Outside the fence the guards see warm-blooded movement which
they take to be a Sixer. Patrols are dispatched lead by Lt Washington to run
out into the night and try and track it down. After a lot of chasing through
the woods they catch the figure – it’s a little girl.
(And yes, I had a Dino Geek grumble at the idea of all
dinosaurs being cold blooded)
They take the girl to the hospital where she fights, runs
and hides. Elizabeth arrives and shoos everyone out – including Commander
Taylor – since the girl is terrified. Elizabeth slowly draws her out. She’s
Leah Marcos and her parents are dead. She’s trying to get to see her Nana – who
still lives in the future. She recognises Taylor as “the bad man” and he
remembers her as a very small child and remembers that she had a brother, Sam.
Elizabeth explains to Leah that the portal doesn’t go both ways – once you’re
through you can’t go back. Leah’s confused - she can’t stay with “the bad man”
and she can’t go back to Mira or she’ll be hurt for running away.
Taylor realises she could be a good source of
intelligence, but they need her trust first. He gently suggests that Elizabeth
takes her in and she instantly falls for it and Jim’s minor objections are
quickly quashed. Elizabeth suggests putting Josh on the sofa.
Josh isn’t best thrilled but Maddy explains that she’s a
girl and Zoe’s 6. Josh doesn’t follow this logic but Leah arrives cutting
debate. They welcome her but she’s silent and very nervous. She crawls on a bed
and huddles under a blanket, not even getting into the bed properly.
Lt. Washington and another soldier go looking for Leah’s
lost bag – they find it. But they also find a pack of Sixers who attack them.
He goes down quickly but Washington puts up a fight until Mira arrives and
knocks her unconscious.
At Terra Nova, Leah and Zoe are left with Josh as a
babysitter and Maddy goes to start her apprenticeship with Elizabeth and is a
little squeamish at the sight of mangled flesh. Taylor and Jim discuss when it’s
appropriate to start asking Leah questions when the Sixers arrive. Mira demands
Leah’s return in exchange for Washington and the extra. Taylor denies
kidnapping her and tells Mira the girl can decide her own fate. Mira lets
Washington and the extra go (showing that Mira trusts Taylor’s word – or that
she’s stood in the firing lines of Terra Nova)
Leah is brought out and Mira tells the child to say she
wants to come home and tries to bully her into speaking. Leah tells her she ran
away and she wants to stay in Terra Nova. As she leaves, Taylor tells Mira that
since this is the second time she’s come to the gates and threatened the
colony, the third time she does it, he’ll go to war. Personally I’d have opened
fire on them as they retreated, but that’s just me.
Realising that the mole must have contacted the Sixers
since Leah arrived, Taylor has Jim check who was outside the gates since she
arrived. The whole place is very welcoming
to Leah, making her feel much more at home and Taylor discusses Leah showing
them where she camped with the constantly moving Sixers.
The mole hunt does pull up one man, Rob, out alone doing
his field study – and he arrived on the 6th Pilgrimage. Malcolm rushes
to Rob, a scientist’s defence in objection to “guilt by association”. He also
points out that Terra Nova has no lawyers for defence. He’s had problems
himself with his own father facing similar investigations back in the future.
There’s a break in in one of the houses, Jim and
Washington go to investigate and find a secret compartment under the floor, now
empty. Before the current residents, this was Mira’s old house. Leah is also
missing school – Jim goes to intercept her trying to reach the fence
They realise Leah was a perfect spy – young enough to be
sympathetic and old enough to be capable and that Mira played them all. She
tried to take an odd looking container that’s sealed shut. Leah claims she
doesn’t know what’s in the box, only that she was told to get it – and she
obeyed because Mira has her brother and will hurt him if she doesn’t obey. Leah
is taken away but Jim is troubled – what if she’s telling the truth and a kid
is being hurt? Taylor won’t send anyone to check – not risking more resources
on the word of Leah who has already lied and shown herself capable of
manipulating them for Mira.
But back at home Elizabeth, Josh and Jim discover a note
from Leah, apologising, that she must have written before she tried to leave
which Jim takes as proof of her sincerity about her brother, Sam. Time for Jim
to ignore all commands and rush off on his own like a loose cannon!
He gets himself caught by the Sixers. Well done that man. He has some light chatter with Mira and she reveals that Taylor annoyed some powerful people back in 2149. Mira adds that Terra Nova is not now or ever about starting afresh – and that she’s going to take Taylor down. She has a daughter, Sienna, in 2149 who she gets to see again only if she does her job. She sends Jim back to Terra Nova – with Sam (what was this, a grand exposition trip?) who she never intended to hurt.
Taylor handwaves Jim’s disobedience. Jim doesn’t tell Taylor
what she said. Because… reasons?
Side plots – Maddy is squeamish and feels sick seeing
patients with oozy injuries. Elizabeth releases her from her apprenticeship
since it’s clear that she’s not cut out to be a doctor.
And Mark Reynolds keeps trying to “court” Maddy and seems
to be stuck in the 19th century. I’d love to see the world building
justification why this man, a product of the 22nd century west, has such
old fashioned ideals.
This is now twice where Jim has decided to completely
ignore the chain of command, any kind of authority and go running off without telling
people. In 5 episodes. This whole lone ranger bit, assuming he knows best,
assuming he can make decisions alone, without consulting anyone and go running
off doing his own thing regardless of people telling him not to isn’t heroic –
it’s arrogant.
Which leaves me again with a feeling that I like the
story – certainly as it’s now getting deeper with more plotting and I love the
world (Dino Geek grumbles aside) but I dislike the main character, Jim and one
of the more prominent secondary characters – Josh. I hope we can see more
Taylor, Washington, Elizabeth and Maddy who are more interesting and reasonable
characters.
