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It's the first meeting of the rebel alliance, and already Erica is suspicious about Ryan and why and how he knows so much about the Vs. But despite her persistent questioning, he doesn't confess about his early childhood spent wearing nothing but lizard skin. Kinky, right? Erica and Father Jack are unclear about their revolutionary objectives, so they make a Venn diagram and embark on a brainstorming session, but Georgie has no patience. He just wants to skin a V alive to show the world what they look like on the inside. Ryan doesn't like that idea at all.
Alien Dale's death is being investigated as a murder. Of course the lead investigator, the doctor named Joshua, is the guy who killed him. Mysteriously the investigation turns up nothing, so Anna plays hardball. She calls all the medical staff into a V formation and, unless one steps forward to confess to the murder, she will choose one at random to set an example. Joshua's Fifth Column band mate, er… compatriot steps forward to martyr himself for the cause. Anna tells Joshua to skin him. And he does, very begrudgingly. So now we know why Ryan won't abide any talk about skinning Vs.
Erica is hard at work trying to find out anything she can about Ryan, which is nothing. She doesn't have time to talk to teenage twit Tyler, despite the fact that her idiot son is actually trying to talk to her about what is going on in his life. But the poor latchkey kid can't compete with his mom's work. So he talks to his therapist. Who is, of course, Val. While his real mom doesn't understand him, turns out nincompoop Tyler is an advanced pupil in V school. When Lisa and Anna eavesdrop on his therapy session via their handy built-in uniform-cam they know he is ready to come visit the mother and her ship. Boy, is Tyler surprised when it turns out his girlfriend's mom is the Anna and that she wants to spend some quality alone time with him. Mrs. Robinson much? She takes him where no human has ever been before. Nudge nudge, wink wink. By the time Erica finally figures out that Tyler has been lying to her and is up to his eyeballs in the V world, it's too late -- he can't be reached.
The Visitors are expanding their plan for universal health care and are heavily promoting their new vitamin shot as a panacea for most of the human races' health woes. Lucky for humanity, Ryan knows that back in the day the V scientists were working on one shot to rule them all. With Ryan's help, the rebel alliance tracks down a V scientist who worked on the original scheme to bring down the human race. They corner him in a parking garage and Georgie takes matters into his own gun-toting hands and gets shot for his trouble. Ryan aims his gun at Erica, but shoots the V scientist standing behind her instead. Then the scientist calls Ryan a traitor and swallows a suicide pill before they could get any information out of him. The scientist's harsh words for Ryan help Erica figure out that Ryan is a Visitor. Ryan answers her questions and explains about the Fifth Column. Erica believes it enough to continue working with him. The crack team, minus gut-shot Georgie, investigates a lead they got from the scientist that takes them to a warehouse. Based on the pallets of R6 serum they unearth there, Erica figures out that whatever toxic substance the Vs are distributing to the humans, it's not in the vitamin shots they are offering the world -- it's in the standard flu vaccine. The Vs are counting on us silly humans trusting our government and believing the media when they report on pandemics. Which is annoying on a lot of levels. Whatever. The rebel alliance destroys the entire shipment, saving the human race temporarily, making a really big bang and sending a message to the Visitors. When Ryan gets caught by a V soldier, Erica shoots the V who is killing him. She manages not to say, "Now, we're even," but you can tell she really, really wants to. Father Jack lands a few ferocious fists, too, but the V he downs comes back later and knifes him on the altar.
Meanwhile, Chad Decker is brought to one of the healing centers and is awed by what he sees there. He is so impressed that he decides to give them some free publicity and gets an on-camera check up. But at the end of the day, Chad gets some unexpected news -- apparently he is going to die. Obviously they can fix him, but it comes with at a cost.
Turns out Val is not as hale and hearty as she appears. She has a heart problem that a quick trip to the Visitors healing centers might be able to fix. On twerp Tyler's recommendation, she goes for a check-up. Sure enough, the Visitors can help her, but there is one little roadblock: Val's pregnant. She's overjoyed, but Ryan is troubled.
Finally, we get a chance to see what all this Bliss talk is about. The junk that keeps the Visitors coming back, involves some sort of naked communion with Anna that unfortunately isn't nearly as dirty as it sounds. Instead it's some sort of method of connecting to every V in some sort of transcendental bliss. What can be so wrong with that, right?
Oh, when Anna says it is "only the beginning." She totally means it. Just out of Earth's atmosphere, an enormous fleet of ships waits. I'm sure they are just waiting for their chance to help a human.
Want answers? Check back for the full recap, but you're going to have to wait until March for more V.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Secret V Ryan is running through a parking garage with the staccato beat of gunshots surrounding him. Agent Erica is crouched over the fallen body of Georgie the ersatz and potentially deposed leader of the rebel alliance. He's been shot. Erica looks up to see Ryan pointing a gun at her. He fires. Obviously this is just a wee bit out of context. So the editors do that nifty thing of traveling back in time fourteen hours to the meeting between Erica, Father Jack, Georgie, and Ryan at the church where we left off last episode. Why the flash forward? I guess we will have to wait fourteen TV hours to find out. Georgie is explaining that when he first found out about the Vs, they came after him. He got away, but his family didn't. Yeah, that could leave a chip on your shoulder. A chip about this big.. Erica offers her condolences to Georgie over the loss of his family and then non-sequiturs to Ryan: Why do you know so much about the Vs? Ryan and Georgie look uncomfortable, but they don't 'fess up to Ryan's early childhood spent crawling out of the egg. Erica's keen FBI sense thinks something is up but Georgie skillfully changes the subject to what their step is. He wants to flay a Visitor, but Ryan thinks it is dangerous because then the Vs will have no choice but to retaliate. The world can't win that war. I don't really understand that reasoning, because what other option do they have except to show the Vs' true nature and let the human race's natural disdain for taking orders from helpful reptiles kick in? Puff the Magic Dragon not withstanding. At any rate, Ryan thinks it is a bad idea and Father Jack agrees. He has been praying for The Rapture. By the way, if you are a good Christian and The Rapture happens, don't forget about your pets. Erica ignores all the dissembling and gets back to her question for Ryan: How does he know so much about the Vs? They engage in the ancient art of a staring contest but we all know that Ryan, being a secret reptile, is totally going to win. Georgie interrupts the action by vouching for Ryan's heroism at the warehouse. Outside, though, Georgie can't believe Ryan can't or won't trust a priest and an FBI agent. I mean if you can't trust them, right? Ryan doesn't answer, but points his finger at Georgie's chest and tells him he never wants to hear him talk about skinning a V again. If I were you Georgie, I would follow that advice.
On board the mothership, secret member of the Fifth Column, Dr. Joshua, is explaining that Alien Dale was murdered (MURDERED!) in their medical bay. Anna and her Executive Assistant don't take the news well. They have never had a murder onboard their ship before. Anna instructs Joshua to assemble his team and find out who did this heinous act. Oh he doesn't need to assemble his team to know that.
Back at her large real estate porn house, Erica is hard at work trying to track down any and all information about Ryan. No matter what she searches she can't find anything beyond his state ID. Based on his driver's license photo alone (hello, Glamour Shot!) Erica should have realized Ryan is a Visitor. She's probably just distracted by her idiotic son, like, wanting to talk all of a sudden. Doesn't he see that she is working? Erica tells Tyler to give her two minutes to finish her search for damning evidence she can use against Ryan. Ty grabs the remote, flips on the television, and waits. And waits. Obviously the only thing on television is Chad Decker and Anna. Apparently the Golden Girls are non-existent in the not-too-distant future. Let alone The Price is Right. The Vs did away with that show first, because one of their sleeper agents went on it and lost because they were a measly dollar over the actual price of the dishwasher. The V hive mind didn't think it was fair at all that the winning contestant was a hundred dollars under. Where is the justice in that, right? A hundred is farther away than one! The Price is Right rules are stupid. They had no choice but to pull the plug. Anna is now announcing an exciting new V initiative where they are expanding their health care centers. Erica frowns at the television. Meanwhile, Val is watching the same broadcast while she waits on the phone trying to reach her doctor. But since our human health care system is so deficient, obviously she can't reach her doctor to help her change her heart medication. She considers stopping her meds, but Ryan thinks that would be a bad idea. Raise your hand if you think Val will have no choice but to go sample the fruit of the Visitor's universal health care system? Ryan turns his attention to the television set where Anna is announcing an exciting new vitamin shot full of juicy V goodness available for only a limited time, so earthlings better act now! If the Vs started counting down the number of vitamin shots available QVC-style, humans would be all over it. Anna continues her infomercial: the vitamin will help prevent sickness including various types of cancer and may even prevent unsightly wrinkles from forming. They'll be offering the injections around the clock, but call now to reserve one because they are going fast! Ryan looks troubled, but probably because he knows it is too late and supplies are dwindling. Chad plays Glen Ross to Anna's Glenn Garry and asks if they have cured the common cold yet...hahahahaha. Anna smiles that people will have to still rely on their flu shots for that, which is SO STUPID because flu shots have NOTHING TO DO WITH COLDS. Come on, is it so hard to fact check these things?
Back at Erica's house, Tyler is losing his drive to communicate with his mother. And, seriously, Erica, there is a window of opportunity to talk to your teenage son and it is quickly closing. He calls her on the fact that it's been two minutes since he asked if they could talk. Erica sighs audibly and then closes her computer and comes to sit on the couch to him. He starts to tell her about Lisa and then, awkward parent that she is, she interrupts to tease him about the half-naked girl in his room. Er...right. He gets flustered and when her phone rings, he encourages her to take the call, and walks out. While I love a hard-working single mom as much as the lazy feminist, Erica is a really crap mom. While I realize she is saddled with a pain-in-the-ass like Tyler for a son, there is something seriously lacking in her parenting skills. I guess it shows good depth of character development for the writers or something. But it just seems annoying to me. Anyway, it's Ryan on the phone and he needs to meet NOW.
Father Jack, Erica, and Georgie join Ryan for a hasty bible study at the church. Ryan explains that the new shot is from an old playbook. Years ago he uncovered a cell of V scientists working on an injection to infect the human race with...er, something. Ryan is convinced that Anna has reactivated that plan and is hatching something big. Like in Aliens. Ryan gives Erica the names of the V scientists involved in the original plan to run through her nifty FBI database. None of the scientists are around until Ryan finally remembers a lab assistant named Peter Combs. He's now a professor of chemistry. They decide to follow him to see where he leads them. Georgie is SO not impressed with that plan.
Walking tantrum Tyler is moaning about his impossible mother to his therapist who is, of course, Val. I am impressed that Tyler feels the need for a therapist or bothers going, but I am more impressed that Val can stomach listening to this wiener whine. Look Tyler, parents are the same no matter time nor place, they don't understand that kids are going to make some mistakes. So to you other kids all across the land, there's no need to argue, parents just don't understand. Lather, rinse, repea
t, until you go to college. Tyler moans that Erica doesn't understand how important the Visitors are to him. She just wags her finger in his face and tells him not to get involved with them. He shows Val his Super Awesome Junior Peace Ambassador uniform. He knows his mom would freak out if she knew about it but he thinks the Vs are, like, totally hot and stuff and healing the world, right? Val's ears perk up at the mention of the healing centers and she pops out of her therapist role to ask Tyler to see if he could help her cut the line at one of those there healing centers, what with his connections and all. Yeah, that's appropriate. Tyler continues to moan about how (sigh) parents just don't understand when we are taken onboard the mothership where Lisa and Anna are both watching Tyler's therapy session via the uniform cam. How did they know they were going to have anything to see? And before Tyler took the uniform out, were Lisa and Anna just watching the inside of his bag? I don't think we get that channel on earth. Anyway, Lisa uses Tyler's impassioned defense of the awesomeness of the Vs to prove to Anna that Tyler is ready. For what we don't know. Anna instructs Lisa to bring him up to the ship. She wants to eat him. Er...meet him. Same difference? Either way, isn't it way too soon for Tyler to meet the parents?
Anna's Executive Assistant stands to Chad Decker, thanking him flatly for doing the story on the Visitors' healing centers. Chad didn't really feel like he had a choice because Anna wouldn't do the interview with him unless he did this report. Ooh someone wore his grumpy pants today. Chad turns that frown upside down when he sees how easily the Vs can fix the woes of the world and the scar on one girl's arm. His eyes widen in amazement and the Executive Assistant nods knowing that Chad will happily do the story now. Well, you know, after he goes to HR and gets those papers filled out. There is just something about that guy that screams HR lackey. Like he is totally going to screw Chad out of a paycheck because he forgot to sign in triplicate and entered the wrong number of deductions.
Erica and Father Jack are staking out the parking garage. While they wait for Peter Combs, the V lab assistant, to come out, Erica tries to call Tyler. He doesn't pick up and she hangs up annoyed, hopefully at herself. Father Jack asks if she wants to talk about it, but she really does not. Luckily Ryan calls, saving her from further intervention by the church. He and Georgie have the place staked out on the inside. Oh hurry up and shoot somebody already!
Up on the mothership, Anna is not happy with the results of the criminal investigation. She tells Dr. Joshua and his second in command to gather the medical staff. She is going to investigate herself. Joshua's friend is a fellow member of the Fifth Column, which I've decided sounds like less of a gay club and more of an early 90s boy band. His friend thinks Joshua needs to get off the ship STAT (he works in medicine), but Joshua won't run. His nameless friend who kind of looks like Griffin from Party of Five insists that Dr. Joshua is too important to the resistance and he cannot be sacrificed.
Back at the garage, Erica and Father Jack loiter outside looking really out of place. Inside, Georgie draws his gun and despite the plan to follow the scientist, Georgie fires first. Of course he is a total crap shot and while Georgie shoots wildly, the guy has time to get his gun out of his car, put on some music, and then shoot Georgie in the stomach. Ryan and the rest of the team come running. Erica finds Georgie on the ground and Ryan comes running, gun drawn. He aims and shoots. But he's not gunning for Erica, he hits the V scientist standing behind her. Um...I am at a complete loss for why they would bother doing a flash forward at the beginning of the show. Did they really have nothing better to do with those three minutes at the top of the show? I guess it built dramatic tension or would have if we cared enough about the Ryan/Erica tension, but they didn't really give us enough time to notice it, let alone be shocked by the possibility that Ryan would shoot her. Whatever. He doesn't shoot her. Father Jack shows up with the car and promises to take care of Georgie who is TOTALLY LYING IN FRONT OF A PRIEST and claiming that the Visitor shot first. LIES MAKE BABY JESUS CRY, GEORGE. Ryan has gone to tackle the V who is not too pleased about this turn of events. He calls Ryan a filthy traitor and swallows a suicide pill before Ryan can bitch slap it out of his mouth. Ryan curses angrily, but he's even angrier when he turns to find Erica's gun trained on him. She knows he's a Visitor. They stare at each other some more. Twenty minutes later Ryan breaks the silence and claims that he and Erica both want the same thing: to figure out what the Vs are up to. That's not what Erica wants to do. She wants to shoot him. And then maybe go home, order some Thai food, and curl up under her nan's afghan on the couch and watch Beaches and let her poor heart break a little. That's what she wants to do. Besides, Ryan killed their only lead. So what's stopping her, huh? Ryan swears they are on the same side. Besides, he never said he wasn't a Visitor. So there. Nyah nyah nyah. Erica shrugs in defeat in the face of that logic.
Tyler's connections have paid off and his therapist is now first in line for an appointment at the Visitors' healing center. The Vs use iMacs with the logo covered up. Elsewhere in the clinic, Chad Decker has his reporter face on as he leads a camera crew through the clinic and gets one of the Vs' highly sensitive body scans. When the Executive Assistant comes to check on his progress, Chad grouses that he would like a little more freedom of the press because this is still AMERICA, dammit. The Executive Assistant smiles and nods and apologizes that there is just not more time for Chad to talk to patients or walk around unescorted. Then he asks if Chad has filled out his paperwork yet.
Father Jack is hastily stitching up Georgie's gun shot with some handy frontline medical skills that he picked up during his two tours in Iraq as an Army chaplain. Father Jack knows that Georgie went after the V in the garage. As a priest he's trained to see that bullshit. As penance he will sew up his gunshot wound with no anesthetic. That should get Georgie praying in no time. Georgie glares up at him and tells him he needs to decide whether he is a priest or a soldier. Hello, not mutually exclusive. Have you not heard of that little diddy called "Onward Christian soldiers"?
Ryan and Erica have fled the scene of the almost crime and are parked somewhere. Ryan tells her to go ahead and shoot...WAIT WAIT, WITH QUESTIONS! Put the gun away, Erica. He knows they won't get any work done until she gets her need-to-know fix. Her first question is what happened to Combs. He explains that all Vs carry a suicide pill. Why was he called a traitor? He is a part of the rebel alliance known as the Fifth Column, and no, it's not a boy band OR a gay bar. And that ends the Question and Answer portion of the show. No, really. That's it. Two questions and Erica is satisfied. They go through the briefcase Combs left at the scene. They find a clue that leads them to a shipping company. They decide to go check it out.
Anna has organized the medical team on the mothership into a nifty V formation. I wonder how long they had to practice that to get it perfect? It's a nice touch, although I can't imagine that they refer to themselves as Visitors. And I sort of expect them to pull out flags and start doing precision drills. Anna is berating the medical team for allowing the murder of the valuable sleeper agent Alien Dale to take place on their watch. His murder deprived them of potentially useful information. Anna stops in front of Dr. Joshua's second in command and asks him to join the formation. She tells the team that unless the guilty party steps forward to take responsibility for their crime, she will pick someone at random to punish. Joshua looks like he is about to confess when his second-in-command does. With a simple, "Long live the Fifth Column" he is sentenced to be skinned. Wow, boy bands garner a lot of loyalty. And I guess we understand why Ryan is so darn sensitive about the subject. Anna tells Joshua to skin his friend.
Tyler takes a tour of the mothership with Lisa, who has an expertly tailored and low-cut uniform. Tyler asks her if he is in trouble with her mother. See, even he thinks it is too early to meet the parents. They haven't even shared a malt, carved their name in a tree, or given each other gonorrhea of the throat yet. So why the rush to meet her mom? Lisa just shrugs that her mom wants to meet him and Ty thinks that it is just dreamy how advanced they are. Tyler stops short in his tracks when he sees Anna up ahead. He is completely googly eyed and star struck and is in shock when it turns out that Lisa not only knows her, but is her daughter. Crush Level turned up to 11. Tyler gets all tongue-tied and ridiculous in Anna's presence and to make matters worse, Lisa leaves him alone with her. Those Vs sure have some wacky genetics what with Anna being all tall and thin and dark-eyed and brunette and Lisa being a petite buxom blonde with blue eyes. Tyler doesn't seem to mind eit
her way.
At the Lyndhurst Shipping Company, which may or may not be in New Jersey, but sounds like it should be, Erica uses a helpless lady act to get the guard to come out. This should not be surprising to the guard since he works in what may very well be New Jersey (he probably doesn't know either) because New Jersey is a complete maze without a single street sign and a GPS dead zone. So Erica acting like a woman who is completely lost should be very realistic. Although her longshoreman stocking cap should have been a dead giveaway. The second the guard steps out, Ryan clocks him. Then Father Jack runs up panting from exertion or something. Maybe he jogged there from New York. Either way he says Erica's name like he was desperately concerned for her. They storm the guard's station and Ryan jury rigs the surveillance cameras.
Back onboard the mothership, Anna explains that Lisa is her top priority, always. Tyler likes her okay, but if Anna is, you know, interested, he'd be willing to trade up. Anna smiles wanly and says that Lisa said Tyler was into motorcycles. He eagerly agrees with everything Anna says because he is a CHUCKLEHEAD. Anna thinks he will really like what she is going to show him and Ty agrees because he is nodding so much it is like he has a broken neck. Anna takes him to the secret heart of the V ship, which is the never-before-seen propulsion center. What this has to do with a love of motorcycles is beyond me. I would think a Trekkie would be more intrigued. Tyler falls for the line about being the first human to ever see this. Sucker.
Dr. Joshua is really ticked off at his friend for martyring himself for the Fifth Column and sacrificing himself for Joshua. The friend, lying naked save for a sheet, explains that it is all for the greater good. Joshua is one of Anna's closest advisors and thus an important asset for the Column. Joshua gave his friend something so he can't move. Joshua picks up a vile looking implement and then collapses...he can't do it. His paralyzed friend gives him another pep talk and Joshua steels himself for the flaying. He grabs the tool, plunges it at his friend, and a long scream comes out. While this scene is intense and flinch-worthy, there is something almost inherently silly about it. I mean the guy who is about to be skinned alive is offering words of encouragement to the guy who is going to do it. It's like a Monty Python sketch or actually what it most reminds me of is the scene from Douglas Adams's The Restaurant at the End of the Universe where the cows come up to the restaurant patrons and tell them about what parts are the best to eat, whether they've been exercising their flanks or eating extra fat so the customer can choose the best part. It's just all sorts of wrong.
At the warehouse, the team hits the motherlode of weird. In the center of the warehouse a lab has been set up. Inside the tented off area are the desiccated corpses of human test subjects. Also in the tent are vials and vials of a serum labeled as R6. It's what the Visitors are putting in the vitamin shots. Erica digs around some more and realizes the awful truth: the Vs aren't putting the R6 in the vitamin shots, they are putting it in the good old fashioned flu vaccine! How absolutely diabolical! The Vs know that people may not trust them, but they will definitely trust a flu shot. No one worries about a flu shot -- UNTIL NOW. Erica lays it out: the government encourages humans to get flu shots (like they are RIGHT NOW), the media reports on the pandemic (like they are RIGHT NOW), and people rush out to get the flu shot to protect themselves (like they are RIGHT NOW). The Vs are counting on humans trusting the media and the government. Clearly the message is: Trust the government AND DIE. This makes a lot of sense. Their brilliantly evil scheme with the conspiracy subtext is interrupted when they hear a noise.
Back at the Visitors' healing center, Val is getting the good news that her heart condition can be cured by the magically healing fingers of the Visitors. But there is a small something else. Three guesses? No, Val didn't swallow a My Little Pony doll in a cry for attention.
At the warehouse, the team's mission has been compromised and the place is lousy with Vs. Ryan knows he can figure out the self destruct button. Erica and Father Jack are supposed to get his back. He hacks the Vs' computer system, adds the tag line "John May Lives", and then...he is strangled from behind by a member of the security team. They wrestle until Erica shoots the V dead. See? See? Don't bother strangling someone -- just shoot them. Have they not seen Austin Powers? Ryan looks grateful, while Erica looks him in the eye again hoping once again to engage him in the ancient and mystical struggle of wills and eyelids known as a staring contest. Either that or she is struggling not to utter the old canard, "Now we're even." Father Jack rushes in to remind them that they are being swarmed and should, like, leave or something because there is a limit to the power of prayer. Father Jack is stopped by a bald V who sort of looks like a beefy version of "Powder", but Father "Fists of Fury" Jack downs him in two seconds flat. Must be those Sunday afternoons in the Fellowship Hall. Powder looks pissed as Father Jack flattens him and runs. Meanwhile one of the Vs has realized that Ryan jacked the system and it is going to blow. Sure enough the entire warehouse goes kablooie as soon as Father Jack, Erica, and Ryan escape out the door. Serves them right for putting a self-destruct button in a warehouse.
Chad Decker is wrapping up his reporting at the healing center when the Executive Assistant pulls him aside. He needs to discuss something important. The scan that Chad took as part of his report turned up something. In approximately six months Chad will die from an aneurysm in his brain. They can fix him, though. Chad is stunned. He wants to get a second opinion. Preferably from Derek "Santa Claus" Shepherd. The Vs shake their heads, because human technology is not advanced enough to be able to see the future. Ahem, have they met Derek Shepherd? Chad doesn't really know what to say, so the doctor asks him if he would like a printout of his medical history to take with him to his so-called second opinion. Chad points out that he didn't give them a medical history. The doctor explains that they analyze in four dimensions, the fourth being time for those of us not aliens or in AP physics in high school. They are able to determine his medical records because each cell has a trace of it. They recite his chicken pox and bronchitis and broken leg and appendicitis. They are incredibly accurate. They say this in such a tone that clearly states: Suck it, Derek Shepherd. Chad doesn't know what to say again. The Executive Assistant reminds Chad that they can fix this for him, but there is a long waiting list...unless. Unless they come to some sort of understanding. We aren't told what the understanding would be, but it can't be good. Chad looks torn. But he always looks like he is standing on the edge of a big dilemma, peering in.
Erica, Ryan, and Father Jack congratulate each other on a job well done. Erica congratulates Father Jack on his right hook.
Up on the ship, Anna happily reports to her Executive Assistant that their plan is beginning to take shape. And Tyler is definitely the one. The one what? The one chuckleheaded dope you could take for a ride in your big motorcycle in the sky? The one who hasn't read Ender's Game? The Executive Assistant rains on her parade: the warehouse where all the R6 was stored has been lost in an explosion. They received a message moments before the building went up in flames: John May Lives. The message has spread to all the ships and there is real fear. Anna takes the news seriously, but she knows how to manage fear. She reminds the connected Visitors that they have her. They have Bliss. She takes off her clothes, steps into a pool of light, kneels, and talks to her minions. It is like praying or meditation and every V who is connected
stops in their tracks and stares up at the light. Anna tells them not to fear the mistakes of yesterday. There is no hunger or fear or death. On earth a Tibetan monk, who must be a V sleeper agent, takes notice and transcends. Elsewhere a British sleeper agent steps into the street and stops to feel the light and warmth descending from Anna. Doctor Joshua, covered in his friend's blood, struggles but gives in to the Bliss. Lisa stops and stares up at her mother's voice as she tells them to have no fear, because they will never be alone. Tyler, who is not a part of the great hive mind, is mightily confused as to why everyone around him is stock still and staring at the ceiling. Lisa snaps out of it and says it is a gift from her mother. She is so full of Bliss that she lunges at Tyler to add some sugar to her Bliss.
Ryan comes home after a long day of work and rebellion and all he wants to do is take off his shoes, order some pizza, and watch some ESPN, but instead he gets to deal with Val. She is sitting on the bed with her head in her hands. He sits to her and asks how she is feeling. She says that she got some news today and it turns out that she wasn't tired because of her medications, she is tired because she is pregnant! OMG! How unexpected! Despite our lack of interest, Ryan is actually surprised. He fakes happiness well enough (despite the fact that they aren't married and his priest friend will probably be a little unhappy about this mortal sin) but he is definitely confused and concerned.
At the church, Father Jack is unwinding after his long day of crime fighting by unlocking his file cabinet and pulling out his old handgun. Georgie's words echo in his head: is he a priest or a soldier? He handles the gun for a second, and then hurriedly puts it back in the box and locks it away. As he finishes locking the file cabinet cum gun locker he hears a noise. He thinks it might be Father Travis, but he gets no response. He walks into the chapel and finds a man sitting hunched in the front pew. Father Jack demands to know who he is and how he got in there, which isn't very priestly of him, but I guess his jumpiness can be forgiven. The man stays hunched over and Father Jack's Christian learnings get the better of him and he gently asks the man what he needs. Father Jack leans over him and gently touches his shoulder. Is he hurt? The man looks up. It's Powder. Father Jack jumps back and the Visitor pulls out his evil shiv and stabs Father Jack in the stomach. Father Jacks falls on the altar as the V makes a run for it when Father Travis comes calling. Father Jack lies in the shadow of symbolism bleeding to death.
Erica comes home with a bag of takeout big enough to make amends for any lapses in parenting. But Tyler is not there to share in her delicious drive-through bounty. She notices the computer is on and nudges the mouse to see the desktop. There's an IM from the miraculously absent Brandon. It says that he is so jealous that Tyler was invited to the Vs' mothership. Erica's eyes widen and she tries to call Tyler on his phone. Up in space, Tyler's iPhone rings and he ignores it. Oh sure, AT&T works in space. Anna and Lisa ask Tyler if everything is okay and he smiles. They all admire the view of New York City from the deck of the mothership. Tyler thinks the view from space must be pretty amazing too. Anna thinks that maybe he'll see it for himself sometime. Lisa takes Tyler's hand and squeezes it. Anna promises that what Tyler has seen today is only the beginning. The camera swirls away and away and away past Mars and Venus and Saturn and even past fake planet Pluto and well into another universe where hundreds of V ships are waiting patiently. For the season to start, obviously.
See you in March!
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