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Johnny, Daniel, Sam, and Joyce spend most of the episode exploring their Science Institute in the middle of the night. They locate a radio, a circuit breaker, a generator, a laboratory full of dead animals, and an office full of dead people. They try not to think about the last one. Instead, they go outside and fire up the generator and work on the radio. But the radio beacon has been knocked over by mysterious forces, so that's not going to work. There are some computers that have been shot full of bullet holes, but Daniel gets one of them to work so they can watch footage of a 1927 expedition to Tunguska. It's run by the guy who wrote Miljan's journal!
Back at the camp, Miljan has some worrying revelations, starting with the fact that he kidnapped Irene because the voices in his head told him to. And he handed her over to "them," and he doesn't know who "they" are. But he's pretty sure they're going to kill everybody. Sabina and Neeko are surprisingly uninterested in all this, possibly because they've had it with him. They put torches around the camp, but mysterious kangaroo-footed forces put them out. Sabina finally gets around to solving the riddle about where the rifle was hidden, so that's good news.
Unfortunately, Miljan has decided to be a michievous little imp, and he reveals that Neeko still has some food hidden from back when Joyce showed him the food that Johnny had allegedly stolen from the food shed. And just when Sabina is getting angry at Neeko, there's a noise outside their cabin. And do you know what's out there? A bunch of people in winter clothing carrying guns! And they have kangaroo-foot shoes, so they appear to have been responsible for much of what's been going on. They take Sabina's newfound rifle, and they don't seem all that friendly.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: loud noises! Johnny decides the noises were "just the wind." So, never mind! Daniel brings Sam a blanket and Johnny checks the light switch. There's no power and obviously no phone. There's something that looks like it might be a radio, but it's not plugged in. But we just established there's no power, so what difference would it make if it were plugged in? None, that's how much. Sam and Joyce are all relatively comfortable, so Daniel and Johnny go looking for stuff. Their primary goal is some means of communication with the outside world.
It's dark, so they make the camera operator turn on his light. They find a large industrial vehicle of some sort and a closet with flashlights and monitors. Johnny won't shut up about how much he wants to find a radio. Daniel checks another door, but it's locked. They seem confused by the idea of a locked door in a Science Institute. There's a label on the door, but it's in Russian. When Daniel suggests that maybe Sam could read it, Johnny shushes him so he can listen.
Back to the camp! Neeko is walking out into the woods, calling for Annie. He does this sort of thing a lot. Sabina tells him they need to protect themselves. I think if he really wanted to find Annie and Esther, he would have followed the not-kangaroo tracks that led away from Natalie's body. The argument between Neeko and Sabina gets cut short by a mysterious noise from the woods, along with some screeching. Sabina hustles them into a cabin, because everybody knows that abominable snowmen can't open doors. Sabina says they need to find the rifle, which Neeko objects to on the grounds that they already looked for it. Yeah, but they didn't find it! I thought it was weird that they just gave up right away. Sabina takes an archery stance as the door opens. It's Miljan! And he says, "They took her."
Back to Johnny and Daniel: they come back to Joyce and Sam, and it is pitch black. It was daylight when they arrived at the Science Institute, so I guess they just lounged around until dark, then decided to go exploring. That's a good plan, right? Johnny says they found a locked door, but Joyce has not stumbled on any keys. In the dark room where they left her, I don't think she's likely to find anything. It finally occurs to Johnny that there's no power, so a radio might not even work. Daniel says that it'll be battery-powered. I already didn't know why they'd decided there had to be a radio somewhere, and now I don't know why they're so certain there's a battery-powered radio with enough juice to contact the outside world. Guys, you're in Siberia; you could be a long, long way from anyone. Johnny and Daniel set out again, making this scene a complete waste of time.
Back to the camp. Miljan says, "They chased me." Neeko is fed up with the lack of antecedents and asks, "Who chased you?" Miljan says he doesn't know. He was trying to hide behind trees (a difficult feat when you're in the middle of the forest, because you don't know which side of the tree you're supposed to be on) and was freezing. It turns out that the "she" that was taken means Irene. And Miljan claims to have told them that 150 times, when actually he didn't even properly tell them once. He just threw a bunch of pronouns at them. Neeko gets all aggressive again, and Miljan says that he took Irene because "He told me to." Sabina presses for details, and Miljan explains, "He did." That doesn't help, dummy. That's not how pronouns work! Finally, he explains that "he" is the voice he hears in his head. Oh, well. That's fine, then. The voice in Miljan's head told him that if he took Irene into the woods, everything would be okay, so that's what he did. There were footprints and fog, and Miljan felt lots of "them" surrounding them. And he left. Finally, he says, "They're coming for us, guys. They're gonna get us…one by one." I'm not sure he's a good source of information. The only thing he knew was that if he gave "them" Irene, everything would be fine, and even that wasn't true.
Johnny and Daniel are wandering through the snow at night. Even with the heavy coats, this is a pretty dumb plan. Have they forgotten that the sun comes back in the morning? They go to one of the other buildings and Johnny gets ready to break the window. But then! Joyce is suddenly behind them! She says she found some keys in her pocket. Well, how convenient. It's a whole key ring, which she should have noticed earlier. Daniel tries to get the door open and Joyce says she has a weird feeling. They go inside and there's a weird smell, but no power. Then! There's a loud noise! But it's just Daniel tripping over something. Come on, Daniel. Get your head in the game. They explore farther in and Johnny finds a big electronic gizmo that looks like it's probably a big radio. But it's not battery-powered, because why would it be? Joyce wants to get out of there right away. On their way out, they find computers and stuff all bashed up. Daniel thinks it was a robbery, and then he finds a bullet case on the floor. There are bullet holes on the wall! Joyce shouts again, and there's a dead man on the floor. He may have been shot. And the blood looks to me like it might be still wet.
Daniel finds the circuit breaker and gets the lights back on. For a second, then they go out again. There are several dead people in the room that Johnny's investigating, and he tries to hustle Joyce and Daniel out without letting them see. I've played a lot of D&D, and I'm pretty sure that they should be investigating those bodies to see if there are any identifying papers or clues on them.
Back to camp. Miljan is placidly reading his journal (which he might not be able to read, but whatever) while Neeko and Sabina argue the merits of looking for the rifle. I think they should be arguing the merits of keeping the crazy guy around, but I guess the rifle is also important. Although, they don't know if it'll even work on whatever boogie-men are out there. Neeko thinks starting a fire will ward off whatever's out there. Sabina proposes a line of torches around the camp, because it'll scare off animals while letting them see any humans that come up. I'm not sure either side of that really holds up to close scrutiny, but Miljan tells her that "they" are neither animal nor human.
Science Institute. Sam wants to know about the bodies, and Johnny won't talk about it. Daniel says they can't rest, even for a second. Sure they can! They've got a pretty good shelter here, and exploring will be a lot easier in the morning. Sam asks Daniel about the circuit breaker box, and Daniel says it went on for a second, then it shorted out. Sam points out that there's probably a similar box in this building, and he's feeling well enough to go looking for it. He grabs a flashlight and he and Daniel go wandering.
Neeko and Sabina rip sheets into strips to make torches. Miljan helps, which kind of surprises me. Neeko goes out and soon there's a ring of torches all the way around the camp. That'll be great for an hour or so, when the torches will start to go out. They start barricading themselves inside the cabin as Miljan gives helpful advice like "They're watching us." I guess that's not advice. Or helpful.
Daniel tells Sam that the radio's in the other building, so getting the power on won't help. Dude, the power can be used for other things than the radio. Like turning on lights! Finding out where you are! Using the coffee-maker! Seriously, think outside the radio. Sam says they could always bring the radio from the building without power over to the building with power, which seems like it could work. They're studying some lockers as Daniel whines that the radio is too heavy. This guy has a lousy attitude. Sam thinks he sees something, then he finds a power conduit on the wall. But then! There's a loud noise! It's from behind that locked door, which Sam translates as saying "Laboratory." Daniel has keys now, so he tries to get it open. Something makes more noise, and Daniel gets the padlock off.
Sabina is finally looking at the map they were given for the rifle. It says "What you seek, you shall find, hidden on this map." And there's a big X and the camp. Neeko insists that it's a waste of time because they went to the X and there was no rifle. First of all, they have plenty of time to waste. Second, this guy is the worst puzzle solver ever. He's all, "There aren't any words in here! It's just a jumble of letters! I looked at it for ten seconds and didn't see anything!" Then he gets mad at Miljan for reading his book. Miljan admits that he doesn't read Russian, but he says he doesn't need to. That's an interesting revelation! But Neeko ignores him and instead yanks the book away because he's a jerk. He starts shouting at Miljan, "Whatcha gonna do? DO something!" because the one thing you really want to do in a desperate survival situation is pick a fight with the guy who's either crazy or in contact with supernatural forces. Meanwhile, Sabina is folding the map so there's an arrow pointing at the men's cabin. Neeko and Miljan say they already scoured the cabin for supplies, which they probably did. But she's going to go check anyway, because why not, right? Miljan grabs his book and tucks it back in his jacket.
Sabina goes outside as Neeko keeps telling her not to bother. When all three of them are midway between the two cabins, they stop because they hear something weird. For like the ten millionth time this series. I'm starting to think that Siberia just sounds funny. And then! The torches start winking out, one at a time. Sabina and Neeko run into the men's cabin. Miljan lingers a second. Then he stumbles a bit, but he follows them. The camera also gets inside, although I've just come up with a brilliant plan where Neeko takes the camera and then kicks the operator outside to see what happens. The crew isn't very helpful, so why not use them as guinea pigs?
In the men's cabin, Neeko and Miljan sort of barricade the doors while Sabina looks for the rifle. She finds it behind a double wall, and Miljan is surprised that it was right by his bed. She has Neeko open the door, and she fires a warning shot before ducking back in. She waits at a window and tells them to say something if they see movement.
Daniel and Sam are in the laboratory. There are jars of weird things. Sam says whoever ran this lab was doing experiments on animals. He does not like the weird stainless steel medical tools or the cages of dead animals. And then! There's a sudden noise! I hope you still find that sort of thing exciting! The noise is coming from a covered cage. Daniel uncovers the cage, and reveals a falcon. Well, okay. Sam is freaked out and just wants to find the circuit breaker. I'm not sure you'd have that in the laboratory, but I guess it's not crazy. Daniel finds some atomic clocks that are not set to the same time.
Sam makes them go back to the room with Johnny and Joyce. Johnny's never heard of an atomic clock, and Daniel decides not to explain. This is supposedly because he tried to explain it to Sam and it didn't take, but really it's to draw things out as long as possible. Sam says the electricity probably comes from a generator, because they're so far from civilization. Makes sense. Daniel demands to know where a generator would be kept, and as soon as Sam says it would be outside, Daniel's on his feet again. Sam decides to go with him so Johnny can get some rest.
So now Daniel and Sam are wandering through the snow. Sam explains basically what a generator looks like, and they come on a metal trailer full of stuff. Sam confirms that it's the generator, although it looks like it's a hundred years old. It needs gas, and Daniel quickly finds a couple of large tanks. But they have different labels on them. Sam identifies one as diesel and one as gas. No one will be seated during the terrifying "pouring gas into a generator" scene! Sam turns on the generator, and the engine works very acceptably. Then he flips a switch and lights come on! Inside and outside! Johnny wakes up.
Camp. Sabina is having trouble staying awake, but she doesn't want to switch with Neeko. Miljan says he hopes Irene is okay.
Science Institute. Everyone rushes over to the radio, and the power is on. Johnny is still angry at the idea of a radio being "jammed," and I think he's picturing something caught in the gears. Sam says they're not getting a signal. Daniel looks out the window, where there's a flashing red light. He gets everyone to listen to him, and they go outside. It's the tower with a flashing red light on it! But it's been knocked over by something. What could have done such a thing?
SPOILER: It was a small asteroid or comet, because it was the Tunguska Event, and they've been sent back in time to just after the events of June 30, 1908. That's why the atomic clocks were slightly out of sync… someone's been doing experiments with time travel. Now, this theory isn't perfect, because there were regular computers and people in modern clothes. But until someone actually investigates them, I choose to ignore them.
Miljan has a camera! He's looking down into it, Blair Witch-style. He says, "I want everyone to know that I am not crazy." There's something in the woods, and everyone's ignoring him. He's got a pretty good point; everyone's seen the weird footprints and the fog and heard weird noises (...so many weird noises), but they just ignore him. As he insists on his sanity, we see shots of the Science Institute, including security-camera footage of the rooms. Oh, hey! That room full of monitors might come in handy.
In the morning, Sam uses that coffee maker I've been talking about. Johnny tells a cameraman that Daniel's trying to assemble a computer from the wreckage to see if he could send an email or something. I think they probably don't have an Internet connection if their radio tower is broken. Daniel pops open a desktop computer and reports that the computers are pretty damaged but he thinks he can get it working. Johnny looms over him asking if he needs anything, and I think Johnny's feeling a little left out and bored. He wanders over to a map on the wall that has concentric circles around it. The center is about where their camp was. That's worrying! But he's distracted by noticing a town on the map. Daniel says it's 200km away, which is about 124 miles. Too far to walk, then. You know, a Siberian Science Institute might well have some sort of vehicle they could use.
There's a round-robin of confessional interviews where people tell us how worried they are. That's pretty good coordination by the crew, since the people at the Science Institute can't communicate with the people at the camp. Johnny checks on Sam (he's trying to read a newspaper) and goes to look for Joyce. But he finds the security room instead. Joyce is getting ready to take a shower (which sounds like a great idea), and Johnny makes sure he and the camera crew don't see her naked. He should really be more interested in seeing what the various security cameras show.
Miljan is cold and hungry. Nobody's sympathetic, because they feel the same way. And then! There's a noise outside! It's kind of a whooshing noise, like a plane. It happens several times. They go outside, and a lot of jet fighters go overhead. Miljan waves his arms and yells, but I think fighter pilots are unlikely to hear someone on the ground yelling at them.
The jets are gone now. Sabina cradles her rifle and explains that fighter jets don't notice people on the ground. Maybe she could shoot one of them down! I guess the other fighter pilots wouldn't be that happy about it.
Daniel works on his computer and mopes about how he's not a hero. Johnny takes a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator and drinks from the bottle. Sam declines, saying he's sober. Johnny suggests taking the vehicle from the garage (it turns out to be a Cat) to the town they saw on the map. But there are no keys! Sam has him check the ignition and floorboards, but there aren't any. Then he suggests hot wiring it, which he knows how to do from his adventurous youth. His foot's fine now, thanks to Johnny. Johnny thanks him for the CPR. They share a manly nod. Then he sends Johnny to find a ratchet set. Or any tools, really.
Miljan's staring into the woods, and Neeko has to get his attention to help him move a huge branch. He's surprisingly willing to accept Miljan's claim that he wasn't staring at anything. He's a little bossy, which Miljan uses as an excuse to stop helping. Neeko gets Sabina to help instead. And they take the opportunity to tell us that the torches were surrounded by those mystery footprints.
Joyce goes into the room full of dead people. I can't believe nobody's trying to find out what happened here. She carefully removes one corpse's boots, which is kind of gruesome but frankly a pretty good idea. Sorry, dead person, but your footwear is a lot better than what Joyce has.
Joyce interviews about how she should have enjoyed her life more. We see Sabina and Neeko writing a big SOS in the snow. Sam asks Johnny and Joyce if they believe in synchronicity. They do. Then Sam completely fails to talk about synchronicity. Instead, he muses about how he wouldn't be here if Esther hadn't moved that flag that made the two other people go home in the first episode. And then! Daniel runs in to report that the computer's working! He delivers some techno-babble, then shows his discoveries. It's video footage that's helpfully captioned so Sam can explain it as the 1927 expedition. It features Leonard Kulik, who wrote Miljan's journal. The footage shows the blasted landscape that they walked past.
Miljan claims that he found something in a cabin and that Sabina has to come quickly to see. It's a secret box of food that Neeko had. Neeko claims he was going to share it, and Miljan goes on a big speech about how Neeko is a jerk. It's the food Johnny supposedly stole from the shed. Oh, right! I remember this food; it's the stash Joyce led him to. Miljan says Neeko is nothing but a bully, and he's kind of right. He goes outside and now Sabina is angry at Neeko. From outside the cabin, Miljan calls, "Uh, guys?" Sabina stomps outside, and her rifle is yanked away. There are some mean-looking galoots out here, and they all have guns. They're dressed in modern clothes, and they have silly-looking shoes that make kangaroo footprints.
So...that's the big revelation? The Kangaroo Gumbies are just locals with machine guns and trick shoes? I, for one, find this unsatisfying.
Follow Monty on Twitter at @monty_ashley and read his blog, Mysterious Exhortations.