Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Beyond, Season One, Episode Seven: The Hour of the Wolf


At the end of the last episode, Holden and Charlie decided to go on a road trip in his new hooptie. Somehow, the truck doesn't break down and they stop at a little diner to get a bite.  Charlie is still in full flirt mode as talks about not having a milkshake despite the fact that they look great because of the calories.  Really Beyond? You finally have a female character who is interesting and you have her engage in shame about her body? Thanks but no thanks.  Charlie decides to encourage Holden to control his power and change the awful caterwauling masquerading as music coming out of the jukebox.  Holden doesn't actually manage to change the record but he does knock out the power which has the pleasant side effect of ending the country music.  Charlie and  Holden decide given the very localised blackout that he has caused that now would be a great time to get back on the road.

Back at home, Diane and Tom are doing with they do best - arguing.  It seems that Tom isn't pleased that Holden just took off and Diane wisely points out that he's 25 and needs to be able to get out there. I don't agree with the way that Diane has pushed Holden in the past, but I like that she readily accepts that he is an adult now and is entitled to freedom.  We all know that Tom's issue is his fear that someone is out to get Holden, though he hasn't shared that with Diane yet. Luke walks in and they briefly discuss the women who have been connected to Holden in the short while that he has been awake.

Something about the number of women must have struck a nerve with Luke, because his next stop is Holden's bedroom, where he looks at the sketches Holden has drawn of the Realm. Luke then takes Willa's phone number from the note he put on Holden's bed.

Charlie and Holden end up at a lodge and register as Mr and Mrs. Mathews, claiming that they are on their honeymoon. While Holden registers, Charlie steps outside when she gets a call from Tess. Charlie is quick to inform Tess that she is not going to set up Holden and Tess is quick to realise that this means that Charlie must have fallen for Holden. Tess isn't about to let Charlie defy her and so she threatens to cause harm for a former foster sister, whom Charlie has secretly been supporting. Charlie loses her shit and threatens to kill Tess if something happens to the young woman before smashing her phone on the ground.
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Luke heads to see Willa to ask about her connection to Holden and the sketches.  Willa actually lies to Luke twice but Luke is on his game and calls her out.  Finally, Willa explains that the sketches are were Holden was while he was in a coma.


Holden and Charlie finally make it to the observatory.  Holden is in full out geek mode, showing Charlie Mercury through the telescope.  When one of the employees walks by, they ask for permission to use the big telescope but are informed that the public no longer has access.  Charlie tries to explain why this is important to Holden, by bringing up his coma but the employee will not be swayed. Not willing to take no for an answer, Holden and Charlie sneak into the observatory to look at Mercury and then sneak out when an employee enters.

Having been forced to move, Yellow Jacket and his wife are looking at new home in a gated community.  Yellow Jacket expresses his disappointment about being on permanent paid leave but none of this dulls his wife's excitement. Yellow Jacket excuses himself when he looks out the window and sees Tess.

Settled in for the night, Holden and Charlie discuss his powers. It seems that while in the Realm, Holden could manipulate the elements. Charlie explains that she learned to control her powers because she's OCD and simply worked until she could use her powers to her advantage. Holden goes whiny about not wanting to be super special and Charlie essentially tells him to suck it up and get back to work turning on a lamp.  Holden does manage to turn on the lamp but it quickly short circuits.

In conference, Tess admits to Yellow Jacket that her plan to use Charlie to bring in Holden didn't work. Tess stresses how important it is that they bring in Holden soon and actually eats crow to beg Yellow Jacket to agree to participate.

It's time for Jeff and Tom to meet clandestinely.  Jeff hands over the tax paperwork for Hollow Sky and again stresses that Frost wants to get his hands on Holden. It's only when he brings up Helping Hands, an organisation run by Pastor Ian that Jeff begins to see a possible connection and gets angry. Of course he expresses his anger that Ian is sleeping with Diane.

True to form, Ian is at Diane's and he's making himself right at home. Ian has taken off his collar, opened up his shirt and even massages Diane's shoulders. Luke enters the room and the exchange with Ian is awkward to say the least. When Diane brings up Luke needing a job, Ian is quick to suggest that Luke work in their youth center. Luke rapidly turns down the offer and leave.

Holden and Charlie meet up with a couple staying at the lodge and are invited to come fly fishing. Holden turns down the offer and when Charlie asks why, Holden explains that he knows that Charlie isn't interested in doing this. Charlie is suitably impressed having never had anyone put her interests first. Charlie calls the couple back, saying that she and Holden would be happy to join them. Later that night, Charlie and Holden listen as the couple tell them how they met and this inspires Charlie to admit that Holden has been a total gentleman much to her disappointment.  Later, Holden and Charlie stumble back into their cabin and have the most awkward sex ever.
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Tom finally decides that it's time to clue Diane in on what is going on.  Diane's not impressed right off the bat that he's been talking to Jeff, who she believes chases conspiracies. I'd like to know how Diane knows this to be true about Jeff, given that they previously had little contact with Jeff because of his involvement with Holden's coma? Tom keeps going but when he brings up Ian, that's enough for Diane, who warns him not to go down a rabbit hole. Diane actually looks at Tom with pity. Tom apologises for not being there for her and Luke and then marches down the driveway and promptly calls Jeff. 

Tess and Yellow Jacket give the troops they have rallied a speech to prepare them for the road ahead. Yellow Jacket is quick to assert that Holden can be a lethal danger to them and warns that they need to be prepared to move as quickly as possible to take Holden down.  Yellow Jacket then reminds the men of the importance of the mission, though he is quick to inform them that he cannot answer any questions they may have because he isn't authorised to do so.  Tess only pipes up enough to say that Holden is with a girl, who they have deemed to be expendable. 

Lovemaking done, Charlie and Holden are outside cuddling.  Charlie suggests that there must be all kinds of places that Holden is dying to see. Charlie believes that they should just take off and that in a big city on the other side of the world, Holden would have an easier time blending in. Holden however feels that if he is responsible for his family being in danger that he needs to return home.

Ian shows up at the house and though he kisses Diane, she doesn't seem all that happy to see him.  Ian actually has to ask to be allowed in.

It's morning now and Holden is getting dressed, as outside, Yellow Jacket prepares his men to kidnap Holden. What neither Holden or Yellow Jacket realise, is that Jeff is asleep in a car just a few feet away. Holden sits on the couch to text Willa, while Charlie is sleeping, but stops when he senses someone near his cabin.  Holden watches as the door handle begins to turn. Before Yellow Jacket can enter, Jeff starts shooting. The gun fight is going full steam ahead by the time Holden steps out of his cabin and begins to use his powers. Holden does manage to block one bullet, and one tranquiler while knocking Yellow Jacket's men to the ground; however, he still ends up getting shot. Yellow Jacket and his men are forced to retreat, thus allowing Jeff to drive up and grab Holden.  Charlie tries to approach but Jeff makes it clear that he will kill her.  Charlie and Yellow Jacket make eye contact and Yellow Jacket responds by firing on Charlie, forcing her to run away.

Throughout the entire fire fight, Arthur's vital signs start to go wonky.  Just as Holden is rescued by Jeff, Arthur wakes up. 

There are only three episodes of Beyond left for the season.  At this point, I should be invested in the characters and the plot which is supposedly building to a big dramatic ending. At this point, I don't really care about any character.  I do however like Charlie, even if I am irked by her self depreciation earlier in this episode. She's got spunk and has clearly had a hard life. I find her more interesting than Holden and whenever they are in a scene together, it irks me that he and not she is the protagonist.

It looks like Luke is going to get pulled into the secret by virtue of his interaction with Willa.  Holden needs someone on his side that he knows doesn't have an ulterior motive that he can trust.  We also know that Tom is also becoming aware of what is going on. This leaves Diane as the only one who is out of the loop in the family.  I haven't decided how I feel about that yet, particularly because she is being used by Ian.

With Arthur awake maybe this story will finally go somewhere. We need to know where and what the Realm is.  We need to know more about Frost's organisation and why they seem to think that Arthur is evil. To me, there doesn't seem to be much difference between Frost and Arthur because they have both used people to their own ends, so I need to be given a reason to root for a particular side.