This show is like the best of LOST combined with the worst of 24. That is to say, we have interesting characters and compelling mysteries wrapped in a blanket of patently ridiculous, low-consequence action sequences. A lot happened this week, and yet, we sort of idled for an hour in terms of actual plot. We have our "fall finale" in a week, whatever that means, so let's hope for some momentum.
Anyway, let's divy this into three plots:
Mommie Dearest, or Thomas is a Big Boy Now, Sophia:
Remember a few weeks ago when Thomas was a badass? Yeah, well, that's over. He's clearly a mama's boy, as his shadowy plan to usurp command of the freeliens from his mother doesn't hold a lot of water when she throws a reverse-psychology guilt trip on him. We have no idea how this relationship works, which is frustrating; Sophia keeps making "when you were younger" references, but how do parent-child bonds really work when no one ages?
Anyway, we get a meeting of some sort of Council of the Freeliens, where Sophia is told of plans to create a portal home...and is met with opposition, as a big chunk of these folks like Earth and want to stay put. Sophia pulls some ridiculous "no interference" clause out of her butt (that ship's sailed...), and we meet Isabelle, who's vocal and snarky in her opposition. Another point--it sounds like these folks have done this before to other planets/cultures. Hmmm... Also, this meeting hits home one new bit of data--It's interesting to see that the aliens/freeliens/whatevers aren't all inserted into tactical positions in society--some are mailmen, cooks, etc. They didn't infiltrate Earth culture--they just played the duck and cover card.
Anyway, Thomas and Isabelle are in cahoots, and Izzy hands Thomas a gun to take out Sophia. Then, Thomas and Sophia wander into a sci-fi bank vaulty-thing and she reaches into a pool of water and pulls out a glowing electrical zucchini. It sounds crazy, but that's exactly what happens. We don't learn what Sophia plans to do with said zucchini, because Thomas pulls the gun on her. But she guilt trips him into a crying fit, and he hands the gun over. Sophia then goes to confront Isabelle, and Sophia's powers of persuasion lead Izzy to shoot herself in the kneecap with that very gun. Hoo-kay. Well, that plotline's done for this week.
Wrinkled Hobbit Children and the Lovebirds Who Hunt Them, or Sean and Leila's Detective Agency:
Via Sean's FBI friend, the pair learns that all the names on the list are kidnapped and missing little girls--except one named Abby, who's recently escaped and been returned to her family in Oklahoma. Sean has miraculously recovered from his debilitating gunshot wound, and we're off to OK! After some shenanigans of running from some shadowy agents sent by our Roger Ebert-esque conspiracy leader, Leila talks to Abby, who turns around with some ominous music playing to reveal that SHE'S WIZENED AND WRINKLY, which is totally not a surprise given that we saw this reveal a few episodes back. Yawn. The episode ends with a gunshot-y race through a cornfield, with Sean beating up a highly trained hitman (...?) and, in rifling through his pockets, discovering that he wasn't hunting the escaped Abby...he, and the conspiracy, want Leila. Uh. Kay.
Presidential Perils, or VP Go SPLODE:
VP Jarvis didn't die in the car bombing last episode, but is in a hospital and recovering. His tearful wife is at his side when he wakes up...and she reveals that Dempsey (the Ebert guy) has gotten to her, and threatened to kill her and their kids if he reveals anything to President Martinez. And that's about all the motion on that one.
And that's it. In one week, we get episode 10, and then we have three months without this show. It better be explosive, it had better move things forward, and it had better get people talking. Or else, this show may not be long for this world.
Long story short--make this show an EVENT, NBC. We're pulling for you.
