The woman who called Demeteri from Hong Kong is watching A Christmas Carol . No, not the new Disney version (but good job ABC/Disneyon the name drop), the old, classic Alistar Sim version. It’s the same one, incidentally, that Mulder watched in The X-Files all those years ago.
She’s at the scene where Joseph Marley is going over the plan for the evening (three ghosts, one each more ticked off than the last). The camera pans to the window to her left, and we see that she, like Mark, has a board of random facts. It’s a quick pan, but it looks like she’s got a lot of the same things, except two: a picture of that plastic-face mask Mark’s attackers were wearing and a nice headshot of Demetri with his badge number written underneath.
Mark and Demetri arrive in Hong Kong, and Dem asks the semi-obvious question that he probably should have asked before spending seven hours in coach: “Do you think we’ll find the woman who called me.” Speaking of calling, someone’s calling Mark. It’s Stan, and the phone is ringing off the hook. Mark ignores it and assures Dem that linguistics has it covered. How many women with a Persian accent live in Hong Kong?
The boys are heading out of the airport, Mark’s phone ringing off the hook again, when they’re stopped by a Marshall Vogel who tells them that “Your boss is calling.” Turns out he’s the FBI’s lead agent in Hong Kong. The one, incidentally, who Stan had told them he was putting in charge last week. Mark introduces himself, but Marshall already knows who Demetri is and why they’re there. He’s just there to get them out of Communist China since the CIA kind of put the smack down on good Chinese-American relations when they openly accused the Chinese of calling the blackout. If they catch an early flight, their jobs might be waiting for them when they get home. Mark’s all, “We’ve got this one covered,” and finally answers his phone with a “Hey cupcake.”
It’s Stan. He’s ticked. They violated a direct order. Mark tells him he lied to Demetri about Stan changing his mind, and that they’re staying in Hong Kong. Merry Christmas! Dem wants to know why Mark lied, and he said that if things go south, he’ll be glad about it. Stan throws the phone against the one of the six flat screens in his office. That one breaks, but the other five suddenly show breaking news from Palo Alto.
It’s a press conference by the National Linear Accelerator Project (NLAP). Lloyd comes clean about the fact that he and Simon were running an experiment in California at the exact time of the blackout and may have made a gigantic “oops.” This press conference, by the way, is being broadcast around the world, including at the hospital and on a big screen in Hong Kong. This press conference where the fact that NLAP caused the blackout is supposed to be a surprise. Companies call press conferences every day. Maybe I’m missing something, but why is this response so big if no one knows what they’re going to say?
But I digress. The room goes bonkers. People are screaming questions, Simon’s trying to get the room back, and Lloyd’s pleading with the reporters to understand that there won’t be another blackout because they’re stopping the experiments that caused it in the first place. As pressers go, it’s not a good one. Especially when a woman starts shooting.
Simon and Lloyd argue about the fact that they may not have caused the blackout after all. Simon’s still looking for the empirical evidence of it. Good plan, btw. Lloyd’s going with his gut to admit that he did it. Simon’s ready to declare war on Lloyd because they are scientists and they need to think about things logically. That’s what scientists do.
Demetri wonders what the announcement means for Mosaic. They know the cause, does it mean game over? Mark looks at the man who is supposedly going to be sleeping with his wife in six months, and goes, “Not at all.”
Stan wants Lloyd and Simon at the FBI now. They’re nowhere to be found. Janis remembers hearing Liv talk about Dylan Simcoe at the hospital. Since he STILL hasn’t been transferred/released (seriously, what is wrong with that kid???? Janis had half her reproductive system ripped out by a bullet and is already back at work!), Stan knows just where to find Dad and sends Janis there to reach out to him.
Zoey calls Demetri’s parents and leaves another message to beg them to come to their wedding. In her vision, they were there. It would only be right. As she hangs up, a partner asks if she’s going to the memorial that afternoon. She is, even though she didn’t know Joyce well.
Back in Hong Kong, the boys are looking for “Eartha.” That’s the name Demetri gave his caller since she kind of sounds like a “Persian, well-educated Eartha Kitt.” From Batman. There’s a couple of newsstands that sell Persian papers in the area, and there’s a place around the corner that sells Iranian cigarettes. It’s a good bet that with that voice, Eartha’s a chain-smoker. They even find a Persian Restaurant, but it’s closed. They’ll be back tomorrow.
At the hospital Bryce is writing a Mosaic message to Keiko saying that he tried to find her but couldn’t. He opts not to send it and looks up to find Janis still sitting in a chair, still staring at him. He tells her that he’s never been surveilled before, and she promises she’s not surveilling him. She’ll even leave if he slips her Simcoe’s digits. Bryce doesn’t fall for it. He asks how she’s doing otherwise, and Janis spills about her vision and the fact that while she’s doing well, she still hasn’t reached baby-making strength yet. Bryce figures out that it’s supposed to happen at the beginning of January. If she still wants to get pregnant, she shouldn’t give up.
The director of NLAP is on TV learning that Simcoe and Campos are considered the worst mass-murderers in history. Stan’s watching before he gets a phone call that shakes him. Simon’s in his office, still not sure what they did could be a crime. Still not sure he’s ready to admit responsibility.
Stan and Simon have a closed-door chat. Simon wants access to the Mosaic project. Stan doesn’t think so. Simon points out that now that someone has accepted responsibility, the government will probably shut them down fairly soon. When they do, the answers will be gone with it. Stan offers to let him come back in the morning. He’ll show Simon something, and if there’s progress made, he’ll see what he can do about an official role in the investigation. Simon’s not thrilled, but he’ll go along with it.
Lloyd arrives at the hospital. Janis tries to get him to come into the FBI offices, but all he wants to do is get Dylan out of there. She offers to help, he says no.
Demetri and Mark are at the restaurant meeting with the owner. They play Eartha’s voice for him, but he claims not to recognize it. The boys know he’s lying, so Mark sends Dem outside so he can threaten the owner with a one-way trip to Gitmo and keep Dem’s hands clean in the process. Her name is Nadra, and while she only goes to that restaurant on the weekends, she eats at another place two blocks down nearly every night.
Stan and Janis show Simon the satellites from Somalia. Even though they obscured the details about where the images were taken, Simon recognizes the landscape. He also recognizes the tower since he designed it. He’s impressed with the modeling program the FBI used, the tower almost looks real. Janis tells him that it is a real tower and a real photograph. Simon doesn’t know how…the technology doesn’t exist yet. He came up with the idea in 1992 and is shocked to learn that the photograph was taken in 1991. Stan wants to know who else could have designed it, and Simon tells them that the whole point of scientific discovery is immortality. Someone designs something that changes the world; they live forever. This person stayed quiet for nearly twenty years? Stan shows him the composite of D. Gibbons and gives them the profile. Simon doesn’t recognize him, but he’ll do everything he can to help find him.
Lloyd is meeting with a hospital administrator about moving Dylan. He wants safety, and the admin is offering to move the kid to a less secure location than Angeles. Maybe he’s not making himself clear. The admin snarks that he’s pretty good at that since he wasn’t speaking in specifics after making the big announcement. Innocent people tend to do that, so Lloyd must not be innocent. Liv hears the admin offer to send Dylan to Southland University Hospital. She thinks they can send him to Travers Children’s Hospital, and she’ll make the call.
Zoey’s at Joyce’s memorial service. Based on the woman speaking, it appears that Joyce might be an Asian woman. Zoey sees someone holding the white rose from her vision, remembers that she didn’t actually see Dem at the wedding, and realizes what she was actually looking at. She rushes out of the church.
The boys arrive at the restaurant and find Nadra and her bodyguards. Nadra tells them that by coming to Hong Kong, they set things in motion. Mark wants to skip over the action movie histrionics. Good plan. The boys sit down, and Dem starts asking all sorts of questions Nadra doesn’t want to answer. She was trying to help, she claims, but now she’s not sure about giving them information. If she tells them what she knows, it might precipitate the action they’re trying to avoid. Still, his death is the first in a long line of dominoes she doesn’t want to see fall. She tells Mark that he’s the one that kills Demetri, and rattles off a number she claims is the serial number of the gun he’s currently carrying. He checks and it turns out she’s right. They want to know why, but she’s done giving them answers. They can go now. Mark flips the table, grabs Nadra and drags her out of the restaurant. The police show up, and everyone’s staring at each other, guns drawn.
All of a sudden, Vogel shows up. Mark claims that Nadra is a material witness, but there is no murder yet. He convinces Mark to let her go, and then arrests him and Demetri.
Lloyd and a nurse are staring each other down at the hospital. Liv finally comes through with the transfer papers. She tells Lloyd it was an “incredibly brave” thing he did. She’s making small talk and learns that Lloyd went to Harvard in 1998 for his doctorate. She was supposed to go too, but decided to go to LA with Mark instead. As they talk, they realize that they were supposed to have lived in buildings next door to each other. That, Lloyd remembers, is how he met his wife. He tells her about the Multiple Worlds theory, and says that by that, anything that was supposed to have happened actually did in an alternate universe. So in an alternate universe, she did go to Harvard, and they did meet.
Marshall is walking Mark and Dem through the airport reminding them that they should thank him for all of the things he’s done to avoid international incidents since their arrival in Hong Kong. Mark realizes that he’s not from the FBI. No, Marshall admits, he’s from the CIA, and Mosaic is just a tiny blip on a huge international radar. Stan calls again. Mark takes the call and learns that the Ambassador to China has sent Stan the video surveillance of the restaurant incident. Mark hangs up and then gives Dem his badge and gun. He’s been fired.
Nadra is in her apartment with D. Gibbons. She says she can’t protect him anymore , so he says he just has to find someone who can.
Zoey shows up at the Noh’s house and tells Mrs. Noh that she knows that what she saw was Demetri’s funeral. The ironic thing now is that Mrs. Noh would be proud to have Zoey in the family, and she wishes that could be the future. Zoey tells her that she can.
Mark and Demetri are at the airport. A Christmas Carol is on again, but this time Scrooge is begging The Ghost of Yet to Come for another shot at a better life. Why show him those awful things if he can’t change them? Mark seems to finally listen to what’s being said. Dem – who is not watching the movie – apologizes for the fact that is murder got Mark fired. Mark says that he’s not going to kill Dem, and he’s not going to let the investigation kill him either.
Nicole gives Bryce a Christmas present. It’s a Japanese lucky cat, and this one means “Luck in Love.” He hugs her and she leaves. Bryce then sees Janis who promises that she’s not surveilling him, she’s there on a personal baby-making matter. Bryce offers up a prenatal vitamin, and Janis awkwardly explains that she’s doing it alone because she doesn’t exactly like men. Bryce gets it, and sends Janis to a “great” sperm bank run by a friend of his.
Liv comes to say goodbye to Dylan and Lloyd as the ambulance comes for the transfer. Liv asks if he believes in the Many Worlds theory, but he doesn’t want to answer the question. They’re in the middle of saying goodbye and wishing each other a nice life, when Dylan starts freaking out. The ambulance guys aren’t from the hospital after all. They shoot security, throw Lloyd in the van, and leave. Liv’s cradling Dylan as they peel out.
And that’s it until after the Olympics. I’ll be scanning the spoiler waves and seeing what I can find out. In the meantime, have a fantastic holiday season, everyone!
