Episode Report Card LuluBates: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Snake in the Grass
By LuluBates | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 05.11.2010
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.A raggedy-looking guy stumbles across the twisted, mangled legs of Lisa in an alley, and immediately calls for help. Erica and Agent Malik called down to the V healing center, where they get an eyeful of Lisa's injuries, including a split lip and jagged "V" carved in her cheek, and Erica finally finds out that Lisa is a V. Lisa gives descriptions of her attackers, and the pictures Agent Malik comes up with are of a nerdy scientist type... and Kyle Hobbes. Eventually, Anna shows up and fawns over Lisa, and Erica finally finds out that her son's girlfriend is Anna's daughter. Anna has Lisa's legs fixed, but parades her facial injuries at a press conference, announcing that the Vs will be leaving, and even sending the Hong Kong ship away to show she's serious. Joshua and Erica meet face to face, and tells Erica that Anna broke her daughter's legs herself.
Hobbes has clearly been framed by the Vs, and Erica's boss wants to go after him, but Erica convinces him they aren't going to have any more luck than they've already had, so they end up focusing on the scientist, Parker. Erica gets there first, and finds out he was part of a think tank working on a deadly reptile virus, and that the man's six co-workers have all gone missing, as well as his research. The Vs clearly want him dead, and when he's brought in, it's revealed that the government has made a deal with the Vs -- they'll hand over anyone suspected of being Fifth Column, pre-trial, in exchange for blue technology. Also, they're staying. Erica tries to convince Lisa not to incriminate an innocent man, but Lisa goes through with it and identifies the scientist as her attacker, because Anna is scary. Throughout the episode, Anna and Erica speak entirely in veiled threats to each other.
Meanwhile, Chad Decker is being all pissy because Anna didn't use him to get her message out about the Vs leaving, so he uses his own initiative to go on TV and tell his viewers to let the government know that they want the Vs to stay and the Fifth Column to be eliminated. Good dog! By the end, he knows he was manipulated, though. Also, it turns out the reason the Vs want Kyle is because he was originally hired to kill Parker, but he passed on the assignment when the client didn't check out. And he actually went to Parker's place before Erica and took Parker's hard drive, which allows him to safely meet with Marcus, Anna's lieutenant, to offer an exchange -- the virus research for his name being cleared. Also, lots of money. Bastardo! -- Zach Oat
Want more? The full recap starts right below!An extra from Les Miserables stumbles out the stage into the alley behind the theater... oh wait, he's a REAL homeless man, he doesn't just play one on the stage. So a bum (is that still politically correct? or is residentially-challenged the preferred terminology?) wanders into an alley looking for a rat to cook up for din-din when he sees something horrifying in the trash. No, no, not Spencer Pratt, but something else that makes him call for help. It's Lisa. With her legs at very unnatural angles (for humans anyway) and a giant V carved into her face. With this intro I am fully expecting Lenny Briscoe to show up and start dishing out pithy one-liners. Can we just take a moment, not only for the lovely Jerry Orbach, but for the entire Law & Order: The Mothership show? I mean, that was the REAL mothership, may it rest in peace and syndication. As you may remember from last week, Anna proved herself an even colder-hearted snake than Paula Abdul could ever have imagined and ordered a hit on her own darling daughter just to make the Fifth Column look bad. So now Lisa is lying in an alley reenacting her favorite scene from Law & Order.
Agent Erica and V Agent Malik are briefed on the details of the attack. Lisa was attacked leaving the Visitors' Visitor Center and she was told "the Fifth Column doesn't want you here, leave or we kill you all", which Erica considers subtle, but I see as entirely appropriate. Also, true. Erica and Malik peer into the room at the Visitors' Healing Center where they have the victim and Erica gasps when she sees it is Lisa. She quickly explains to Malik that Lisa is her son's girlfriend. Malik inquires whether Erica knew Lisa was a Visitor and Erica quickly says no, so Malik asks if her son knew. Wait. What? Why wouldn't Erica know that Lisa was a Visitor? And why would she pretend otherwise? I mean, if her son was dating a V wouldn't that make her seem open-minded and V sensitive and stuff? Well, Erica is either really stupid or just lying like a rug and her pants are at imminent risk of a flare up. Malik looks at her sideways, but Erica marches into the room where Lisa is lying in just her underwear and does her best Benson to Malik's Stabler. Erica covers up Lisa with a sheet and then actually flips into full-on mom-mode and pushes Lisa's hair back from her face, hugs her gently, and almost tears up looking at the damage done to the pretty girl. Erica asks if she recognized the attacker and Lisa flashes back to her mom slamming her in the face and ordering her guards to break Lisa's legs. Obviously Lisa doesn't admit this because she is so ashamed. She shakes her head no and Erica holds her head gently and promises to find the bad people who did this. Lisa looks sad and then almost relieved to be held by a mother. Any mother. Up on the Mothership, Anna watches Erica comfort her daughter. She tells No. 2 and Joshua that she needs to descend to earth because her daughter needs her. She tells Joshua to fix Lisa's broken legs, but to leave the rest of the damage so the world can see what the Fifth Column did to her baby girl. She smirks as she reminds them that a picture is worth a thousand words. For someone with no emotions, she sure has a well-developed sense of evil irony. Also, enough with the smirking. I'm sure you skin sack can make other movements.