The Feartura font tells us it’s Day 8. Not that I expect to see an entire episode comprised of scenes where Alan, Julia, Sarah, Balleseros and Daniel all sleep, but at this point, why aren’t they all so sleep deprived, they’re walking into walls? Instead, Sarah and Alan are eating breakfast with Julia, so I suppose we can infer that they did sleep and have just gotten up.
We can also infer that something is super-special about Julia, because the bald vector that scuttling around in the ducts above is able to detect both Alan and Sarah based on their circulatory system (which we see, in full vector-vision, as a vivid green tracery of veins) but Julia’s a blank.
She is, however, a hell of a practical joker, as she caps off her monologue about being wholly symptom-free by feigning a seizure and then bursting into laughter when Alan and Sarah come over to help her. It really is pretty funny. Both Alan and Sarah are such boring prigs, so they make excellent stooges. Once Alan quits rolling his eyes, the doctors resume chatting -- Alan and Julia talk about an old case in Bucharest where rumors touched off riots -- and the dynamic is weirdly familial, with Alan and Julia chatting like peers and Sarah as their precocious child.
Then we get a plot development: There was a vector attack, but Daniel’s men chased him into a lounge, where taking out said vector apparently also required soaking the available food supply with black goo. Alan inquires, "Did [your men] chase the vector in here, or did he lead them in here?" Daniel asks, "You think he wanted to contaminate the food supply?" and Alan replies, "Why infect us one-by-one when they could starve us en masse?" Shouldn’t the discussion they’re having be, "Why is there a vector on this floor anyway, and are there more?"
Meanwhile, Sarah’s drawing Julia’s blood for testing -- Julia reiterates that she feels marvelous, "better than I have in a long time" -- and then she breaks the news about the silver eyes to Sarah, who reacts with, "Holy…."
Constance is looking through Hatake’s stalker scrapbook to see if she can figure out why he’s so into Julia, and she’s getting nowhere. A handsome red-headed jackboot named Klein comes in to give her a report on how the base now has no food, but Constance doesn’t plan on being around long enough to actually take a meal (or perhaps she feasts on human blood – who knows?) and elects instead to monologue about how she’s the apex of MBA evolution and she can’t perceive any value in Julia. Constance also thinks the scientists at the CDC have had it too easy, what with one of their colleagues being murdered and another being infected, so she’d like to inspire them via fear and discomfort. I realize we’re supposed to be rooting against this monster, but I enjoy how, after seven episodes of people being soft-spoken and polite and furtively scheming, we finally have someone who is out and proudly evil.
In another part of the building, Daniel’s escorting Anana around. She’s dressed like a scientist (and grumbling about "being dressed up for nerd prom") and Daniel calmly points out that since the base in the middle of a coup, things like "Me appearing to do my job" and "you assuming protective coloration" will likely keep them both alive. The upshot of this scene is to show that Daniel’s quietly working his own agenda, and his agenda appears to be "Find out why I was stolen." Anana’s all, "Let’s talk to Seeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrgio."
Speaking of the cryptic so-and-so who kidnapped Daniel and 30 of his probable classmates, it’s Hatake -- bound to a chair, appearing not to care. This is probably relaxing for him, since it’s a break from the ceaseless skulking and dissembling of the last seven days. Alan comes in to ask what’s up with Julia, and Hatake sighs, because it’s back to a strenuous schedule of stonewalling: "There is no cure. What happened to Dr. Walker was not my doing." Then he points out to Alan that since Julia’s the only person in the world to have beaten the virus, she’s likely to become a test subject.
And, oh look, Constance is here for a refresher on the scientific method right now. After she’s done intimidating Julia, she informs the recently-arrived Alan that Julia is "now the property of the Ilaria Corporation," and Alan can either go back to the lab and marinate in the horrific realization that Constance regards human beings as intellectual property to be exploited at whim or he can … end his life basking in the horrific realization that Constance regards human beings as intellectual property to be exploited at whim.
Alan goes back to the lab, which is really too bad for us all.
Anana comes in to see Balleseros on a gurney and swoons all, "Oh, Seerrrrrrrrgio, you’re bleeding." She goes to fix the seeping wound (no doubt thinking, "And I can fix him too, the poor lost soul") and Balleseros and Daniel just spit at each other like cats. Anana is so focused on fixing Seerrrrrrrrgio and finding Hatake’s presumed list of children he stole (the existence of which would be a phenomenally dumb thing for a genius evil scientist to do, no?), she misses Balleseros palming something from the medical kit he’ll be able to use later. Anyway, Anana tells Balleseros she needs his help. He tells her, "What you need is to take your brother and get as far away from this place as you can. This ends one way for anyone who stays, you understand?" Anana blows this off and Seerrrrrrrrgio, who may or may not have a thing for women who insult/brutalize him, or who may or may not have a tiny, guilty conscience over Doreen’s death, tries penetrating Anana’s thick skull again, this time snapping that HE is one of the abductors of children that she so loathes, and after Anana’s all "I don’t believe that" (thought bubble: I CAN FIX HIM), Balleseros says, "I am a murderer and a parasite. Go on, ask your brother. He knows who I work for." Cut to Daniel shrugging, "It’s true. There are actual parasites who hold this guy in contempt, that’s how awful he is."
Constance’s interrogation of Hatake is not going well, which should surprise approximately zero percent of the viewers who have stuck with this silly show. Constance huffs about Hatake chasing "The Willis Hypothesis" and then she decides that the best way to get to Hatake is to use her little torture kit on Julia.
Meanwhile, Bland and Blander are working under the watchful eye of the Ilaria goons. Alan whispers about how they have to rescue Julia before the Ilaria corporation turns her into so many numbered lab experiments. Sarah whispers that Julia’s blood is completely clean and there’s nothing in it to indicate any immune response whatsoever. Alan whispers, "What you’re saying is impossible" and Sarah deadpans, "Right, because nothing else around here strains credulity." Why, Dr. Gizmo! There may be hope for you yet.
Anyway, Alan has decided that the best way to rescue Julia to build a bomb? Okay. You’re the CDC expert, guy.
Julia, meanwhile, is not the type of woman who waits for her ex to come rescue her. Not when there’s an air duct she can escape into on her own! Julia continues to be the best now that Doreen is dead.
Constance continues monologue exposition, which is how we find out that Hatake’s basically split from whatever working group he was originally part of, and that Constance took that group corporate. She accuses Hatake of being disloyal, and he says he has no issues with loyalty, but he draws the line at genocide. Before we can find out anything that might unravel any of the mysteries this show has taken such slow pains to set up, a radio pings and informs everyone of Julia’s escape. Hatake does the Hatake equivalent of suppressing a grin while Constance fumes over not being able to figure out why Julia’s such a big deal to Hatake.
She asks, "What do you see that I’m not seeing?" and Hatake replies, "I see a pathetic shell of a woman I once loved and admired. Who now bows at the feet of her masters." OOOH, YA BURNT! Constance resolves this like she resolved her romantic entanglement of last week: With physical violence.
In the ducts, Julia discovers that the vectors are still not going to bug her.
Alan and Sarah give Klein what basically amounts to a shopping list for a bomb.
Balleseros breaks himself out, and we instantly go to Anana and Daniel. The latter is walking his cop sister back to the airlock, and she does not really understand why he can’t just leave. "I’m not running away from a mess I helped create," he says, which is probably the most principled thing anyone on this show has said. Anana does not really make her case when she murmurs that Daniel is a lot like Seerrrrrrrrrrrgio, because "you were both stolen as children and brought up on a world of lies." Daniel is all, "Curiously, that does not make me want to drop everything and help you out." Anana sniffles that Miksa always has a family, and Daniel basically pushes her out of the airlock all, "Take care of yourself, Anana!" He does, however, keep the family photo she presses on him.
As Alan continues making the bomb, Dr. Gizmo has a "How is this my life moment?" Girl, get back to snarking. Also, stop treating Alan like he’s some Olympian god. You’ve seen his O-face; you know he’s human. Klein is watching both of them very carefully.
Julia has managed to scuttle over to their lab and she conducts a whispered conversation with Alan about the general situation. Alan tells Julia to find Hatake and free him "so he can retake the base after we kill Sutton." It is to Julia’s credit that she does not even blink at this notion.
Alan then tries to beguile Sutton into peering into a microscope, because once she adjusts a knob to pull the lenses into focus, she’ll set off the bomb that will take her out. But alas and alack, Klein is a little too good at being a security professional, and he pulls Constance away from the worst of the blast.
In the confusion, Alan and Sarah manage to escape and elude the guards. They manage to make it into an empty lab, and while they hope Constance is dead, her voice over the intercom soon disabuses them of that notion. She’s pissed -- and hardly hurt -- and threatens Alan: Report to isolation or else she kills Peter. Alan’s all, "Well, gotta go," and Sarah correctly points out, "They’re going to kill him anyway. The only question is which one of you they kill first." Alan’s all out of plans, but Sarah somehow recognizes the sound cannon that’s in the lab, and notes that it’s optimizes for extreme precision targeting. Alan asks incredulously, "You know how to operate this thing?" and Sarah replies, "A girl’s gotta have her hobbies." Oh please, let us learn of Sarah’s rich history with Occupy Cambridge or whatever. I love the idea that when she’s not nerding it up in the lab, she’s putting on a ski mask and smashing storefront windows in downtown protests.
Julia drops into Hatake’s office to free him and tells him that Alan needs Hatake’s help. Hatake replies, "Of course. On one condition: You stay here." Julia argues against that, saying that she can’t stay safe and hidden while her colleagues risk their lives in fighting both Constance and the infection. She bends to sever the duct tape tying Hatake’s feet. Hatake sighs, "You have always been very persistent," and stabs Julia with a syringe. Now that she’s out for the count and he’s free, he can hide her away and do who-knows-what.
Outside, Balleseros is trying to hotwire Anana’s snowmobile. She catches him the act, and the two of them engage in what basically amounts to foreplay for these two . It's a lot of threats and insults, a considerable amount of physical grappling, and all I have to say about that is that Balleseros is lucky he’s in a padded snowsuit or else Anana might have a big clue how much he really likes her. Anyway, their grappling ends with Balleseros on the snowmobile and about to take off when Ilaria security comes out and Balleseros hops off and shouts at Anana to go, saying, "They’ll kill you, but they won’t kill me. Go!" She does. The guards commence the capture/beat down, but Balleseros is grinning. I like a giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl! Or possibly Hooray! I’m being beaten again! Hurts so good! Or maybe even Guess who gets the redemption arc for this season? I’m the Han Solo of this franchise, baby!
Julia comes to in the hidey-hole Hatake has in his office. He’s left a torn photo on her chest, and when Julia sees it, everything is clear: Hatake is standing with his hand on the shoulder of the child in the photo, the child is Julia (we know this because of Julia’s freaky dream quest two episodes ago), and Hatake is obviously Julia’s father. This opens a whole can of worms. Who did she think her father was? Why is her mom ripped out of the picture? Are we to understand Julia’s never noticed that she’s half Japanese? But before we can get to any of them, Klein has gotten to Julia.
And now, the scene where Alan discovers that Sarah was right. Constance unplugs Peter before ordering a guard to kill Alan upon Peter’s death. Sarah, however, is not saying, "I told you so." She’s too busy aiming her sonic cannon at different people. And while she’s taking out security, the vectors have killed the electrical grid, dropped out of the ceiling, and spirited Peter away back through the ducts. Amid all this chaos, Hatake has grabbed Sarah and Alan and taken them back to his office.
Once they’re back in the office, Hatake learns that Julia’s gone. He correctly concludes that Ilaria’s got her. And then it is only one chilling transition to the scene where Julia is bound and muzzled into a wooden crate, and one stooge is counter-sinking screws into the giant sheet of wood that will seal the box.
Meanwhile, Daniel quietly manages Constance while diverting security away from Anana. She decrees that the "wave" can "clean up Hiroshi’s mess," and as she leaves, we see Daniel do the Daniel equivalent of cackling and rubbing his hands together.
In the scene, Daniel pops into Hatake’s office to tell him Ilaria’s plans, and Withholding Daddy asks, "How do I know you’re not working for them now?" Daniel replies, "I’m here because the only thing worse for this base than you? Is Sutton." He also gives them the heads-up on Julia’s likely locale. Hatake orders Sarah and Alan off to get Julia, and says he’ll handle Constance himself.
Constance heads into her room to pack ( I do hope she remembers her fang-smoother or whatever that was) and Hatake pops right in after her. They have a vague-splaining conversation that seems to imply that Constance sees herself and Hatake as members of a separate/superior species to Homo sapiens, and they were planning on changing the world, and then we find out that Constance is still smarting over their breakup. OF COURSE. She notes, "After all these years, you still wear the watch I gave you." "The frame is the original piece," Hatake says. And within moments, we discover he’s upgraded the rest to include a length of piano wire, which he uses to garrote Constance. This show has veered into sheer lunacy, and I love it.
And now, a bad-ass sequence. As Hatake takes to the P.A. to announce that the Ilaria Corporation is no longer in charge of the base, we see Daniel and his men striding down the hall like gunslingers. Then we see Alan and Sarah using a crowbar to pry open Julia’s crate; then we see Klein elect to kill himself rather than be captured. Hatake concludes the scene with the voiceover, "This crisis is in the final stages, and will soon be under control." Good. Once you’ve resolved your crisis, let’s work on resolving some of these dangling plot threads. There are what, five episodes left? Start wrapping things up!
Julia’s just been told by Alan what was in her blood work, i.e. nothing of value to helping the infected. "So I live while everyone around me suffers," she says, in what is a nice nod to why she’s working as plague eradicator for the CDC and not a mad scientist in the icy north. Anyway, it looks like Julia’s going to be heading into an existential crisis in Act III of this series.
And now, the most awesome sequence in the episode. Hatake is standing around outside, as one does in sub-zero temperatures, and Daniel comes to stand to him. After a brief monologue in which Daniel makes it clear that he is NOT COOL with having been abducted as a child and raised by a stern and withholding mad scientist, and Hatake replies that he’s pretty sure he had the right reasons for doing what he did, one of them punches a button and we see Hatake trudge toward an empty chamber that rises out of the ground. He’s holding an Igloo cooler, and when he opens it, we see that it was used to store Constance’s head. An Igloo cooler! I love it! Anyway, Constance now has her own head-storage chamber, and we now have a fresh raft of theories upon which to speculate. Are Hatake and Constance part of a breed of people who can only be killed by beheading? Is he actually keeping people’s heads against future resurrection? Does Hatake have a set list of people he’s going to behead? Is that why there were extra head-storage chambers? (And why Ilaria requested Balleseros bring back the other doctor?) So does the Ilaria Corporation just keep throwing people at Hatake to find out what’s going on, and he beheads them? I almost hope we don’t get answers, because what I’m coming up with on my own is far too entertaining.
Lisa Schmeiser is an Oakland-adjacent reporter, editor and blogger. She regularly tweets here, blathers about comics here, and posts the oddball personal piece of writing here.