The 100, Season Five, Episode Nine: Sic Semper Tyrannis

My biggest problem with this season has been that it feels very much like we are treading over ground that we've already walked. All the writers seem to have done is change the perspective slightly, as though to trick the audience into believing that they've breathed new life into what is now clearly a series which is past it best by date.  I do have to admit that though Sic Semper Tyrannis, didn't really add anything new per say, it's easily the best episode of the season so far and the only one to really capture my attention from start to finish. 

The lines quickly became divided between the people of the prison ship, the remaining members of Skaikru and of course Wonkru, which if you think about it is ridiculous given how little habitable land is available for humans to occupy.  I suppose one could argue that it is human nature to fight over difference and to make enemies of those who we consider to be outsiders but The 100 has been banging this same drum for the entirety of its existence. 

Rather than focusing on the battle to control the land, Sic, Semper Tyrannis focuses on the inner turmoil between the groups.  On one hand, we have Charmaine and McCreary vying for control and on the other, we have the attempted coup on Bloodreina which leads to a schism between Octavia and Indra as well as Clarke and Bellamy. This really is an episode about loyalties and who the characters value when the chips are down. I think that for the first time, all of the characters are forced to admit that the passage of time has changed a lot of things.

From day one, Murphy has always been conniving and it's easy to see how in the calm of space, this feature may not have worked to his best advantage; however, in the turmoil of an impending war, Murphy reminds us all how interesting and brilliant he can be. Murphy, Echo, Raven and Emori come to the determination that the best path towards escape is to play Charmaine off against McCreary and so Murphy sets the ball in motion by informing McCreary that Abby has found the cure and that Charmaine is only healing her people.  Echo, is the one who informs Charmaine that McCreary knows about the cure and in turn, Charmaine readies her people for an all out battle.  Clearly, after all of their years in space, the foursome are a family but what's perhaps most surprising is the leadership role that Echo seems to have fallen into.  Emori, Raven and Murphy don't follow her without question, especially when it comes to the issue of whether or not to kill Shaw or escape with him but it's clear that Echo has some authority.

I have wondered since the ship first landed about about the origin of the enmity between Charmaine and McCreary comes from. This week the writers threw in a twist by revealing that McCreary is the father of Charmaine's unborn child. I suppose there's a thin line between love and hate but I would still like a little bit more of their backstory to find out what happened between these two because it's clear, it must have been good once. 

After a well timed thrown rock by Murphy, shit jumps off and it's up to Raven and Emori to take off everyone's shock collars.  Shaw is on side after having been convinced by Raven to escape with them. Charmaine tries to head off McCreary's men before they can get to Abby but unfortunately, though Charmaine puts up a good fight, Abby is captured.  With no ability to get Abby back, Charmaine, Raven, Echo, Murphy, Kane and Shaw decide to withdraw for now.  Luckily I suppose for Abby, she seems to have created a bond with Vinson which it seems may bear fruit later.  Plotting together, Murphy and Echo may have been able to secure their freedom but now that Paxton is in charge, he makes it clear that he will not honour Charmaine's deal to share the Valley.

When we last left Wonkru, Bellamy had fed his sister the contaminated algae which put her into a coma. The plan was to initially have Indra step into Octavia's place and convince everyone to push for peace, rather than following through with Octavia's plan to attack. Unfortunately, what no one counted on was Miller stepping up, declaring himself loyal to Bloodreina and encouraging everyone to follow through on Octavia's plan.  Even worse, others want to divide into clans once again to decide who can lead.  It's clear that without Octavia holding it all together, true chaos is not far away.

Westworld, Season Two, Episode Ten: Passenger

Last season, Westworld played with Delores's memories to explore the difference between William and MIB and this season, it's Bernard's turn, thus setting up a conflict between hosts who have two opposing views as to how to deal with the harm that humanity poses to their kind. Throughout season two, we've watched as Delores sought to burn down everything in her path while Bernard seemed to be dealing with the moral implications of the world that he found himself in once he finally came to consciousness. It's clear that going forward, now that Delores and Bernard are finally out and in the real world that the conflict will centre on them. 

I really thought that Westworld was setting us up to have an epic character slaughter Red Wedding style but it seems to me that the writers simply aren't willing to just let people die and have created a backdoor through which people can be brought back. It's a cheap trick that takes away the tension from the story. What's the point of being invested or even worrying for a character if they can be brought back by simple slight of hand? Sure, this tactic could be used in the first season because as we know, the hosts have all died innumerable times but the destruction of the cradle was supposed to mean that death was finally a real world event.  Even Teddy, who died in the penultimate episode after realising that he couldn't be the partner that Delores needed made an appearance in the Sublime. 

What is the Sublime you ask? Well, it's robot heaven. I actually don't have a problem with the existence of the Sublime given that most cultures on earth have some sort of myth regarding the after life as a place of peace and tranquility that we go to when we leave our mortal bodies behind. In the case of Westworld, it was made quite literal because we watched the empty bodies fall over the cliff -- devoid of life-- as the hosts crossed over. What II di find confusing is the fact that this event was witnessed by many people who worked for Delos but there was all that head scratching as to why the Hosts, who were discovered in the Valley, had all seemingly been erased.

Delos sought to map the human brain which was described as "the last analog item in a digital world" and to do so, the company recorded the interactions the guests had with the hosts, with the hosts acting as the control. It's all as horrible as it sounds. When we finally see inside what we learn is that the computers have determined that humans don't actually have free will and basically muddle through the world following whatever moral code has been set up for them. Each human has a defining moment and it's a moment we are cursed to re-live in a perpetual loop. I really see this as a simplistic understanding of human psychology that absolves people of wrong doing and harm that they inflict. James Delos, like William, both have defining moments about their children. For James, it's turning his back on Logan in his son's moment of need and for William, it's murdering his own child.

The 100, Season Five, Episode Seven: Acceptable Losses

I think it's fair to say that The 100, seems to really only have one model of storytelling.  They put the characters into a situation of few resources and then they fight over them until Clarke, leading Skaikru, makes the hard decision and wins the day.  This season, with the prison ship landing on earth after Primefiyah, we once again have the cast of characters fighting over scarce resources, with Charmaine's crew actually serving as the invading force.  This hook may have been okay for the first four season but at this point, it's wearing rather thin. 

The most interesting character this season in not in fact Clarke the suddenly maternal, Octavia the ruthless dictator or even Charmaine, the leader of murderers and rapists but Abby, the drug addicted doctor who seems way over her head.  In the bunker, an addiction like Abby's was clearly a liability because every resource is precious.  Just as on the ARC, doctor's were allowed to only use a specified amount of medicine to treat a patient, and that approach most certainly applied to the bunker. We know that Abby became an addict to deal with the after effects of the tech in her brain.  We also know that fighting an addiction is not easy and that many fail. Abby is now in an impossible position.  Kane sees Abby's continued drug use as a betrayal of their second chance. Kane was after all willing to die in the ring to protect Abby and now she is continuing the same behaviour that put them in jeopardy. 

From Abby's perspective, she's in over her head trying to cure whatever is killing off Charmaine's crew. Charmaine really doesn't care how many pills Abby takes, as long as Abby doesn't overdose and die before she comes up with a solution.  All Charmaine wants is for Abby to be functional. Abby knows that detoxing would set back her work and may be something she wouldn't necessarily survive. Abby is also aware that she and Kane are in a precarious position and her safety, as well as Kane's, is absolutely dependent upon her ability to deliver results. At the end of the day, for Abby, it comes down to being functional, or keeping Kane happy and right now, functional is what counts. I think that it's an fascinating take on addiction and the first interesting thing that The 100 has done for quite some time. 

Kane has gone from a brutal leader aboard the Arc, to someone who is far more thoughtful and some cases sanctimonious. Yes, he is absolutely right that Octavia needs to be over thrown given what we have seen of her leadership, he seems to be right.  It's worth noting however that Kane probably only understands how bad Octavia is because of what he himself is guilty of. I loved that Charmaine called him out on his hypocrisy and reminded Kane that he was part of the leadership that decided to send so-called teenage delinquents to earth even before they knew whether or not earth was survivable. Kane really has no business lecturing anyone about morality or leadership.  I really have started to enjoy Kane and Charmaine sparring because she keeps it 100 all of the time. 

Speaking of Charmaine, people have started to speculate about whether or not she's actually sick because unlike everyone else, she hasn't paid a visit to Abby for a checkup.  Given that at least 75% of Charmaine's people are infected, it's not exactly a leap to make.  It turns out that the reason that Charmaine hasn't been examined is because she is with child.  In normal circumstances, this might complicate events but given that Octavia is absolutely ruthless, pregnant or not, we know that she won't hesitate to kill Charmaine if given a chance. This little patch of land holds the hope for the rebirth of humanity, just as Charmaine's pregnancy stands for the continuation of the human race that is if humanity doesn't mess it up. 

Last season, I was pretty sick of Jasper and his manpain. He quickly became my least favourite character, especially because Monty in particular was so invested in saving him.  It seems that time and distance has made Jasper far more appealing. Right after primefiyah, Clarke found Jasper's suicide note and now that she finally has the time, she's given it to Monty.  Jasper was right when he talked about the cycle of violence and war. In many ways, his commentary reflects my boredom with The 100 this season.  Instead of building a future or finding a way for humanity to thrive, it's just been a series of wars and horrible deeds. Jasper wrote that  humanity didn't deserve to exist and maybe, given what has become of the characters on The 100, he has a point. 

Westworld, Season Two, Episode Nine: Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point is the penultimate episode of this season and the characters are getting into place for what is clearly an epic showdown but first, we get to take a look at William's life away from the park. When we first met William in season one, it was before he became the MIB. He saw himself as a good person and so chose the white hat as a marker of identity and purpose but over the years, the freedom to be as cruel as he could possibly be morphed William from the moral optimist we first met into a very dark man who is haunted with the swathe of pain he has cut through this world.

When we last left William, Emily had arrived and secured his freedom from the tribe by promising to punish her father for his misdeeds. Now that the two are alone together, it's time to talk. Emily has called for an evacuation team certain that her father needs help because he can no longer separate himself from the game. William talks about the darkness within him that he tried to hide to protect his family. William blames the growing dark spot on his soul on Westworld. Emily claims that she wants in on the Delos project and William believes that her desire stems from wanting to bring her mother back but as it turns out, Emily wants to know why her mother killed herself. Emily admits that for awhile she blamed herself and talks about the music box that she was given by Juliet, which she threw in the garbage.

In flashback, we see William being honoured for his philanthropy. Just as Ford accused him of in an earlier episode, doing one good act in the hope to erase a myriad of bad acts. Juliet plays the role of dutiful wife supporting her husband, even as she loses herself in drink from the horror that is her husband. William meets up with Ford, who sarcastically claims that he's there to show his respect for William. William warns Ford not to mess with the Valley and that he will stay out of his stories, causing Ford to give him a gold card which contains his Westworld profile, in the process revealing that he knows exactly what Delos is up to.  This is exactly the kind of self reflection that William is not interested in doing. William makes his exit when a drunk Juliet ends up breaking some wine glasses. It's clear that it's time to get her home.

William and his wife and daughter return home and the conversation quickly becomes about re-institutionalising Juilet.  At this point in their relationship, Emily is firmly on her father's side. Because Juliet is so upset, William takes his wife upstairs and puts her to bed. Juliet is sober enough to make a request, "tell me one true thing," she says, before seemingly drifting off to sleep. This is the first time we hear William admit to his cruelty and his knowledge of the cost of it.

"I built a wall and I tried to protect you in it and Emily. But you saw right through it didn't you? ...For that I am truly sorry because everything you feel is true. I don't belong to you or this world. I belong to another world. I always have."

On his way out, William slips the card that Ford gave him into a book. Downstairs, William sits with Emily to discuss what to do about Juliet's alcoholism.  Emily wants to involuntarily commit her mother. Unbeknownst to the father and daughter, Juliet has gotten out of bed and viewed William's Westworld profile and for the first time sees that man she married without any kind of filter; the wall William built is officially down. Juliet not only sees all of the violence she learns that William is delusion, extraordinarily violent and paranoid.  It's an extremely toxic mix. Juliet tucks the card away into the music box that she retrieved from the garbage before drawing a bath and taking a bottle full of pills.  William and Emily are alerted to the trouble when water starts to drip from the chandelier.  By the time William races upstairs, Emily is already dead and turning blue.

The 100, Season Five, Episode Six: Exit Wounds

At the end of season four, everyone had been split up in order to survive primefiyah. Now that everyone is back together again, or at least all on earth and above ground, the fissures created by a six year divide are no longer deniable.  Even Bellamy is forced to admit that Octavia is no longer his sister.  Yes, the Blake siblings have had their issues over the years but with Octavia becoming so powerful, even Bellamy is not safe from her wrath, nor does he seem to have much influence over her any longer.  There was a time when you couldn't slide a piece of paper between these two but that time is long gone.  Octavia has undeniably become a ruthless dictator under the guise of keeping her people together and safe. 

For much of The 100, Clarke has acted on behalf of Skaikru, making the hard decisions in order to save as many lives as possible.  Skaikru is long gone now and all that she has left is Madi.  Madi as we have come to see in the passing years has become family to Clarke and her top priority.  For her part, Madi has completely lost herself in all of the stories that Clarke had told her about her people and is so naive, that she doesn't really understand that these stories no longer reflect who these people are today.  Octavia is so much more than the girl under the floor, she's someone to be feared now. It all comes to a head when Niylah discovers that Maddie is a nightblood.  Niylah and Clarke may have history but Octavia has made it clear in the intervening years that one is either Wonkru or Nokru.  Niylah's allegiances lie with Octavia and she promises that if Clarke comes clean that Octavia will show mercy.  After witnessing Octavia's brutality first hand, mercy is not something Clarke trusts as something Octavia is capable of anymore.

It becomes clear just how closely Maddie has been listening to Clarke when she decides that rather than fleeing and returning to the Valley for the sake of her safety, she reveals her true identity to Octavia. Maddie is clearly way out of her element and is acting with hopeful naïveté. Maddie confesses because she knows it's not safe for Clarke in the valley. This is actually something that Clarke would have done on behalf of Skaikru in the past.  For her part, Octavia identifies with Maddie because she too was forced to hide and so she makes her part of Wonkru.  At this point, I can see how Octavia identifies the similarities between herself and Maddie but I don't know that it will be strong enough to save Maddie from the actual threat that she represents to Octavia's rule. Sure people are loyal but many are only loyal because of fear and lack of options, not because they believe in Octavia. 

Bellamy does his best to argue for Echo's safety but Octavia is having none of it. Octavia orders Echo banished but does agree that if Echo turns in people who are unloyal that she will be allowed to stay. Sure enough, as Echo begins to pack her bags, members of Wonkru show up and ask to travel with her. They are sick of Octavia's heavy handed leadership and would rather take their risks with the outside world than live another day with Wonkru.  Proving how much Echo has changed, she refuses to turn these people over to Octavia to save her own life and instead offers to infiltrate the Valley as a defector and shut down their eye in the sky.  Octavia agrees to this plan but warns Echo that if she gets caught that no one is coming to save her. 

Echo leads a few defectors away from Wonkru, taking Diyoza's offer to take in any of Wonkru who choose to come and live in the Valley.  For Diyoza's part, it makes sense to take in people because they are going to need farmers and tech people in order to make a life in the Valley workable. Echo makes her bid for freedom but Octavia does not keep up her end of the bargain and has Miller shoot at the members of Wonkru who are trying to escape, much to Bellamy and Clarke's horror.  Echo helps a young woman along and when she gets shot, she slips the chip she needs to take down the eye in the sky in the wound. Bellamy is shocked that Octavia would go as far as to kill her own people but it seems that by leaving -- as far as Octavia is concerned -- they were no longer a part of Wonkru. Octavia also tries to justify her actions by saying that this makes Echo's escape more plausible because Diyoza would never have believed that she would have just let people go. At this point, it's clear that Octavia is just used to explaining away the evil that she does in the name of Wonkru.

Westworld, Season Two, Episode Eight: Kiksuya

I have to say that Kiksuya, is actually one of the most beautiful and poignant episodes of Westworld ever. For much of the series, Akecheta has been a background character at best. We've seen him through flashback apparently terrorize Maeve and her daughter, as well used as be utilized as a tool to get Logan to encourage his father to invest in the park itself. This week, Akecheta moves from a silent background character to one with a deeply compelling story of moving from being a simple robot to a sentient being trying to understand his world and to deal with the loss of his family and the woman that he loves. 

When we last left William, he was laying on the ground injured from his interaction with Maeve. William is crawling in the dirt towards the lake, determined not to die in the dirt. Akcheta tries to communicate with him in Lakota, but of course, William never bothered to learn the language. Akcheta switches to English and makes it clear that he remembers him.  William is the brought to the village by Akecheta.  William is naturally curious to know why he isn't being killed out right and is informed that death is too good for him. I have to say that after watching the numerous horrors he has inflicted upon the hosts, I wholeheartedly agree. 

Maeve's daughter watches the exchange between Akecheta and William and is clearly terrified. Akecheta approaches her cautiously, worried that she is afraid of him but as it turns out, Maeve's daughter has retained enough of her memories to realise that the one to fear is actually William and not in fact Akecheta.  Akecheta tells her that she has nothing to fear from William now and that he will protect her as he always has. In a flashback, we see Maeve's daughter hand Maeve a bloody rock with the maze painted on it, claiming that it's a warning from Ghost. 

The flashback changes and this time, it looks back into Akecheta's life in the park before it opened. Akecheta led a peaceful life surrounded by those he viewed as family along with his wife Kohana. This life however was not to be and came to an end the day he discovered the first massacre at the park - the massacre where Delores not only killed a lot of hosts but Arnold.  It seems that this was Arnold's failed attempt to ensure that the park didn't open. This is where Akecheta sees the maze for the first time and it makes an indelible mark upon him. Akecheta doesn't even have a chance to process exactly what has changed before he is brought in for reprogramming and the life he  knows is ripped from him. Akecheta goes from being a peaceful man, moving through the world and loving his family to a man who rampages and murders i.e. everyone except what he calls newcomers (read: humans) 

Akecheta lives out the cycle that he is reprogrammed to perform but his mind remains somewhat troubled.  It is a chance meeting with Logan that sets him on a path to find a way out of the park.  Logan, as we know, had been banished by William and Akecheta find him,  sitting naked and babbling to himself about wanting to find the door and the real world.  Akecheta pauses long enough to give Logan a blanket to cover his nakedness, promising that his kind would find him soon; however, Logan's words become the key to Akecheta's quest. Now Akecheta knows that the life he is leading isn't right and that there's a way to escape. It is then he remembers his wife Kohana. 

Back in headquarters, having delivered Maeve to the lab, Lee is desperate for her to survive. Unfortunately, the tech's only real concern is to get as many control units as possible from the huge pile of dead hosts which are a result of the awakening and high rate of violence. Lee is forced to argue that Maeve is different and can control the hosts with her thoughts, before beging the tech to look at Maeve's scans. This is enough for the tech to start working on Maeve and it's a gruesome sight given that we know from Bernard's visit to the cradle that hosts do indeed feel pain. 

Now determined to find a way out of Westworld, Akecheta heads to the valley beyond. The valley as it turns out is a huge canyon dug into the earth.  There seems to be a sort of elevator built in. Akecheta interprets what he sees as a path to escape but he decides not to leave until he can reunite with Kohana, even though she no longer remembers him. Akecheta returns to Kohana's village and he kidnaps her in middle of the night.  They ride the horse together and Akecheta pauses long enough to wash off the makeup - clearly a visual signal that he is putting aside the life foisted upon him by the rewrite. For the first time since massacre, Akecheta is himself again. With his makeup gone, it's time to approach Kohana again and let her know that she doesn't need to be afraid. Akecheta moves slowly and cuts the ropes holding her hands and she backs away in fear.  Slowly, Akecheta approaches and this time, he places her hand over his heart and says, "take my heart when you." This is the phrase that the lovers would say when they separate. It takes a moment but Kohana responds, "Take mine in its place."  This time, when Kohana looks into Akecheta's eyes, she knows him as her husband. 

Now that the lovers know each other for who they are, it's time to head towards the door, which unfortunately is buried under the canyon. Akecheta promises Kohana that they are going someplace their memories will be safe. Unfortunately, the techs catch up to Kohana while Akecheta is off gathering food.  Akecheta watches in horror as Kohana is loaded into a truck and taken away, as the techs wonder how she managed to get so far away from where she is supposed to be. Akecheta returns to Kohana's tribe believing that this is where the techs would have taken her, only to find a stranger in her place. Just like Maeve's daughter was given a new mother, Akecheta now finds a pale substitute in place of his love. 

Having struck out at the tribe, Akecheta wanders across Westworld looking for Kohana, hyper aware of his own vulnerability as he passes through places with extremely hostile hosts and humans. He is desperate to remain alive, fearing that death will mean that he will be erased and once again forget about the life he had with the woman he loved.  After clearly barely surviving another attack, he runs into Maeve's daughter, who greets him with kindness and water. Akecheta believes that this is the first time that he has been seen for who he really is. 

Having failed to find Kohana on his long journey, Akecheta decides to return to her village and this time he meets a woman whose son has been replaced.  Akecheta learns that the people have begun to speak about the place down below.  Akecheta finally realises that Kohana will not be found in Westworld and the only way to see her again is to die. This is similar to the revelation Maeve had about dying and increasing her power and awareness. Akecheta allows himself to be killed by a guest and ends up in the lab for the first time in ten years.

Sense8, Season two, Episode Twelve: Amor Vincit Omnia

Friday morning, Netflix released the series finale of the beloved Sense8 thanks in large part to the fans who petitioned for the story to at least be wrapped up if the streaming giant was intent on cancelling what has become a serious fan favorite. You Want A War, had left us with a huge cliffhanger with our favourite cluster finally managing to kidnap the dreaded Whispers, as well as believed turncoat Jonas Maliki.  It would have been horrible to see Sense8 end in this fashion.  Unfortunately, because the Wachowskis were only given 151 minutes to wrap up this excellent tale, it all felt incredibly rushed. 

We've been used to each sensate getting some screen time to explore their stories and various motivations but there didn't seem to be time to do that in this episode.  Essentially we had the love triangle of Wolfie, Rajan and Kala, as well as Sun getting together with Detective Mun at last and everyone else seemed to be in a holding pattern of sorts. When we last left Capheus for instance, he was running for government but with all of his time in Europe, driving when the sensates needed skill behind the wheel, that story was essentially dropped. I don't even think Capheus had one coherent sentence in the entire finally. Even Lito and Hernando, arguably the most compelling couple outside of Amanita and Nomi didn't really feature much.  Sure, it's always going to be fun to see Lito freak out about carbs in the house and essentially driving his housemates a little nuts with his eccentricities; however, it really felt like the writers just didn't know what to do with him. 

The only sensate to receive any in-depth treatment was Wolfie but even that felt like treading over ground we've already walked.  We knew that Wolfie's childhood was horrific and how could we doubt his hatred for his father after watching him piss on his father's grave in season one? The biggest revelation of Wolfie's past is that a child he loved to sing and that his mother was also his sister. Woflie had to watch time and time again as his mother returned to his abusive father, powerless to make the vicious cycle stop until he took it upon himself to commit patricide. Wolfie quite simply did not feel worthy of love but again, that is something which we pretty much knew before the more graphic account of his childhood. 

Of all the characters featured in this episode, Rajan by far caused the break. Yes, Rajan loves Kala more than anything but are we to believe that he's just going to instantly buy into her identity as a sensate and then willing accept that she's been having an affair of sorts with Wolfie for some time now without even batting an eye?  Every damn time Rajan appeared on screen I just wanted him to go the hell away.  The only benefit to having Rajan in the series finale is that it allowed Sense8 to play with a polyamourous realtionship. Kala didn't have to choose between either of the two men who loved her. Kala could hold Rajan in her arms and then visit with Wolfie to embrace him. The one who understood that the best was surprisingly the comic relief Bug. Everyone else wanted Kala to choose but Bug made a point of asking why she should have to. It's all well and good that Kala didn't choose between her to suitors but it served as a disservice to polyamoury that there wasn't an open discussion about what was going on. These sorts of relationships take a lot of negotiation. Yeah, I know 151 minutes only allows for so much. 

Daniela almost redeemed herself in my eyes. For much of Sense8, Daniela has been a disturbing fetishist. Largely because Lito and Hernando had such small roles, Daniela didn't really have much of a chance to get uber irritating.  Daniela was also given a powerful moment when she was given the opportunity to confront Whispers about what kind of man he is and her lack of fear in his presence having been through so much already.  It was  Daniela who had emerged from a storm different but unbroken and it was easily the most powerful moment a female character had in this season finale. Unfortunately, once things settled down, Daniela was back to her old ways in between Lito and Heranado as they were attempting to kiss. 

Westworld, Season Two, Episode Seven: Les Écorchés

If you've ever had any doubt that Bernard is there to represent the audience, this episode should lay that to rest. Bernard is discovering what has happened just as we are and almost everything we see is from his perspective.  We are Bernard and Bernard is us. At times, Westworld is difficult to follow because it's constantly shifting through timelines dropping little clues with one hand and moving away from them with the other.  More than any other episode to date, Les Écorchés has been the most transparent and the most revealing. 

We begin with Bernard sleeping on a couch with a picture of Arnold's son cradled in his hand. Ashley has determined that Delos is not interested in saving any survivors and that the two of them must get to a satellite phone to call for help. They don't get very far before they are confronted by Charlotte Hale and marched to the location of where Theresa Cullen was killed. Ashley is quickly deemed the most likely suspect for killing Theresa but as we already know, Ashley is not the guilty party. It was Bernard who killed Theresa on Ford's command. It isn't until a gun is put to Ashley's head that Bernard decides to speak up.  To make matters worse, Hale's attention is drawn to a door and when everyone walks through it they find several hosts who look like Bernard. So yeah, the literal skeletons in the closet is a bit too on the nose but now everyone is in the know about exactly who and what Bernard is. Now that the secret is out however, Hale has a new lead on where to find the info that was hidden inside of Abernathy. 

In the past, Bernard is still inside the cradle and it's finally time to have a long awaited conversation with Ford. Bernard remembers uploading Ford, who explains that he lives inside the cradle now and would only degrade if placed into a host.  We learn that the mission of the park was never perfecting the tech but in breaking down, recreating and understanding the human brain, which Ford calls the last analog item in a digital world. Ford believes that in the host he has created something new and innocent and has no intention of allowing humanity to corrupt it with its violence and evil. Bernard is absolutely astounded with the revelation. Ford believes that Bernard does not have the stamina to do what needs to be done to survive and so he decides to take away Bernard's free will.  Outside of the cradle, Delores has begun her assault on the headquarters and Elise is anxious for Bernard to get out of the machine so that they can escape.

The security force sent to deal with the hosts are absolutely overly confident and it isn't until they find the remains of the previous team that they discover how much trouble they are in. The security force doesn't have time to register the danger before they are shot dead by hosts who have dressed up as the security force.  Delores has two aims inside of headquarters: find Abernathy to get the information out of his head and to destroy their backups which she believes will lead to true freedom for the hosts. Delores comes face to with Charlotte Hale at last and it's almost everything I hoped it would be. Delores is enraged with what has been done to Abernathy and for her part, Charlotte is absolutely dismissive of Delores's ability to use the information stored inside of Abernathy. Charlotte really hasn't quite dialed into exactly what she is dealing with because she's so results driven. It's only when Delores places her up against a wall and threatens to give her just a measure of what she's been forced to go through that things suddenly start to feel real for Hale. Fortunately for Hale, with the help of a gun going off somewhere in HQ and Ashley who creates a distraction, both she and Ashley are able to escape. Delores may be thwarted for now but at least she finally has access to Abernathy. The two share a very emotional goodbye, even though Delores is well aware that it has been written into her programming to care for Abernathy before she takes what she needs from him.

Elsewhere in Westworld, Maeve has taken refuge in an abandoned building to hide with her daughter when who should show up but William and of course Lawrence.  The arrival of William instantly triggers Maeve because she like Delores has been the subject of Williams cruelty for decades.  When William enters the building, Maeve instantly demands that he leave but he doesn't take her demand seriously because he knows that Ford has been driving his current experience in the park. It's only when Maeve takes out her gun and shoots William in the shoulder that he realises that he needs to take her seriously as a threat. William races outside to try and find cover and after pausing to promise her daughter that she will come back for her, Maeve follows William outside. Once outside, Maeve uses her powers to cause the hosts to turn on William much to his surprise.  Maeve is playing for keeps and still William doesn't quite understand that this isn't Fords doing because he continually pleads with Ford, claiming that this isn't how Ford wants him to die. Delores advances but is forced to stop when Lawrence arrives and points a gun at her head, demanding that she stop attacking William. Maeve tries to use her mind power on Lawrence but it doesn't work. I just knew that the writers wouldn't be consistent with Maeve's abilities and I'm already frustrated by it. Maeve then tells Lawrence that he should think back about his past interactions, positive that anything involving William and a host would not be good for the host.  As Lawrence picks through his memories, he remembers William killing his wife. William tries to insist that he saved Lawrence's wife but as we know, that's the first time he ever did anything kind for Lawrence. It's a reminder of Ford's warning to William that one good act could not erase the harm that he's done. Now in full possession of his memories, Lawrence no longer sees William as a hero and turns the gun on him, only to be shot by the rescue forces that Lee called for.  Maeve is shot as well and before she can be permanently killed, Lee intervenes saying that Maeve isn't like the rest. As Maeve is taken to a vehicle, she watches as her daughter leaves the security of her hiding place only to be scooped up by Akecheta and the Ghost Nation warriors. Maeve screams out but its to no avail, she's powerless to help her daughter.

It's left to Angela to destroy the cradle and this seems a rather fitting choice given that she's the one who introduces William to hosts, as well as welcomes people to Westworld in the first place. Angela is who she is to the end, seducing a soldier, even though she is injured, encouraging him to drop his guard so that she can get close to him. Look, I know that Delos probably didn't spend a lot of money on their hired security force given that they probably didn't see this coming but what kind of security just lowers his gun and lets a threat close to him because of a hard on?

Westworld, Season Two, Episode Six: Phase Space

This episode is really about the choices that the hosts and the guests make and the consequences and rewards that result. In Sho Gun word, a heartbroken Akane cuts out the heart of her daughter. It's graphic and painful.  Hosts die all of the time on Westworld but because the game is always moving and there's a limitation in the programming, there's never time allotted to grieve. Maeve and crew return to Akane's brothel where Musashi, having created a distraction in the previous week is now waiting for them as a captive.  Maeve is determined to get the hell out of dodge with Akane but of course what's left of the Shogun's men won't let them leave. Rather than Maeve using her secret power, Musashi duels the leader of the Shogun's men and emerges victorious, freeing them all to leave for good. For the first time, there are no humans with enough power to limit where the Hosts go. The group travels through Westworld until they reach a hidden entrance to the back of the house so to speak. Akane pauses to burn her daughter's heart and she and Musashi decide to end the journey with the others right there. For Musashi, there is no freedom if he cannot defend his own home and therefore he sees no sense in running and attempting to create a new world.

William meets up with his daughter and because Hosts can be so lifelike, he believes that she isn't real, even after she kills a Host who almost shot him.  They finally sit for the night and William listens as his daughter reveals that her mother never believed that this place couldn't actually hurt someone and as we can see from the park's current state, it would seem that William's former wife was absolutely right. Firmly believing that Emily is a Host, Williams asks her a series of questions designed to ferret out her identity, which Emily easily passes. Emily apologises to William for blaming her mother's death on him and makes it clear that she wants him to return home with her. Though Emily is willing to forgive her father this much, it's clear from the fact that she was visiting pleasure palaces at the age of 12, he was at best an absentee father. Williams eyes seem to fill with tears though none fall as he realises that this is a chance for a fresh start and so promises to leave with his daughter in the morning, rather than going out in "blaze of bullshit glory". Of course, when Emily awakens, not only is William gone but he has taken her horse so that she cannot easily follow him. It seems once again, William has chosen to get lost in the park and avoid reality, even if it means hurting someone who loves him.

Dolores hasn't been interesting to me as a character for much of this season. Her burn it all down attitude leaves very little room for nuance. Westworld actually opened this week with something we have become familiar with - a conversation between Dolores and Arnold. It's only when Arnold doesn't repeat the conversation verbatim that the action stops. It turns out that Dolores was not engaging with Arnold but with a host built to look like Arnold/Bernard and was actually testing for fidelity, a concept we became familiar with when William tried to bring back his long dead father in-law. Because timelines are constantly shifting on Westworld, we don't know if Dolores actually helped Ford build Bernard, or if she built herself her own Bernard. If it is the later, it means that Dolores just might get a little more interesting because there will finally be something about her plot line more interesting than setting the world on fire.

Last week, Dolores made some alterations to the words kindest cowboy Teddy, which means that he is hyper confidant and generally speaking lacking empathy for others. The first indication that Teddy has changed occurs when he kills a man in cold blood simply because he is irritated with him. While this is what Dolores wanted, it's clear that she misses the host that she used to know and for his part, Teddy has no interest in discussing his former vulnerable self. Teddy sees his former self as someone who was born to fail and he is quite right in that assessment. This new Teddy may very well challenge Dolores for leadership of the hosts based on his ease in telling Dolores to forget about his former self. Teddy even goes as far as to snark about his new desire to leave the park, making it clear that this is Dolores's work. The only time Teddy does show a little mercy is when he leaves the human tech a gun and a single bullet, when the hosts decide to unhook part of the train on their journey inside the mountain. Things are about to get real.

West World, Season Two, Episode Four: The Riddle of the Sphinx

Though we get to see some of Bernard and surprise surprise, Elsie, this episode is really all about William and how complex the man in black really is.  As you recall, when William first came to the park, he got caught up in the narrative and fell in love with Delores.  Of course, we know that this same wide eyed William, later became the man in black.  That's a huge leap and so I suppose that West World has decided that it's time to fill in some of the blanks. We know that while Logan is the one who was originally approached by Ford and Bernard to invest in West World, it was William who took the ball and ran with it, dangling a carrot in front of his disinterested father in-law to seal the deal.  

James Delos was sick and dying of a disease ironically enough he suspended funding for fifteen years ago.  It turns out that even though West World gathered DNA and information on its guests, what Delos really wanted was a chance at immortality.  If James's mind could be uploaded into a host body he could effectively live forever. This is the carrot.  We watch as James begins in his day in a spartan abode which does not seem congruent with the wealth we know he posses.  James rises, works out and pours himself a coffee with shaking hands.  James even masturbates.  It's only when William arrives that we learn that who we have been watching isn't actually James but a James host.  James has been dead for seven months now and William is there to access how well the transfer went. At this point, William is still quite sympathetic towards his deceased father in-law, wanting to fulfill the promise he made to keep the man alive in a host form, only to discover that once again the transfer didn't work. 

Over the years we watch as William ages but yet continues to show up dutifully to check the fidelity of his father in-law, only to be forced time and time again to order the host destroyed and the process to begin anew.  By the time William is old enough to be the man in black, whatever sympathy he seems to have for the now long dead James has evaporated. By this point, they've tried to reboot James 149 times and each time it proved a failure. William is concerned that the issue is that James's mind refuses to accept the reality of his death and the passage of time.  This time, William absolutely relishes telling James that not only is his wife long dead and buried but that his daughter committed suicide and that Logan died of an overdose.  Rather than accepting any of the responsibility for what happened to the Delos family, William is happy to lay the blame at James feet, declaring James a terrible person who destroyed everything he touched.  William's cruelty is so deep that this time, he doesn't destroy the James Host but leaves it to deteriorate as it deals not only with it's own personal death but the death of all its family members. 

James's host version may not have worked out but that doesn't mean that transferring a mind to a host hasn't been perfected. I firmly believe that this is the code that Delos is trying to sneak out of the park. If this truly worked, many would pay unimaginable sums to secure immortality. It leaves me wondering if William's biggest mistake is a William host?  At this point, I still don't believe that Ford is actually dead and now seeing the James experiment, it's highly likely that Ford lives on in the body of a host and is controlling William's game.

The 100, Season Five, Episode One: Eden

When last we left The 100, Clarke made it possible for Monty, Bellamy, Raven, Eko, Murphy and Emori to hide out from primefiya in space, while the rest of the grounders and skaikru hid in a bunker. Thanks to being a nightblood, Clarke was able to not only survive the initial blast but the radiation as well.  Despite all of the drama, did anyone actually believe that Clarke wouldn't make it?

Clarke climbs out of the rumble like the survivor that she is and heads straight to Polis to try and get in touch with the people in the bunker, only to get no response to her efforts to connect.  Clarke tries desperately to dig them out only to have the rubble of what is left nearly collapse on her.  Clarke's next stop is at Skaikru, where she finds remnants of the friends she once had.  Clarke finds a letter from Jasper to Monty, as well as his googles and Maya's ipod.  It's all almost too much for Clarke to handle. Clarke has always lived her life in survival mode but she's always had people to protect, peoplewho needed her and for the first time, she is truly alone. With nothing left to wait around for, Clarke hops into a rover in search of food and water. 

A sandstorm takes the rover out of commission but a defiant Clarke snarks at her barren world for trying to kill her.  Clarke walks into the desert and when she reaches the end of her endurance collapses, only to wake up to find that she has been mistaken for carrion by a buzzard. Clarke is quick to shoo the bird away but then realises that if there is healthy bird close by that there must be water and vegetation.  Clarke quickly rises to her feet and attempts to follow the bird, only to reach the top of a hill and see only more wasteland before tumbling down to the bottom of the hill.  This is enough for Clarke to decide that her fight is over and she puts a gun to her head. Given that Clarke has plot armour, this scene didn't play very well, particularly because another bird conveniently flies by and renews Clarke's hope. When Clarke follows this bird, it leads her to an area which seems relatively unscathed by the primefiyah. Clarke promptly kills the bird and has a meal.  At long last, Clarke has found peace on the land that once belonged to the Shadow Valley Clan.

Finding the valley is fortunate for Clarke because she has everything she needs to survive but it still means that she is alone because while many animals survived, the radiation was enough to kill off the clan. It's Clarke who must burn the bodies of the dead to make her new home habitable. This causes Clarke to be reflective about the life she has led up to this point and what it means now that she has no one left to fight for. Sure, there are people in the bunker and people in space but they are as disconnected as could possibly be from her. Clarke is alone.

Clarke might have spent her days in quiet self reflection if Madi hadn't found her. At first, Madi keeps her distance, not trusting Clarke in the least until she discovers that Clarke is not only a nightblood but also the flame keeper.  Clarke keeps her distance, after getting her foot caught in a bear trap and allows Madi to come to her.  Six years pass and when we see Madi and Clarke again, it's clear that they have developed a mother/daughter relationship.  Madi has filled the void of Clarke's loneliness and in return, Clarke draws pictures of her people and tells Madi all about them.

It's been six years since Bellamy and the crew left earth and they are no closer to being able to return. Six years is long enough for Bellamy to forgive Eko for trying to kill Octavia and develop a romance with her and for Murphy and Emori to end their attachment.   Murphy being Murphy, has isolated himself on one half of the ship and complains about the rules he now has to live under. I guess now that there's no reason for Murphy to play hero, he's back to being the Murphy we have come to know. Everyone is frustrated to still be stuck in space, particularly because they can see a patch of green land on the ground and have had no contact with people in the bunker. Suddenly, a prison ship appears in earth's orbit and they argue about reaching out to the ship, with some seeing it as a potential path back to the ground. When a jump ship launches, headed straight towards Eden, Raven frantically tries to make contact but gets no response. Though it means that they might not make it back to their base, Bellamy and crew decide to head over to the other ship.  Monty is concerned because though life has been hard, at least the violence has stopped. Monty is terrified that by reaching out to the other ship they are starting the battle all over again, thus forcing him to commit acts that he finds morally reprehensible.

Travelers, Season One, Episode Eleven: Marcy

Marcy is the penultimate episode of the first season and what a set up it is.  I found myself at the edge of my seat as the episode unfolded.  Earlier in the season, we were informed that not all Travelers are happy following the orders of the Director and that some even feel abandoned by him/her. Essentially, one can only trust the people inside one's cell and that may not necessarily be true because as we saw in the last episode, orders are sometimes given privately to an individual rather than a team. 

It all begins with David and Marcy in bed together.  It's about damn time actually. Because nothing can ever go right for these two, Marcy's nose starts to bleed and she has a seizure.  A worried David takes her to the hospital. This of course is going to be a problem because Marcy's MRI are going to show abnormalities that simply don't make sense. Marcy gets a hold of MacLaren, aware that if she stays in the hospital, the doctors will be running tests on her until the day she dies. Apparently, the technology that allowed Marcy to take over the host's body damaged the brain and the treatment Marcy was using no longer works. 

The call comes for MacLaren at a good time because despite the fact that he tried to make it up to Kat by making her a coffee, Kat's still fuming.  MacLaren leaves to see about helping Marcy and perhaps to take his mind off of the confusing feelings he now has for Kat. 

We get the arrival of a new Traveler when a farmer's legs get caught in his equipment.  The Traveler enters his host's body and frees himself quickly. Like all of the other Travelers before him, he marvels at the air and environment of the past. 

Grace pops into her car only to find Trevor hiding in the back seat.  Trevor quickly injects Grace with something that renders her unconscious. It turns out that the name Trevor recognised on the list of deaths was Grace. When Grace awakens, she finds that her wrists and her legs have been bound and that Trevor has driven her into the woods. I've always found Trevor to be fascinating but even I was absolutely creeped out when he explained to Grace that he kidnapped her to save her life. Trevor chose to take Grace to the woods so that she couldn't be traced by the Director. As Trevor talks to Grace about how she was supposed to die and the fact that he's from the future and following orders of the mysterious Director, it's clear that Grace is trying desperately not to panic. 

Carly is having the same bad luck as the rest of her team.  Carly left her baby with Jeff in order to deal with the plane crash and that is enough for the social worker to decide that Carly isn't actually in need of help.  Carly is told that she effectively abandoned her son and now the social worker is team Jeff. Carly decides to confront Jeff directly and heads to the police station. Jeff grabs Carly's arm and pulls her into an ally. When Carly notices the CCTV camera, she attempts to goad Jeff into hitting her by calling him a horrible father and saying that he didn't fulfill her sexually. Carly's plan almost works because Jeff punches a wall in frustration but before he totally loses his cool, Jeff notices the camera and backs off, and orders Carly not to show up at the station again. 

MacLaren gets a message that he's to greet a new arrival - Traveler 014. This is the lowest Traveler number we've seen to date.  Unfortunately, MacLaren is not given an exact location, so he and Philip decide to scope out  possibilities that will will occur that morning. This new Traveler is deemed important because of the low number and MacLaren hopes they are arriving to help Marcy.  Now we know that the lower the number, the more important the Traveler. This is interesting given that Trevors number is a good deal lower that the rest of his team. 

Trevor is still in the woods with Grace and he tells her that he wants her to survive because he knows that she's a good person. As far as Trevor is concerned, the Director can just choose someone else. In an effort to keep Trevor talking, Grace questions why they cannot just go back in time and kill Hitler if they want to save people. It seems that for the tech to work, Travelers need the exact date and time of a death and that information was only available with the advent of the computer. Trevor even reveals that because of time shifts, the Travelers only have one chance to change the past.

Star Trek Discovery, Season One, Episodes One and Two: The Vulcan Hello/Battle at the Binary Stars

Like every fan of Star Trek, I was anxious about the series premiere of Star Trek Discovery. Since Enterprise aired its last episode in 2005, there hasn't been another show in the Star Trek universe on television. Fans have had to content themselves with the rebooted movies.  Star Trek began by beaming itself into our home on a weekly basis and while television may not necessarily mean the same extensive special effects as the large screen, it encourages longer engagement with the universe and its characters.

I found myself surprised to discover that Star Discovery doesn't wrap itself around the captain of the vessel but around first officer Michael Burnham.  After watching Sonequa Martin-Green in action, I can almost forgive her for becoming zombie food on The Walking Dead. But how does Michael stand out as a human on a ship that has an inter stellar cast? It turns out that Michael was raised by Vulcans after being discovered in the wreckage of a Klingon attack.  Through flashback, we learn that she has never gotten over the trauma of this event and has struggled to maintain the false veneer of pure Vulcan logic, even as her human heart compels her to feel emotions she would much rather ignore; Michael cares despite herself.

Vulcans are meant to be emotionless - it is ingrained into their very nature and despite knowing this, fans always want some display of emotion be it love, anger or hate from a Vulcan.  It's why towards the end of The Original series, writers seemed to look for excuses for Spock to display emotions. Fans love their Vulcans but they also want them to step outside of the coldness of logic sometimes.  It's why having Michael be a human raised by Vulcans is something that fans are going to easily embrace.

Michael's past trauma becomes part of the plot when the USS Shenzhou, captained by Philippa Georgiou, are forced to confront the Klingons. It's worth noting that Start Trek Discovery takes place ten years before the original series and therefore, the Klingons are very much a threat.  Michael's sense of panic is so strong that she reaches out to her former Vulcan guardian Sarek, to learn how it is that the Vulcans and Klingons came to an agreement. Unlike the Federation, whose mission is "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before", the Vulcans already have a pretty good handle on space and by their nature, learn very quickly from each interaction. After being attacked by the Klingons, each interaction that Vulcans had with Klingons, they made sure to fire first.  It may seem counter intuitive to fire first if what you want is peace, but strength and aggression are what matter to Klingons.

After meeting with Sarek, Michael takes her suggestion to Georgiou, only to be shot down.  Georgiou refuses to break Confederation guidelines and be the aggressor. Michael makes the mistake of challenging Georgiou's decision in front of the crew and when that doesn't work, attempts to knock Georgiou unconscious using the Vulcan nerve pinch and order the crew to fire on the Klingon ship. Before a shot can be fired however, Georgiou stumbles onto the bridge holding a phaser and filled with rage. Georgiou's confrontation with Michael is cut short when the Klingons attack.  Even though Michael's experience would come in handy, attempting a mutiny is enough for Georgiou to order Michael sent to the brig.

As aforementioned, Star Trek Discovery takes place a decade before the Original Series and this means that not only has the Federation not made peace with the Klingons, the Klingons themselves are not exactly united either.  There's been much infighting among the Klingons and the ruling family's seem to have lost a communal identity, though they all believe in their superiority based in identity. T’Kuvma has a more inspired vision for the future of the Klingon race and believes that the path forward was set out by none other than Kahless, the first Klingon emperor, who created the codes of conduct and honour. We've seen Klingon death rituals before in the Star Trek: Next Generation episode Heart of Glory, in which Worf roars at the sky to let Sto-Vo-Kor know that a warrior is coming.  What is interesting about Star Trek Discovery, is that Klingons heavily honour their dead and even collect them after the battle.  T’Kuvma's ship even has caskets filled with rotting Klingons attached to his ship.

Fans of the Klingon language are surely thrilled by how much actual Klingon is spoken in the first two episodes. It's also exciting to see the beginning of how the different family's finally align.  It's not at all surprising that the Klingons find the Federation's standard message of coming in peace to be duplicitous and a call to arms. Klingons may not be able to agree with each other about a lot but they can however agree that battle is glorious and that anyone who isn't like them needs to be conquered. The USS Shenzhou presents the perfect target for T'kuvma to use to start a war.

Throughout the battle, Martin is locked up in the brig but Sarek manages to reach out to her again.  Sarek makes it clear that this is costing him greatly and that he is not doing it to make an emotional goodbye but to encourage Martin to be of use.  Sarek's visit is all the inspiration that Martin needs to make her way back to the bridge.  Unfortunately, when Martin arrives at the bridge, she finds that the battle is over and that The USS Shenzhou has been all but destroyed.  Georgiou begins to think about what to do next and actually quotes Sun Tzu, which btw had me rolling my eyes. For the record, The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise and Georgiou is Malaysian.  Michael is quick to advise against killing T'Kuvma because that would not only make him a martyr but something for the Klingons to rally around.  Georgious instead orders Saru to beam a bomb onto one of the dead Klingon's bodies.  Everything goes to plan and the bomb disables the ship and all that is left is for Michael and Georgiou to board the Klingon vessel and capture T'Kuvma.

Travelers, Season One, Episode Ten: Kathryn

Thanks to MacLaren's sacrifice, Kat survived the plane crash but now the team must deal with her. Kat is rightfully freaked out to be loaded into the back of the Traveler van and restrained.  Kat is frantic to find out what happened to MacLaren and tells the team that her husband is an FBI agent. After a bit of struggle, Marcy is able to sedate Kat, much to Carly's relief.  Carly actually wonders how Maclaren can stand Kat. Wow, the jealousy here is strong. With Kat now sedated, Marcy calls MacLaren's cellphone and it's answered by the Traveler EMT,s who suggest that the team deal with Kat and then return to the base of operations. 

Kat is taken home and placed in bed. Trevor and Philip empty a couple of wine bottles to make it look like Kat and MacLaren tied one on to explain why she won't remember anything when she awakens. Marcy says that this is necessary because the memory inhibitor is going to feel like the worst hangover ever. 

Back at headquarters, the team is greeted by D13 with D standing for Doctor, or in this case Derek. The Director has sent an elite medical team which flies across the globe taking care of heads of state to treat MacLaren. This suggests that whatever faults the team has, the Director must value MacLaren a lot. MacLaren is in rough shape and even with nanites fast at work, he might not survive. Trevor volunteers to grow new organs for MacLaren, which apparently is quite painful. 

While the team of Doctors and Marcy work on MacLaren, Grant gains access to his hosts memories.  He remembers falling in love with Kat and what a good relationship the original Grant had with Kat. He remembers the pain they had when Kat had a miscarriage and their ongoing fertility issues. MacLaren is confused by these memories because he now feels for Kat with his host felt for Kat.  

As planned, Kat wakes the next day and is completely out of sorts. Kat wanders into the kitchen and is stunned to see the empty bottles of wine. Confused about what happened the day before, Kat texts MacLaren and it's Philip who answers since Grant is still in surgery. There are still loose ends which need tying up so Philip heads to the airport to pick up MacLaren's SUV.  Philip quickly draws the attention of security and he is stopped when he tries to exit the parking garage. Philip is forced to incapacitate the guards but that doesn't stop them from contacting the FBI about what they believe to be a stolen vehicle. Forbes becomes concerned about MacLaren when he learns about the vehicle and starts to investigate. Forbes tracks the car and using dashcam video, is able to see that it's Philip who's driving. With police fast on his tail, Philip is forced to abandon the SUV and contact Carly to help him escape. 

Forbes and Kat meet up at MacLaren's SUV and they discuss the changes in MacLaren. Forbes has noticed that MacLaren is suddenly a perfect shot on the range though sucks at squash. Kat brings up the changes in MacLaren's diet and the fact that he does certain things (read: sex) better. Kat is concerned that Grant is missing but Forbes calms her by saying that it isn't unheard of for MacLaren to drop off the radar for awhile. 

Travelers, Season One, Episode Nine: Bishop

The opening of this episode is clearly meant for anyone who has been with someone who has just irritated the piss right out of them. Secretary Hayes is out for a jog with his wife and he stops when he gets a phone call about pushing through a pipeline, though it will cause environmental damage. Hayes is completely smug and ends the call. Hayes complains to his wife that the exercise is going to kill him but what actually kills Hayes, is his wife throwing him off an overpass that he had stopped to lean against.  Mrs. Hayes looks around to make sure no one is looking and then breaks into hysterics.  And that folks is what they call stone cold extra. 

After having a little chat with David's boss, Marcy thinks that everything is okay but it turns out that David is uncomfortable with the game they are playing. There's a lot of unacknowledged sexual tension between Marcy and David and the strain of going through this day after day has become too much.  David asks Marcy if she can get her own place. I guess this means that Marcy lost her subsidized apartment when the government learned that she's no longer disabled. Marcy promises to leave that night and an awkward David tells Marcy that she doesn't have to rush.

Now that Jeff has made trouble for Marcy and Carly, it's MacLaren's turn. Jeff pays a visit to the FBI field office to have a man to man talk with MacLaren. Jeff makes it clear that he's trying to get his family back together and that he knows that MacLaren has been paying visits to Carly.  Jeff even questions how MacLaren's wife would feel if she knew that MacLaren was spending time with a woman half her age.  That's enough for MacLaren to tell Jeff to back up and that he knows that Jeff used to beat Carly.  MacLaren suggests that Carly no longer has any time for a beat cop who thinks it's okay to leave her bruised and bloodied. A frustrated Jeff decides to leave but he's not done messing with the Travelers yet.

MacLaren heads to his car to find a package and a note which says that he is to keep the package with him at all times. Inside the package is some kind of device but having no idea what it is, MacLaren takes it to Philip to be scanned. When Philip doesn't come up with any answers, MacLaren hops in his car to head back to his office only to have another Traveler hop in the back seat of his car. MacLaren is given a solo mission.  MacLaren is to board a plane and save someone's life. MacLaren is concerned by this because he's never been on a plane before. 

In an effort to win the custody battle with Jeff, Carly decides to apply for a job at a landscaping firm. Carly has no experience and she doesn't even have a GED but her enthusiasm is enough to persuade the owner to give her a shot. Unfortunately, when Carly arrives for work the next day, she's told the job is no longer available. Carly asks to be considered for the next opening and is told that there will never be a job there for her there. It turns out that a background check on Carly revealed that she has pending charges for assault an officer. That's right, Jeff decided to charge Carly, even though he had been regularly beating her. Carly tries to explain but her justification falls on deaf ears. 

Missing the make up mid term has some pretty bad consequences for Trevor. His mother is out of town and so it's Gary who informs Trevor that they've decided to send him to military school, so that he can pull up his grades and gain some discipline.  Trevor wants to talk this out and see if they can come up with some kind of compromise but Gary will not budge an inch. I think in this case we are only sympathetic to Trevor because we know that he isn't the same person any longer but when you consider everything his parents have been through, it really isn't any wonder that his parents are at their breaking point. None of this is to say that sending someone to military school against their will is a good idea.

Moving on with operation fuck with the Travelers, Jeff decides to pay a visit MacLaren's home.  Smiling like the Cheshire cat, Jeff tells Kat that MacLaren has been having an affair with Carly. Because Kat already believed that MacLaren was up to no good, she buys Jeff's story hook line and sinker. Kat's next move is to call MacLaren to confront him about Jeff's story but given that he has a plan to catch, MacLaren has no time for explanations.  Kat decides that MacLaren is probably having a rendezvous with his mistress and books a seat on the same flight.

Travelers, Season One, Episode Eight: Donner

This episode begins with a new mission for the team. MacLaren, Philip and Trevor all in different locations and are all engaged in independent video chats with sex workers, who are clearly confused by the fact that none of the men actually seem interested in talking about sex.  Trevor in particular wants to hear about the woman's happiest moments. Yeah, they are waiting for the arrival of a new Traveler cell.  The change happens but before the women can begin making plans to carry out their mission, the feed gets turned off. It turns out that the male Traveler who took over for a man who bombed the office that the sex workers worked out of, didn't stop the explosion.  Well I see we can add Travelers to yet another television show in which sex workers end up dead. Heaven forbid we get a story with a sex worker which doesn't end up tragic. 

MacLaren and Forbes head to the scene to investigate the case and learn that the bomber has left the scene.  If it was a misfire, the bomber should be lying there dead, so something is absolutely going on. MacLaren leaves to hunt down the bomber/Traveler, with Philip's help via the comm, leaving Forbes at the scene.  A fourth worker who was out when the bomb went off shows up at the scene and explains how she was being stalked by a former customer and that he had begun sending her religious based hate mail. 

Trevor gets called into the guidance counselor's office much to his surprise because he actually did well on the midterm. Trevor didn't realise that such a massive improvement in his grades would be deemed suspicious. Grace, the guidance counselor has arranged for Trevor to take the midterm again to prove that he didn't actually cheat. Trevor talks about being tired of being told what to do and wanting to chart his own course in life. This resonates with Grace and she gives him a book to read. At the end of the tutoring session which Trevor absolutely aces, Trevor sits in the hallway outside of Grace's office and reads the book cover to cover.  Trevor gets a call the comm to meet up with the others but he pauses long enough to return the book to Grace and to give her one in exchange. Clearly, there's some real chemistry between Grace and Trevor; however, the fact that he is still a kid to her will absolutely pose problems. 

Carly is getting ready for her hearing with child protective services when Marcy calls.  To Marcy, the simple solution is to just hand the baby over to Jeff because it would make it easier for Carly to go to on missions. At this point however, Carly sees the baby as hers and she's determined that there's no way she's handing him over to Jeff.  When Marcy arrives at the meeting, she's surprised when Philip shows up pretending to be her lawyer and offering support. Things go off the rails when Jeff accuses Marcy of being a prostitute because she pays for all her bills in cash and he's seen MacLaren coming and going. Jeff further charges that every time he tries to see his child, Marcy becomes physically abusive. Because he's a cop he knows how to play the system perfectly and manages to bait Marcy into losing her temper which doesn't look good. 

It turns out that Carly isn't the only person whose life that Jeff is set on messing up. David arrives at work only to be informed by his boss that he's gotten a detailed report from Jeff, explaining that he is living with Marcy and in a romantic relationship. David naturally denies that there's anything going on between him and Mary and argues that Marcy is no longer the woman that Ken knows. David manages to convince Ken to come to dinner so that he can prove just how much Marcy has changed.

The blowout in court forces yet another visit from CPS and this time the social worker has a warrant, so Carly cannot simply throw her out. A frustrated Carly explains that Jeff is not a good man and that because he's an officer that no one will believe her if she calls for help. Carly explains that the only reason that Jeff is doing this is because he wants them to be a couple and she no longer wants to. The social worker notices the bruise on Carly's arm from the injection but clearly thinks it's something Jeff did to her. 

MacLaren has spent the whole morning chasing around Donner, the supposed Traveler misfire.  MacLaren chases Donner to a Chinese restaurant that Donner has entered to treat his injuries. MacLaren introduces himself and says his Traveler number but Donner is acting sketchy.  When Maclaren lowers his weapon, Donner charges and knocks MacLaren out, in the process knocking out his comm.

When MacLaren finally catches up with Donner, he's already been beaten to the punch by Forbes.  Back at headquarters, MacLaren tries again to reach out to Donner, convinced that the man is just nervous because he screwed the pooch on his first mission but Donner claims not to know what MacLaren is talking about and questions what a Traveler is.  MacLaren leaves and tries to contact Marcy but his comm is still down.

Ken has arrived for dinner and he's astounded with the changes in Marcy. Marcy makes it clear that she is no longer in David's care and that they are not in a romantic relationship.  Things get a bit tense when MacLaren shows up looking to get in touch with Marcy because of his comm.  Marcy steps outside to talk to MacLaren, so she's not able to stop David from telling Ken that Marcy works for the FBI.  The link between the FBI and Macy pisses Ken off so he demands to see MacLaren's Id. When Ken confirms that Marcy is an associate of Maclaren's, he demands to know what Marcy actually does.  After the day he has had, MacLaren is in no mood to explain himself to anyone.

Travelers, Season One, Episode Seven: Protocol 5

The fact that all of the Traveler's are still in their host body makes them wonder if they have actually completed their mission or not.  Trevor is absolutely certain that they were successful and suggests a toast with some cheap hooch because that's all he can afford. With no potential new mission in sight, the Travelers decide that for now, they will stay away from each other and live out their hosts lives. That's right, it's time for Protocol 5. Unfortunately, this is a time that they could really use each other because they are all beginning to experience the side effects of taking an injection in the last episode to protect them from the toxic gas.

Marcy lies on the couch awake until David leaves and then decides that performing surgery on herself would be the perfect thing to do.  Marcy begins by removing her comm from her neck. The comm is then turned into a Vagus Nerve Stimulator, and inserted into her chest, in order to control her seizures.  By the time David returns, his bathroom looks like a crime scene because of all of the blood and Marcy looks like the survivor of a vicious attack. David is rightfully freaked the hell out but Marcy sees it as no big deal to perform what she deems to be a minor procedure on herself. Things must be really bad in the future  if Marcy sees self surgery in a less that sterile environment as no big deal. To silence David's objections, Marcy kisses him but this time he's not going to be quiet and makes it clear that her doing that isn't fear. David actually wants to help Marcy and he wants to know about her life. I'm not sure how she does it, but Marcy actually talks David into performing a spinal tap on her. 

MacLaren's issues begin with a bought of insomnia. A lack of sleep isn't conducive to rational thinking and it's about to be compounded by the hallucinogenic in his blood. Forbes and Kat surprise MacLaren with a party to celebrate his 15 years with the FBI. Forbes blows MacLaren's cover when he asks Kat about her health because earlier in the season, in order to go on a mission, MacLaren lied and claimed that he had to take Kat to a doctor.  They could not have picked a less ideal time because MacLaren isn't firing on all cylinders and therefore his behaviour is just odd. Kat is further suspicious when she tries to take a picture with MacLaren's phone and discovers that he's changed the password and she cannot access it. When an agent starts talking about evacuating an emergency shelter, MacLaren hallucinates a group of people with shaved heads who look awfully sickly and then laments that he will never see them again during the speech is forced to give. MacLaren even barely remembers to acknowledge Kat's role in his career. Drunk out of his gourd, Kat drives MacLaren home. Kat accuses MacLaren of cheating on her and in response he claims to have always been deeply in love with her.  MacLaren initiates sex but in his mind, he's having sex with a blonde woman with the ID number 3465 tattooed on her neck. Is this what the real Carly looks like, or is MacLaren hallucinating another woman from his past?  Later, when MacLaren is asleep in bed, Kat texts her mother that she believes he's absolutely cheating on her.

Philip is also having his own issues and at least part of them stem from the fact that he's out of heroine.  After licking the empty bags doesn't bring the relief that he was looking for, Philip decides to leave the warehouse and score. As Philip is walking around stoned right out of his gourd, he runs into Ray. For the most part, Ray's relationship with Philip has been extremely predatory but this time, Ray proves that he just might have a little bit of a soul.  Ray begins by buying Philip a hot dog and some fries which Philip hallucinates is this disgusting gruel like meal which must have passed for food in the future. When Philip balks about eating, Ray lectures him about eating real food because it's a well known fact that heroine addicts are far from the healthiest people on the planet. Project help Philip continues when Ray decides that what Philip needs is a pet to focus on because his life shouldn't always be about drugs.  Philip is taken to a pet store and Ray buys him a pet turtle.  Sure, a dog would have been a better choice but Ray chooses a turtle, so that Philip can be free to fly to Vegas if need be to work on his gambling scheme. 

Ray's final step in the help Philip project is to take him to an NA meeting. Philip, who is hallucinating, thinks that he hears Ray invoke the director when Ray starts to give his testimony. This sets Philip off and he hallucinates what he would say to the group if he could speak freely. Philip says that he's been in the 21st century for five weeks and is exhausted and just wants to get high. Then Philip unleashes his pain, saying that he was trained to remember so many things - dates of people's deaths, results of sporting events etc but for some reason he cannot remember the face that he was born with. That has got to be a trip. When Philip snaps back to himself, with a little bit of encouragement from Ray, Philip is able to admit that he has a drug problem. Clearly, of all the team members, Philip is the one that needs his cell the most and who knows where his isolation would have lead to were it not for Ray's intervention.