Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Renbe shows up at his editor's (Kat, played by Lola Glaudini) apartment. She tells him it is late, but they embrace and share a long kiss. He tells her
that he is no longer pursuing the disappearance story -- it's a dead end (ba-dum cha!). The Captives continue through the woods. Joe and McNair chat, with McNair continuing to call Joe "sir." Joe insits it's just "Joe." "Old habits die hard," McNair responds. He introduces himself as Graham McNair. Charlie swears that even if it takes the rest of his life, he will stop at nothing to exact revenge from their captors. Janet agrees, but stops, seeing a bright light ahead. Bill begins to slow down, thinking it is help, but Janet insists on not stopping. She steps on the gas as they hurtle toward the light. They are consumed by the light. When it disappears, they are still on the road, but heading back into town. They see a "Welcome Back" sign. A man with an umbrella steps into the road in front of the hotel. It is the Night Manager, no worse for wear. He welcomes the Captives back, who wearily, defeated, exit the van and enter the hotel. "It should be a beautiful day tomorrow!" the Night Manager chipperly says.
The next morning, the Captives each take a moment to gather themselves. McNair begins the first of this five daily Muslim prayers. Charlie reads form the Bible. Tori and Moira take the butterfly out to the edge of town. They release it, but it gets fried in the now-repaired ADS fence. Tori stalks off, pursued by Moira. Moira apologizes for their metaphor...er...butterfly being killed. She then admits that she has been lying to Tori, as well. She is not a psychiatrist, but rather a psych patient in a mental ward in Ohio. She has truth issues, obviously, and apologizes again to Tori. The party girl wants none of it, and she runs off. Janet sits in her room, looking at the pictures of Megan. She is interrupted by the phone ringing. She picks up, and although there is a lot of interference, she can hear Megan on the other end of the line. She tries to find out where Megan is, but Megan can't hear her question. Janet then hears her mother's voice. Eleanor tells Megan that she isn't supposed to pick up the phone by herself (clearly, Eleanor's house was called at the same time), and hangs up the phone. Janet grabs the gun and leaves her room.
There is a knock on Joe's door. When he opens it, Janet rushes in with the gun drawn and pointed at Joe's face. She shows him the fortune she received. Joe pleads for his life, that they will figure out a way to leave. "Is this what you want?!?!" Janet screams, glancing up at the black orb. As other Captives are shown, gunshots ring out. Cut back to Joe's face, looking stunned. The security camera feed showing Janet is now distorted -- Janet has shot the camera repeatedly. Staring, defiantly, into the lens she says, "We are not a bunch of rats in a maze. I am done with your games. If anything happens to my daughter, you'll wish you killed me on Day 1." With that, she storms out of Joe's room. Joe rushes off after her. The room is empty. The damaged security camera rises up into the season, and a new, undamaged black orb slide into its place.
Commentary
Miniseries (which Persons Unknownhas been billed) are an interesting beast. Whereas most viewers can determine after a couple episodes whether or not they like a new series, and whether or not to continue watching it, even with miniseries that a viewer finds major faults with, the chances of sticking around to see thw whole thing are good because there are a finite number of episodes. I find myself in that situation at the end of "The Edge." Now, I still enjoy most of what is going on, but some glaring problems are beginning to seep in that if Persons Unknownwas a regular series, it would be in the category of "You get one more episode to impress me, or it's over." On the positive side, I think the concept is still pretty great. I like the idea of these very different people (although they are 6/7ths white) being brought together for an unknown reason. Further, the fact that in episode two they are still trying to get their bearings works for me; I don't need answers yet. They are also doing some very smart and interesting things like the implant removal. This is a sign that these characters are smart and not just letting their situation dictate what they do. Motivated characters are (for the most part) good characters that I can be interested in. This ties in with a sense that their situation is some sort of game being played with them as the pawns. Yes, this has a certain Jacob/Man in Black form Lostfeel, but since the concept has been introduced from the beginning, as opposed to say the fifth season finale of a six season show, I support and am intrigued by it. What are they trying to win besides their freedom? It's hard to say at this point, but with the introduction of a bit of Tori's backstory, it could be that they could win some sort of redemption for a past transgression. Again, this could feel very Lost-ian, but I think it's working so far.
Another positive is the fine acting that some of the performers are bringing to the series. First off, I think Daisy Betts (Janet) is a find. I know she's done a couple things, but for most people (including me), she is an unknown. I was a bit worried that she'd be full of nothing but "give me back my baby!" angst, but her stare-down of the camera in the final scene of this episode was impressive. She is also playing the sadness, fear and possibly romantic notes of the show well. Similarly, although he hasn't too much range to play, Chadwick Boseman (McNair) is doing a fine job. It's not easy playing the steel-jawed Marine without seeming wooden, and he has avoided any of the typical military man cliches. Alan Ruck (Charlie) is giving a great performance very far removed from the roles for which he's been known (Cameron in Ferris Beuller, the neurotic guy on the bus in Speed and Stuart on Spin City). I lvoe when comedic actors show they can play dramatic roles because usually once one is deemed a "funny guy" in Hollywood, that's the only type of role that actor gets.
On the other hand, where the negatives come into play, is in some of the other performances. OK, really only one other performance, and two other characters. First, I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying Jason Wiles as Joe. Every line reading is just dreadful, and it pulls me quickly out of whatever tension is building. He's almost laughable, and it's a shame. True, some of the writing for him has been a bit suspect ("God has nothing to do with this place."), but he's doing nothing to alleviate matters. Oppositely, Kate Lang Johnson (Tori) and Tina Holmes (Moira) are two actresses that are being under-served by their characters. For Johnson, is it possible, please, to get a young, blond character that is smart? Somewhere? I mean, I know she's a "party girl," but you know what would have been great? If Tori actually knew what a chrysalis was. I mean, seriously. Tori is such a walking stereotype that it makes me angry that writers are still taking the easy way out and creating such a ridiculously unoriginal character in the first place. As far as Moira is concerned, I think Tina Holmes is giving a pretty decent performance, but I fear that the writing is failing her a bit. She has already claimed to be three different things, and has freaked out to create a diversion, performed surgery, and killed a butterfly. All the while, she may or may not be a lesbian. This character is schizophrenic, and I'm not talking about the fact she is a psych patient. I hope they can rein in her character and settle Moira down a bit soon.
The last negative, and really the largest one, is the nonsense going on in San Francisco. This plot is so underdeveloped, so superfluous, and so poorly acted (seriously, Eleanor is just dreadful), that I wish it could just be lifted form the series magically. Heck, I'm even willing to take a few more minutes of commercials to be rid of Renbe, Kat and Eleanor. Just terrible and so unnecessary.
OK, so that's where I stand after episode two. I'm enjoying a bunch of the show (including the continued use of security camera footage, the little zooms, etc.), but some big chunks of it are starting to annoy. I'll stick with it through the summer (because, really, what else is on?), so please leave your thoughts, questions and theories below. Be sure to check out TVOvermind for all of this summer's breaking television news, and I'll be back next week with another recap. Until then, I'm off to jump out of a Rambo movie.
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I'm liking it. Would I be watching it so closely if this were a fall show? No. But, for some light summer entertainment, I'm loving it. And it's on NBC, which hasn't had a good show in almost 10 years. It's also a good smoker's patch for those Lost viewers (like me), who aren't ready to go cold turkey with no Lost just yet. I also love good Chinese food, so I don't know why they're in such a hurry to get out of there.
I love the part about the "Lost smokers patch". Funny. I feel like this could be a dark mysterious version of the Dharma Initiative and the phsychological experiments that they could have done… ah, I miss the Island… I miss the slow motion, play an old song, show reunion or pondering the days craziness – endings of Lost. To me, I like this show because it has an eerie experimental feel to it that we as viewers don't know yet…. lets hope the butterfly wasn't the smoke monster.
I completely agree that it is quite Lost-esque. Is it just me or are Janet's constant "Megan!" cries are a mirror image of season 2-Michael's numerous "Walt!!!!"s. This show has potential, its obviously no lost, but it can help me get over the end of my obsession….
Just wanted to say thanks for the great recap, as a blind viewer you can imagine how much of the show I miss, and your recap has added to my enjoyment of the show. I am catching up on episodes, and hope to read your blog after viewing/listening to each episode. Thanks again, Brian