Welcome to the Dark Side

The Event

Whew. That was quite an... interesting episode. You've got another gunfight, reunion, morality debate and people going completely off their rockers. All in forty minutes!

To start things off, I want to talk about the "zombies". Maybe I'm slow, but I definitely did not know what was going on with them. Asphyxiation? Insanity? What exactly did Thomas do to them and how did he trigger such a reaction? Did it come from the Other's home planet (wherever that is)? I really hope the "science" of all that business is explained, and fast. Not just another lose end in the plot.

The flashbacks definitely gave us more insight on the Others this week; the most interesting probably being that they are freakishly advanced technologically. Seeing Simon have a sorta-centric flashback was awesome, not only because I like Simon's character but because it set up the relationship for him and Thomas rather nicely. The Event seemed to take a more worldy feel with the period costumes and settings, which was pretty cool. I hope we get to see the Others and their adventures through many different time periods.

And then there is always the case of Vicky. Vicky, Vicky, Vicky, whatever shall we do with you? Her flashbacks of killing the family was creepy-good and even if you could totally tell that she was going to take the baby, it was done nicely. It was refreshing to see a more human side to our female "villain" and that they let her peel back her petals. I thought her turning against all her comrades at the simple threat of her son was a bit dramatic for her, but who knows? That entire scene bugged me because I felt like everyone (Female FBI Lady included) was out-of-character, but seeing as they write and make the characters... my argument is really invalid.

Personally, I thought the psychological aspect was the strongest part of this week's episode. I liked seeing President Martinez battle it out with himself (and his wife) on whether to give in to Thomas' demands and save the passengers or to kill the prisoners if Thomas did not comply. It was interesting seeing Thomas go from seemingly good to slightly evil and his interactions with Simon and Sophia. And why exactly does Thomas want Sophia? It's not like they are going to have a loving and romantic reunion now, is it? Simon's preference towards the government and the President vs Thomas and his people was interesting, especially since he's the double-triple (something like that) mole now. It was fascinating seeing Vicky's introduction to whatever the heck she does and how it affects her family life. And it was definitely intriguing watching Creepy Bald Dude try to persuade the President to go full-out Nazi on the aliens and kill them with gas. Whatever did they do to him that he wants to kill them so badly?

Numbers: 96 (prisoners), 2 (hours)

Spacey Theory: Sophia's going to be the first "main character" to die.

Rating: A-