he put a picture of Ben on the bulletin board of missing kiddos -- all the other kids there are missing, but he knows exactly where Ben is. He's going to go get him, and they'll take it from there. Tom exits the room while Dr. Anne looks like, "Dear Abby: I just met this really great guy...will it ruin our burgeoning relationship if I kill his kid while trying to remove an alien tentacle from his back? What should I do? Sincerely, Post-Apoc Doc in Acton, Mass."
After the opening credits, we see Weaver sewing a 2nd Mass patch on his army jacket. Rest assured that this ladylike activity does indeed indicate that later we'll see some of Weaver's sensitive side. Tom enters with a report from the recon team -- the other group of harnessed kids didn't return last night. Ben's group is still there, but they don't know for how long. The drugs are ready, and Tom wants to move. He shows Weaver his plan, which involves breaking into the hospital, waking up a Skitter and drawing the attention of the Mech on guard, blowing up the Mech, shooting at the Skitters until they're dead, then grabbing the kids and escaping. Gee, what could possibly go wrong there? Weaver notes that in battle, the more important the objective, the easier it is to overlook flaws in the plan. Like how if a couple of Skitters leave the hospital before being shot, they can intercept Tom & Co. as they're leaving and kill everyone. Tom says that he can accept that risk, but Weaver points out that it's not just his risk. What happens to Ben if Tom and Hal get themselves killed? Oh, I'm sure Uncle Scott will adopt him and turn him into a giant dork.
Weaver points out that by waking the Skitters, Tom & Co. lose their tactical advantage. They should keep them asleep for as long as possible. Hal looks intrigued, and wonders if they could keep the Skitters asleep the whole time. There's only one Mech on guard during the day, he says, so they could send a recon team in to break the lock on the back door. Then at night, one guy could go it alone and kill the Skitter while it's asleep. Tom points out that the Skitters aren't that easy to kill, and Hal goes, "Well you did it...almost." Busted! And anyway, I thought you just had to get close enough? Weaver says that getting in quietly is their best and probably only bet. He instructs Tom to figure it out.
We cut to the lab, where Dr. Anne is giving Hermie the captive Skitter some water. Dr. Wings calls Hermie "that damn thing," and asks how much water Anne is going to give him. In fact, she intends to give him enough to keep him hydrated. Dr. Wings is all, "It's not like it would be hydrating YOU if you were its prisoner," and Anne points out that Rick was plenty hydrated when they got him back. Dr. Wings counters that he did have twelve metallic spikes bored into his spine, and brain function of a moderately sophisticated tomato. Okay, he wins this round. Hermie makes some slimy noises as he peers at Dr. Wings through his cage bar. No one talks about his stepson Rick that way!
Back at the mess hall, there's a pregnant lady who feels strongly that they should not be keeping a Skitter on the premises. She's not wrong. Maggie says it's better in a cage than out scooping off kids, and preggo lady counters that it's better off dead. Maggie says that getting her blood pressure up isn't good for the baby, and the lady is all, "What's not good for my baby is sharing my home with a killer alien from outer space." I mean, she has a point. This preggo lady is Sarah, and Maggie seems to like her kind of.
Uncle Scott is busy making bombs or whatever he does and listening to "Many Rivers to Cross" on an old record player. That song kills me every time! Once Annie Lennox sang it on American Idol with accompanying video of South African kids orphaned because of AIDS, and I didn't recover for days. Uncle Scott tells Tom and Hal that it's clear that Skitters communicate via radio waves. If they're transmitting, he can pick it up on the radio if they're nearby, but a single Skitter walking down the hallway probably isn't transmitting anything. So Tom's hope of using the radio as an early warning detection system probably isn't going to come to fruition. Scott would like to find some use for the radio, but notes that its components are from the 1940s and so not sophisticated enough to do what Tom wants. Matt is there and thinks that, if there are Skitter sentries surrounding the harnessed kids, Tom should wait and get Ben later. Tom insists that now is the time, and Scott tells him that his instincts are better than any antique radio found in a school bomb shelter. Tom and Hal leave and Matt looks worried as he cranks his radio. That kid has been a lot more tolerable since he got a job.
Meanwhile, Weaver hears the strains of "Many Rivers to Cross" floating through the halls and gets a funny look on his face. I think there's some emotion emanating through those squinty eyes! He looks at a kid drawing on his desk that says "Sophia" on it. It appears to be cat heads jumping on a trampoline. Kids are so weird. Weaver enters Uncle Scott's lab and takes the needle off the record and grabs it. He tells Scott he can listen to anything he wants, as long as it isn't Jimmy Cliff.
Outside, Tom and Hal have crossbow practice and Maggie tells them that they belong at Medieval Times. She looks all hot and tough with her NYC tank top, leather cuffs, and giant arm tattoo. So hot she doesn't even need a jacket though everyone else is bundled up! Hal points out that they're trying to get Ben without making any noise, and asks Maggie if she has any pointers. Of course she does! She gets her body right up to his as she instructs him, and his bow goes popping off nowhere near the chart. Is that a metaphor? She then gives him another suggestion: make sure you're close. Maggie confirms that Ben is at Franklin Pierce Memorial Hospital off of Route 2, and says that she knows that place because she used to visit her aunt there a lot. Tom says that they're going in through the ambulance bay, and Maggie tells him that they should go through the ER and then turn left into the main corridor. She is no joke the MVP of that whole place. Tom asks her to show him on a map, and we go to commercials.
When we return, we get a tour of the bulletin board of missing children. Someone, probably fucking Lourdes, wrote a note that says, "GOD BLESS OUR PRECIOUS LITTLE ONES" in pink highlighter. There is one picture of a little girl with a fluffy cat, which makes me think, "Oh my God! Someone find the cat!" Dr. Anne passes Uncle Scott and suggests that he get some soup before it's gone, but he has other things on his mind. And...OH. MY. GOD. Cut to Hermie the captive Skitter, who also has things on his mind. Mainly, how he wants to eat Dr. Wings's brains! He makes a noise, which Dr. Wings notes is a new sound. He heads closer to the cage, and notices rapid blinking. Dr. Wings takes the lock off of the giant cage door, which he then opens. And then the asshole shines a light right into Hermie's face. Dude. We cut back to Uncle Scott haranguing Anne about her dead son, and saying how he and his wife want to hang a picture of him on the bulletin board in tribute. He wants Anne to come with them. She does not want to. And also, who fucking cares? Let's get back to the brain eating already!
AND THEN IT HAPPENS. Anne and Scott hear a shriek and some screaming, and run to the lab to find Hermie choking the shit out of Dr. Wings. I mean, it was bound to happen. You don't design a giant cage opening like that unless you want some slithery alien hands to eventually wrap themselves around a vulnerable human dickwad's neck. Anne zaps Hermie with the Taser, but not before he kills Dr. Wings! DEAD! Dr. Anne looks at Hermie, who just snorts in response. Hermie: a hero for our post-apocalyptic time!
So, now the folks at the 2nd Mass see fit to have armed guards on Hermie's cage at all times. Too bad no one thought of that earlier, like when Ricky almost let him loose. Weaver is going to send a runner to Porter and says that they need to kill Hermie. Dear, sweet Hermie who just choked the most chokable person on this show other than Lourdes! Anne argues that Porter wouldn't want to kill Hermie, but Weaver points out that the civilians are going to freak when they hear about this. He can't blame them, because they never should have had Hermie there in the first place. Anne says that their reason for keeping a captive Hermie is still valid -- it's their best chance at figuring out how to stop the Skitters. She says she was making progress, kindly omitting the fact that idiot Dr. Wings (RIP) continuously undermined that progress. Weaver gives her 24 hours, and then he's coming back to kill Hermie himself. Hermie's got 24 hours to get Lourdes! Everybody keep your fingers and toes crossed.
Hal sees Ricky sitting outside on a bench looking like a weirdo, and decides to strike up a conversation. Ricky knows who Hal is, and also does not care to eat his gruel cakes or whatever terrible lunch he's been served. Hal asks Ricky what it was like living with the Skitters, and if he was with them all the time. Mistaking Hal's local recon for a kind word, Ricky says that they sleep together. Not in THAT way. Or maybe! Like a big statutory kid zombie orgy pile! No wonder Ricky didn't want to leave. Hal asks what happens if you have to take a piss in the middle of the night, and Ricky hates him again as he says that you went. He doesn't elaborate, probably because you went in your pants. Hal asks if the harnesses ever break or anything, and whether the Skitters knew that Ricky was "one of them" because of the harness. Ricky says that the Skitters aren't like that. Hal then notes that his brother Ben is in the hospital where Ricky was, and asks if there are sentries in the halls. Ricky confirms with Hal that he's going to try to rescue the harnessed kids before adding a straightforward, "They'll kill you all." This kid's a party, isn't he?
After a break, Lourdes approaches Maggie who, being sensible and a lot like us, tries to get away from her but quick. Lourdes wants to invite Maggie to a baby shower for Sarah, and Maggie in turn asks if the grimy-looking Lourdes was in a fight. Lourdes explains that no, she was cleaning and stitching an infected wound. Maggie is all, "What are you, a doctor?" and Lourdes says she was in med school. Which is not true! She told Jimmy she was freshman pre-med at Wellesley. How does the Lord Jesus feel about people who lie about their medical credentials, eh? Anyway, Maggie doesn't want to go to the baby shower. Lourdes, kindly as always, tells Maggie that it was difficult for her to settle into a new community, too. Maggie thinks that "community" is too fancy a term for a bunch of old people and teachers with guns. Lourdes then asks Maggie how she ended up with her last community -- e.g. Pope and his merry band of creeps -- and Maggie tells her she doesn't want to know. Lourdes wants to be friends with Maggie so bad, and/or she might be starting to have some strange tingly feelings that are distinctly ungodly.
Anne approaches Tom in front of the bulletin board of missing kids and gives her condolences about Dr. Wings. Despite believing the opposite, Tom says that he didn't deserve to die. However, he thinks that Anne will be fine without Dr. Wings. He always wanted Anne to be the one to operate on Ben. Anne says that Dr. Wings was a great surgeon, and Tom points out that Anne actually cares. Though surgeons don't consider that a plus, patients do. And then Tom has to get on Anne's case about the fact that her dead son's picture isn't on the board. Let the woman grieve in her own way, you patriarchal bastards! She asks why she should put her son's picture on the board, and Tom says, "It's just how we are." That is the worst reasoning of all time, professor.
While Tom was busy guilt tripping Anne, it turns out that Hal went to Weaver with an alternate kid-rescuing plan. Way to go right to the top, Hal! Hal explains that he's going undercover with Rick's harness strapped to his back. He's going to pretend to be a zombie kid! Tom tries to put the kibosh on it while Weaver says that it's original. Tom counters that it's crazy, and then Weaver has my favorite line of the episode as he shoots back, "I don't know what's crazy anymore. We're fighting aliens from outer space." Too true, Squinty McGoo! Tom pulls Hal aside, and Hal says that he talked to Rick who told him that the kids wander around the hospital by themselves. That's totally not what he said. As Hal says that he doesn't think the Skitters can tell if the harness is connected or not unless they're trying to communicate with the kids, we cut over to Weaver taking some pills out of a prescription bottle. This is very strange, and we never get a follow-up. Either he's the Nurse Jackie of the 2nd Mass or has some sort of medical condition, I think.
Hal and Tom argue about whether Hal should take the risk of going undercover, and Hal points out that: 1) in the current context, anyone can basically die at any time; and 2) if Tom goes in there he's probably definitely going to die. Weaver pipes in to say that making yourself invisible to the enemy is a basic tactic, and he thinks it's their best shot. Tom is so pissed off that he doesn't even avail himself of this opportunity for a historical parallel. Weaver says that the final call is Tom's. Tom says that they still don't know how to kill a Skitter without making any noise, and until they do he doesn't have to make a call.
Cut to Tom and Hal conferring with Dr. Anne about how to kill a Skitter quietly. She has an idea, and it has to do with the whole soft tissue palate thing. They know that the Skitter's nerve center is in the soft palate, and is connected to the base of the brain stem. With that, she pours a bowl of water, grabs a scalpel, and asks Hal to open Hermie's cage door. Oh shit, people. Hal does it, and she places the water inside before saying that she's not going to let Hal risk his life on a theory. With that, she Tasers Hermie, walks right into the cage and sticks the scalpel -- and half of her arm! -- into Hermie's mouth. Hermie is dead. RIP, old friend. You're going to make somebody a great pair of boots. But, okay. First of all, that was not even noiseless. Hermie was squealing like a bastard. And second, is somebody going to be there to Taser the Skitter on guard when Hal goes in?
We shall leave these questions for the moment, though, because Dr. Anne -- whose arm is SO bloody -- has freaked herself the fuck out. She's freaked Hal and Tom out, too. Tom follows her out into the hallway, as she says they had to know how to do it. She totally has Skitter slime and blood on her boobs. Her hair is still perfect, though! She then tells Tom that it wasn't even hard for her to kill Hermie, because all she had to do was think about her dead family. She's in front of the bulletin board, and finally admits the reason she won't put a picture of her son up is because she doesn't have one. All she has is a slimy, bloody hand, which she slaps on an article reading, "They come in peace?" Tom is totally confused as to whether he should or shouldn't try to bone her right now.
After a commercial break, Tom & Co. are on their rescue mission! They sneak up and hide behind a car as the Mech on patrol passes by, making his fancy "OOOOOOOOOOoooooooooh" noise. Maggie is there too, which bodes well for the success of this mission. Tom reviews the hospital entrance instructions with Hal, then asks if he remembers the distress signal. Hal says, "I yell help as loud as I can," which is actually pretty funny. In truth, distress is one flash out of the window, and the ready signal is three flashes. Tom makes sure that Hal's fake harness is in place as he reminisces about what a perfect but stubborn kid he's always been. There are feelings happening. Tom has faith in Hal, but says that if he doesn't get a signal in 15 minutes he's coming in. There's a man hug and a fatherly kiss, and then Hal takes off.
We see Hal enter the hospital by the nurse's station, though he is idiotically not mindful of letting a door slam behind him. Watching him creep about with actorly intensity is pretty hilarious, like he's not sure if he should crouch or just lift his legs really high to indicate soft-footed tiptoeing. It's basically like this. He goes up to the obstetrics unit, as indicated by nursery rhyme paintings on the wall. Hey diddle diddle, indeed! Okay, I'm sorry, that made no sense. I was just trying to build suspense. Hal ducks as he sees a Skitter skitter down a perpendicular hallway. Meanwhile, outside there are no Skitters in sight, but Tom is still getting anxious.
Back in the hospital, Hal sees a Skitter leading a half-dozen harnessed kids down a hallway. He joins the parade right behind Ben, though it looks like their harnesses are glowing and his isn't. Hal does his best zombie walk as he and the other kids enter a room. Once inside, the Skitter gives him a once-over. Nothing comes of it, though, and the kids all just sort of flop down together in a big pile for bedtime. And then the most awesome/grossest thing happens! The Skitter crawls right on top of them and sits, like a bird on a nest! All of its legs are really handy for this sort of positioning. The Skitter then looks around and starts petting the kids' heads with its creepy three-fingered hand! This scene is seriously my favorite thing to happen on the show so far. It's just so terrible and perfect and makes me have a really weird feeling inside. The Skitter reaches out and pets Hal's head, and unlike stupid Mike, he holds his shit together despite the fact that it must make every hair on his neck stand up. I bet if you could relax into it, it would feel pretty awesome, though. The Skitter is such a loving, hands-on parental unit when it isn't forcing you to gather scrap metal and/or making an example out of killing you!
After a break, Tom notes that it's been 20 minutes since Hal went into the hospital. Maggie acknowledges that it shouldn't have taken him this long to get to Ben's room, and Tom decides to go in to check on him. The entire crew ducks to avoid being noticed by the Mech on guard, then moves closer to the building. Maggie asks Tom if he has a plan. Judging by the way that he's making everyone flit around behind burned-out cars, I'm guessing the answer is no. Maggie knows another way into the hospital, and Tom tells her to accompany him while instructing Anthony and Dai to hold tight and wait for the signal. Sorry, bored supporting characters.
Meanwhile, Mama Skitter is still lovingly sitting on top of the harnessed kids, though judging by the fact that her hands are still I think she's asleep. Hal's got one Skitter hand resting on his head, but decides to go for it anyway. He slowly reaches into his pocket and takes out a switchblade. He starts to move it toward Mama Skitter, but then she stirs and he pulls it back. Tom and Maggie roam the halls, while back in Skitter Dreamland Hal decides to give it another go. This time it's Ben who opens his eyes, looking right at Hal. Hal whispers, "Ben," and Mama Skitter's eyes dart open. Oh, shit. Hal doesn't hesitate, sticking the knife right into the Skitter's mouth as instructed. This Skitter doesn't take it quite as easy as the Hermie after the Taser, however. She rears up and fights, pushing Hal with the big claw hand that once stroked his lovable mop top. The harnessed kids try to drag him off, too, but their zombie-like manner is a real disadvantage in this case.
And then! Maggie and Hal are on the scene, but don't want to accidentally shoot Hal with a crossbow. Happily, Mama Skitter pushes Hal to the floor so Tom can take a clear shot. He hits the Skitter in the gut, and then Hal jumps up and plunges the knife back into the Skitter's mouth, banging its head against the floor for good measure. With that, Mama Skitter makes a death wheeze and is gone. That whole thing really was relatively quiet after all. Hal's arm is covered in blood and slime, but that doesn't slow him down any. He makes the "ready" signal at the window, while Tom tells Ben and the other kids that they're going to take all of them. Well now they're basically orphaned, so what else would you do? It requires a lot of dragging because, you know, zombies.
Back at JFK High School, the operating room is aflutter with activity. The harnessed kids are all on stretchers with tubes coming out of them, and Dr. Anne says that they're going to do the surgeries one after the other. Ben, of course, is first. Anne tells Tom that he might not want to stick around for this, but Tom wouldn't be anywhere else. Lourdes monitors Ben's blood pressure as Uncle Scott gets the blowtorch ready. Anne orders the OR volunteers to get IVs into the other patients, then takes the torch to Ben's harness. Lourdes notes that Ben's pressure is dropping, and a similar thing is occurring with the other kids. Have they given them enough drugs, I wonder? Ben's harness is off rather quickly, and his blood pressure picks back up.
Another kid is thrown on the table as we hear shouts that someone else is having trouble breathing and going into withdrawal. The drugs! The drugs! And I thought that would get worse when the harness was off? But really, when you have a flurry of activity like this there's no need to even try to remember the things we learned two weeks ago. The girl on Anne's operating table starts seizing, and they cut off her harness right quick. Suddenly, Anne's operating on the last patient. She removes the harness, but things aren't looking so good when she flips the kid over. He isn't breathing, or his heart isn't beating, or whatever it is that's happened when you have to push on someone's chest and count to ten. The kid doesn't revive, and Tom has to put his hand on Anne's to stop her from chest-pushing, saying, "He's gone." Anne, who has blood all over her, is clearly upset. She says she doesn't know what went wrong. Lourdes closes the patient's eyes and happily says her prayer for the dead silently. Tom tells a shocked Anne that she saved five, and she replies, "I lost one." Cheer up, Dr. Glass Half-Empty!
Hal is sitting out in the hallway, bouncing a tennis ball off of the school lockers. Maggie passes and tells him he should get his Skitter death hand looked at. Hal notes that the doctors have all been pretty busy. He also thanks Maggie for what she did at the hospital, since he heard that she knew an alternate way in. She tells him that they went in by the nurse's locker room, and that she used to hang out with them during their cigarette breaks. Hal wonders if Maggie's "sick aunt" approved of all this, then notes that she must have been pretty popular knowing all the drug dealers in town and nurses in the hospital. Spurred on by Hal's gleaming smile, still charming as it sits in his dirty face, Maggie finally admits that she had cancer when she was sixteen. One of her doctors told her to smoke pot for the nausea, which is how she knew about the dealer. He had a crush on her, because Maggie was fly even when she was a bald sixteen-year-old. Hal asks what kind of cancer Maggie had and she says, "Bad." Seriously? BAD? The writers couldn't decide between big toe cancer and gullet cancer? Wherever the cancer was based, Maggie had a 50-50 chance of survival. She notes that those odds make you think differently. Maybe fighting as part of a resistance to hostile alien overlords was Maggie's Make-A-Wish. Hal says he's glad that she made it, and Maggie gets tough again and walks away, because she is not going to be seduced by a sixteen-year-old. OR IS SHE?
Tom approaches Hal and tells him that Ben is doing okay but is still unconscious, and probably will be until sometime tomorrow. Tom says, "We got him back," and quite correctly gives the credit for this feat to Hal. He says that Hal was incredibly brave, and that he's so proud. Hal is all, "Dad, stop embarrassing me!" and Tom goes on about how Hal doesn't know what it's like to be a father and see your son grow into a man. And not only a man, but a man who in so many ways is better than yourself. And that's what a father wants. And oh my God, this father-son bonding is SO much less compelling than Mama Skitter giving her zombie children head scratches while sitting on top of them! I want that to happen again, and then in every episode until the season ends.
And then it's time for Sarah's baby shower. Everything is set up on the very auditorium stage where Pope once held court. Anne hovers outside, looking unsure about whether she wants to enter. There's a bowl of beads, and everyone takes one. Uncle Scott's wife tells Sarah that every bead represents a wish or a good thought, or advice. So when Sarah goes into labor with her new wish-bead bracelet on, she'll have all of the other ladies there with her. Uncle Scott's wife's bead represents the fact that a child is yours but not yours, and as soon as it's born you have to start setting it free. Unless it's getting harnessed, in which case you do the opposite of setting it free. Lourdes's bead is not explicitly religious! She hopes that Sarah's child is courageous and strong and lucky, and that he or she will face all of life -- the good, the bad, and the Skitters. I don't think the fucking kid has much choice in that, you nit. Before any of the extras can deliver a line and earn some money, Anne pops in with her stethoscope. She puts it to Sarah's stomach and notes that the baby is up tonight. Sarah takes a listen, and asks if it's normal for the baby's heartbeat to be so fast. Anne invites Lourdes to listen and respond, and Lourdes tells Sarah that it's supposed to be that fast. The baby sounds just fine. Wow, Lourdes sure learned a lot in her freshman year at Wellesley! I guess they are known for their one-year undergraduate MD program, after all.
Meanwhile, Tom, Matt and Hal hang out with Ben. Hal gives Ben a sponge bath, finally. Tom could maybe use a little of that clean water action himself. He notices Weaver hovering in the doorway, looking sad. Crazy Army guys have feelings too! Weaver, bathed in shadows and in light, heads straight for the record player. And you guessed it: Jimmy Cliff. This song makes me cry, and I don't even have dead kids OR a high-ranking position in a post-apocalyptic human resistance. So, I feel for Weaver a little bit.
We then get a really weird shot from Anne's perspective, as she enters the operating room. She grabs a bowl of water and starts cleaning her still-bloody hands. Were they this bloody when she was touching Sarah's belly? That's kind of gross. Tom sees this as a perfect opportunity to flirt, but it is a mating ritual tinged with sadness. He grabs Anne's now cleaner hands and tells her that she did it -- she saved the kids. She puts her head down, looking sadder than ever, but then their poignant moment is interrupted by a noise. It's Ben! He wakes up, looks right at Tom, and says, "Dad?" He's totally not a Skitter loyalist like Ricky! That's what happens when you're the heroic white kid. Everyone looks super happy, and we're out.
Potes is planning a memorial for Hermie, the captive Skitter who was. If you'd like to be a part, email her at potesypotes@gmail.com or tweet @traciepotes.
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