The whole election business up here in Canada did not turn out so well. There’s nothing more depressing than seeing a leader you have absolutely no respect voted as the leader of your country. I guess I know what many of you must have went through in November of 2000 and then again in 2004.
On the bright side the Conservatives only got a minority government. Hopefully this will keep Harper from being able to do anything to crazy and at some point, well before the next election (whenever that may end up being), he’ll stop trying to hide his highly conservative tendencies and lose the support of the more moderate voters.
Anyway, I’m sure 90% of you couldn’t give a damn about Canadian politics so I’ll just move on with the recapping.
As we open this week, Tom is going outside to check the mail (kind of late at night to be checking the mail, but maybe Florida City has an unusual postal service) and we see a mysterious someone parked outside. Well, at least the mysterious hands of a mysterious someone. Tom goes back inside and talks to Kira while looking over his mail. She is bitter about Jesse and Rose being, as she sees it, thrown out of house. Tom starts to respond but then gets distracted by one of the letters.
It turns out the letter was left in the mailbox by Lewis. In the letter he accuses Tom of betraying him, which is quite in line with the mystery caller from last week’s episode.
He discusses it with Mariel and she shows little sympathy. She’s still rather unhappy with Tom forcing her to give up the kids. When he objects that he did not force her to do give them up she says that he made it clear (though he didn’t say it explicitly) that she knew she had to give the kids to Russ or Tom would get Russ out of her life permanently.
They talk about the hybrid thing and how they are supposed to adapt. She tells Tom she hates him. Tom doesn’t know the secret to surviving as a hybrid. He says he made it because of Mariel and he wants her to know how much he loves her. Mariel counters by suggesting he prove his love by trusting her, starting off by telling her what he has locked in the hall closet.
Tom hears a noise outside so goes to check it out. There doesn’t seem to be anything noteworthy outside so he goes back inside. He pauses once back inside, as if thinking of going back outside again, when he gets shot in the back.
Tom falls to the ground and the shooter (we can’t see anything but the arm and lower body of the shooter so ‘shooter’ will have to do for now) walks forward. He fires a couple more shots into Tom’s back.
Tom starts to crawl down the hallway. As he is crawling he begins to hallucinate and the hallway blends with a plane in the process of crashing.
Tom wakes up in a hospital; he is not in the greatest of condition. A nurse shows up and asks him some questions. He answers her questions but seems more interested in getting answers to his own questions. Those answers aren’t forthcoming however as the nurse just injects something into his IV and says the doctor will be in later.
He wakes up in a hospital room and the news is on. It is talking about the aftermath of the hurricane and mentions that power has been restored to 95% of the city. Tom notices there are also some mysterious, government agent-like people waiting outside in the hall.
A doctor enters the room and asks Tom some more questions. Tom demands to know where his wife is and eventually the doctor reveals that his wife is dead.
Back at Russ’s place, Rose is anxious to call her mother and wish her a good night. Russ tells her to go ahead and give her a call.
Larkin asks Russ, once they are out of hearing range of the kids, if he is going to tell the kids about what has happened to their mother. Russ says he promised Mariel that he would not.
Rose, meanwhile was unable to get a hold of anyone at the Underlay place so Russ tells her to leave a message.
Larkin is worried for the safety of the kids because of the hybrid’s tendency to kill their kids in other places where the hybrids have cropped up. She is not only worried about leaving Rose and Jesse with the Underlays but also concerned for the safety of their unborn child.
While this is going on, the phone rings. Rose answers it to find a distraught Kira on the other end. Kira asks to speak to Jesse.
At the hospital again, the doctors say they’ve managed to bring in Tom’s daughter. Kira seems to be much younger than usual. And to make sure the final piece of the puzzle falls in place, a doctor enters the room. The new doctor is, of course, Mariel.
Tom asks Mariel if he can see the paper and it shows a headline about his being the sole survivor. The camera helpfully zooms in on the 1996 date for any of the slower viewers out there who have yet to catch on the the fact this is a flashback.
Mariel asks Tom if he has any idea how he survived to which he answers, “I met you.”
And back to the present we go as Tom’s busy bleeding all over the nice clean floor and Mariel helps load him into an ambulance.
A short commercial break later and the ambulance has arrived at the hospital. Mariel helps to rush Tom inside the hospital.
Back at Russ’ place, Russ and Jesse are heading to the hospital. Rose says she wants to go to so Larkin suggests that they all go (in separate vehicles apparently because after agreeing Russ and Jesse leave in Russ’ truck).
While en route to the hospital Russ gets a phone call from Healy. Healy has something very important to tell Russ but we’ll just have to wait to find out what that is because we’re switching back to the hospital.
Tom is wheeled into an emergency room and the doctor want to get blood. Mariel hesitates and then informs the other doctor that Tom needs O-negative blood.
And it’s time for more flashback. Mariel is checking on Tom and lets him know that the government agents from the National Transportation Agency (or something along those lines) want to speak with him. Tom begs off and says he will speak with them tomorrow.
Mariel asks Tom about Kira for a while and Tom says things will be rough for a while, for all of them. He says that things happen for a reason though and that must be why he is still alive (sounding very much like his future deputy in the process).
After talking about how quickly he is healing, Tom says that he has felt like he was destined to be in Mariel’s life ever since he first met her. He asks Mariel to hand him a vase from the table. Once she gives it to him, he takes the small rose out of it and presents it to Mariel. Tom tells Mariel that she gives him hope.
This touching moment is interrupted by the first meeting between Tom and Russ, who has just dropped by to see how his wife was doing. Tom, noticing Russ’s uniform, surmises he was involved in the search and rescue effort and asks if Russ would take him to the crash site tomorrow.
Russ has to work so he declines. Tom then redirects the question, asking if Mariel could take him to the site.
Back to the present we go as Russ asks to speak to Mariel. Russ tells her that Healy thinks that Tom may be the reason why the hybrids in Florida City are coping with their new lives far better than any previous colony of hybrids has done. Russ says that because of this, Mariel has to do everything she can to keep Tom alive. Mariel takes exception this asking what else would she do to save her husband’s life?
Tom’s shooting is big news in Florida City so Larkin is called in to do a story about it for the 11 o’clock news. She wants to tell the whole story, for the safety of everyone involved. Dave thinks Larkin may have the best idea and as side note, suggests that perhaps Kira has been changed as well.
Russ says that until he has proof that those who have been changed are a threat he does not want to expose them to persecution.
Tom, meanwhile, is having a bad reaction to the blood and the doctor isn’t quite sure why. Mariel tells them to use her blood as they are the same blood type. When the doctor begins to question her, she tells him just to do it and he complies.
And it’s time for more flashback action as Russ wants to know when Mariel is coming home. Mariel and Russ are both unhappy but Russ knows they can work things out. Mariel tells Russ she loves her little boy but she hasn’t been happy for a long time and would prefer to stay at the hospital.
In the present, Russ is meeting with Healy. Healy’s wife is dead now; she was killed by Eli Zura (sp?). Zura (I’ll go with that spelling for now until I found the correct one) was with Healy in Cuba when the creatures came. They used to do contract work for the CIA and now that Zura is a hybrid he will kill anyone he views as a threat.
Healy tells us that the government knew about the hybrids and Cuba and they almost certainly know what happened in Florida City. They want to try to see if they can gain anything from the hybrid humans but they have kept from being officially involved so they can have deniabilty if there’s another round of murders and suicides.
Healy thinks that Tom is the key difference in Florida City. Somehow Tom was able to adapt to life as a hybrid and his knowledge and experience has allowed the other hybrids to thrive. This theory does make sense when you consider Mariel has changed the least out of all the hybrids created during/after the hurricane.
Russ asks Healy why he was not taken when Zura was if they were there together. Healy says that he was taken, but he is sick and has been for a long time (he helpfully gives himself an injection as he tells Russ this) and that they did not want to take someone who was sick.
Larkin comes up as Russ mentions that Larkin is planning to report on the whole hybrid phenomenon on the evening news. Healy warns that if she does that Zura will not hesitate to get rid of her.
At the television studio, Larkin is meeting with her editor. The editor wants Larkin to compile a hero piece and then do a live tag from outside the hospital. The editor has gotten all kinds of footage, including his early press conferences after the plane crash and she wants Larkin to use them. Larkin says a few suspicious things and the editor tells her to be objective and says she wants to see her piece before it airs.
While watching the aforementioned footage of Tom, Larkin sees Tom being wheeled out of the hospital for his first press conference. Tom passes Mariel on the way and she grasps his arm reassuringly. Larkin rewinds to take a closer look at that contact.
And now we get another Mariel/Tom moment but in the past this time. Mariel has taken Tom to the crash site. Tom tells Mariel that there will be a lot of changes and rough days ahead for them; he tells her they will only get through it if they remember how they felt when they first met.
Flashback time is over as Tom wakes up to find Mariel at his side. Tom tells Mariel that he saved her yet again. He asks Mariel how she knew that her blood would work and she tells him she was not sure it would work.
Tom, in response to the earlier closet comments, asks Mariel to go home and get his keys from his office. He wants Mariel to go into the hall closet and get something for him. When asked what is in the closet he tells her, “Everything”.
Newscast time approaches and Russ is making another attempt to dissuade Larkin from doing telling her story. He relays what Healy told him but focuses more on the fact that the military, as she suspected, is involved, and kinda glosses over the fact that Zura may have her brutally killed for making her report.
And, after several episodes of ominous shots, it is time to learn the secret of the closet. Mariel enters the room to find a whole lot of empty shelves. One of the shelves does contain a small red box though and Mariel goes to check that out.
Other people have also learned about Tom’s recovery and they are mostly in the room with him. Kira is very happy that her dad is going to be okay and everyone else seems pretty pleased as well.
Russ enters the room and asks to speak to Tom alone so everyone else clears out. Russ tells Tom about Larkin’s plan to go public. Russ does not want her to do that so he asks for Tom’s help in stopping her story.
Speaking of Larkin, she’s outside getting ready for her story. Mariel happens by on her way back to the hospital and the two talk. Mariel tells Larkin that despite whatever strange things she may have heard about Tom and Mariel lately, Tom is still a good man.
Larkin asks Mariel about the footage she saw. Larkin says she wasn’t aware that Tom and Mariel’s history went back so far. She mentions the fact that Mariel was still married to Russ then. Mariel just responds by saying that Russ is a good man too. Mariel adds that she had asked Russ to keep her change a secret but he was unable to because Larkin was more important to him.
The intro to Larkin’s story is airing on TV as Mariel comes into Tom’s room. Tom tells her that Russ had him call Larkin’s editor and try to get the story pulled but he had been unable to get a hold of her. He then asks Mariel about what she found in the closet. She opens the box to show the rose he gave her when they first met in the flashback She says that she found hope.
Outside, Russ watches on while Larkin does her report. She asks what makes Tom different but seems to hesitate for a moment. In the end she says that perhaps it was love the enabled him to survive all the challenges he faced.
A pretty good episode this time out. I thought the flashback thing was pretty well handled. It was odd that nobody actually said Tom’s wife’s name (in order to avoid making the flashback obvious) but I still did not immediately realize that was going on (though when they said Tom’s wife was dead, I never believed Mariel was dead, there were just other options floating around in my head as ways to get out of that).
Filling in Tom’s back story is quite helpful as well. He’s done lots of villainous things so far this season and I’m sure he’ll be doing more before it is over but by giving him sympathetic elements it makes him a far more effective villain.
There were a few odd things in the flashback which made me question whether it was a real flashback or a reliving of the events in Tom’s mind. The best example of this would be when he first meets Mariel and credits her with how he survived (which seems more like it would be in reference to his coping with the hybrid thing than with his surviving the crash). If it was meant to be a real flashback, I can understand Tom’s affection for Mariel (the hybrids don’t seem to always carry over romantic feelings when they are changed so he may not have been all that upset about his wife’s death) but I can’t see how Mariel would think he was anything but a total sleaze for coming on to her hours after the death of his wife.
If the flashback was real, there seems to be some logical flaws in it. If it was just Tom reliving it however, it’s was well done. It was not entirely clear which of these it was so I cannot really penalize the show for a flaw that may or may not exist.
Other than the deliberate omission of details for no other reason than to preserve the appearance of the flashback actually taking place in present day (and making for a shocking episode preview as they were able to have a doctor telling Tom his wife is dead), there’s not a whole lot to criticize this time out.
Shaun Cassidy seems particularly good at creating compelling villians (see Lucas Buck (another small town sheriff) in American Gothic) and Sheriff Underlay is well on his way to being a great villian.
