DESCRIPTION:
Markus begins forging alliances with those strong enough to oppose Valhalla Sector forces,
including the residents of the nearby town of Danbury, which still contains a nuclear arsenal.
Markus believes that Valhalla Sector may plan a military take-over, which raises questions
about Jeremiah's father. A sniper and the mysterious Ezekiel raise further doubts.
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STARRING:
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MONICA'S REVIEW:
I was stunned. I sat there for the entire credits to roll, jaw open and unable to say anything
but gibberish. I have to give kudos to Showtime for not squishing the credits or doing voice
overs for next weeks episode. I really needed that time to absorb everything that happened ...
especially those last few seconds.
This was a superb episode all around and we can see that it is laying down some important
groundwork for the season finale. It also weaved in major story elements from the key episodes
we have seen so far: "The Long Road (Part 1)", "... And the Ground, Sown With Salt", and "Firewall". This makes it one of the top three
episodes I have seen so far!
I loved the banter between Jeremiah and Kurdy in this episode. The "You think" comments and
the whole "Jesus nailed to a cross" conversation were some of my favorites. I am still trying
to figure out Lee Chen and why he has Markus' trust. We saw Lee say things that Markus cringed
or objected to but Markus seems to do little else to keep him in check. I am not entirely
convinced that he is truely working for TM or if he is some sort of spy for VS or even both.
He is one tough nut to crack.
Since I am not convinced that Lee is the leak inside TM (the hints are a bit too obvious), I
have been looking elsewhere for clues. In fact, some subtle hints were left in this episode
which might lead to something. There was a man from TM which I saw three times in this episode
who I think could be the leak (or at least working with the leak. The first was in the
debriefing
(look over Jeremiah's head to the left) that Markus, Erin and Lee gave to the search and recon
teams. The second time was when TM was helping out
Danbury with medical supplies. Finally,
we see him again on a walkie-talking
at the end telling someone that TM was leaving the area. Even if he is just a lackey for
someone more important, it is still quite interesting isn't it?
We also learned some important things like the fact that Ezekiel's father apparently "killed
the world" and that it was "his fault". To me that sounds like it was an accident rather than
anything malicious but we aren't really given enough information to determine that. Also, we
can assume that Valhalla Sector is located somewhere in southern Virginia and that they have
been making a warpath directly toward Thunder Mountain. Ezekiel told Jeremiah that he was
raised by Jeremiah's father as his son and that is why he considers them as brothers. Ezekiel
also told Jeremiah that his father is working to help save the world. Whether that proves to be
true, we have yet to find out.
I cannot wait for the last batch of episodes and especially the season finale to see how it
all plays out!
THEO RATING: 9
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QUESTIONS RAISED:
- What has Jeremiah forgotten? Was it what Kurdy reminded him about his father?
- Why does Lee Chen think Jeremiah will be the fall of Thunder Mountain?
- Why doesn't Jeremiah tell Markus about the conversation he saw between Lee and Ezekiel?
Also, it seems that Jeremiah hasn't told Markus about seeing Ezekiel inside TM ... why?
- If Damien knew that Markus was going to get shot, why didn't he try to prevent it?
- What does Ezekiel mean when he is "sometimes not himself"? Does he have a split
personality or something similar?
- Now that we know that Ezekiel's father "killed the world" ... Was it an accident or was
it on purpose?
- Will Jeremiah back off from his search for Valhalla Sector or will it lead to the fall of
Thunder Mountain like Lee predicted?
- Who is the leak in Thunder Mountain? Is it Lee, someone on one of the field teams or
someone else that we don't yet suspect?
- What or who changed Samuel's mind about working with Thunder Mountain?
- What happened to Damien and why?
- Who was the guy on the walkie-talkie at the end? Is he from Vahalla Sector, the leak
inside Thunder Mountain or both?
- How is Thunder Mountain going to survive the upcoming assault from Valhalla Sector and
will they have enough time to prepare?
- What do the last few seconds of this episode mean?
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RELATED INFO:
See all photos from this episode and read our
collection of favorite quotes as well.
JMS AT RASTB5M SAID:
MAY.24.2002
Another crucial arc story, "Tripwire," airs next Friday. This is one
to definitely see if you're thinking of following the show.
JUN.6.2002
I suspect that the "excepts" credit was for the flashbacks from
earlier episodes, but I'm a bit confused as to why they're credited separately, since they
were all written by you.
It's apparently a rule under the Writers Guild of Canada, where we shoot the series, to
ensure that all prior work is properly credited, whoever the author might or might not be.
JUN.6.2002
I was wondering if there was something edited out that would have
shown us more about the Damien character. By the time we saw him onscreen, he was already
making Lee Chen nervous.
No, that's all there was. The nervousness was supposed to be more Lee's unease because of
the way Lee's eyes looked, but the director shot the whole thing with his shades on, so you
kinda lost that effect.
JUN.6.2002
Also, was that his glasses broken on the desk behind Samuel when
he was turning Markus and the TM crew away?
Yes. The director basically shot it from as far away as possible without leaving the
building, so it was hard to tell. We blew up the shot and repositioned it as best we can,
but it was still kinda vague.