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So that just turned things up to 11.
Why do I feel like all of this is really bad science? Dr. Pet is lazy and smug and destined to be lunch. His continued dismissivness in regards to the Virals is astonishing in light of the fact that you contributed to creating this new species but show no real interest in studying them to the fullest extent. Plus! nobody has obviously ever watched a horror movie because, dude, all with the secrets and lies. When characters start going crazy and then start clamming up that's when you know that things are about to go to shit.
Clark, the asshole in charge of security, has Shauna Babcock on the brain and doesn't seem to find it weird or worth noting. Where's the commitment to the science?! The entire reason your job at NOAH exists? What about the integrity of the security?! Your total raison d’etre for like EVERYTHING. What the actual HELL, showrunners?!?!?! It all seems sloppy and CRAZY irresponsible and obvious without the uber creepy horror that happened in, like, Helix.
However, there is a creeping malice punctuated by actiony bits that make this episode work very well. Fanning and Shauna are moving people into place like pieces on a chess board and it brings to mind a little T.S. Eliot:
this is the way the world ends
this is the way the world ends
this is the way the world ends
not with a bang, but a whimper
The ENTIRE Carter backstory is heartbreaking and tragic and I was begging my TV for him NOT to choose Vadar during the entire end sequence. When he hulked out in the ice bath, I was so, so sad.
***
The central question of Who's Blood is That ties the relationships in the episode together: Virals to their handlers, Fanning to his acolytes, and to his increasing pressure on Carter to come over to the Dark Side of the Force. Blood is only the most obvious place of connection, a connection that has expanded into dreams (sleeping and waking) for the infected and the people closest to them. The opposing force on those pressures are reflected, in a real way, in the "new" blood. Amy's influence, I think, in a way is what keeps Carter from turning so quickly. She counter-balances the pull that Fanning exerts on Carter. A pull that he either increases to get Carter to turn more quickly (note the uptick in his brain activity noticed by Dr. Lear) or to speed up whatever neurological change that Carter is undergoing. What is clear at this point is that the Virals exist as part of a hive mind and Fanning is the Queen Bee at the center.
So, what if Amy's youth and innocence are the key traits that change the trajectory of the virus? Not JUST that she's young, but also that there's less emotional damage for Fanning to hook in to. If the key is the surrender, Amy's youthful resilience may very well be part of what is going to keep her grounded, that, her incredible self-possession, and her relationship with The Agent. In the course of the series thus far, they have become family and Amy recognizes that. Shauna's timely interruption happens both at the point where Amy displays her first real changes as a result of the virus (re: that terrified dash across the lawn) and at the point where Carter is on the cusp of falling. Personally, I think Shauna is a little surprised at Amy's awareness and her self-possession. She's going to underestimate My Girl. They all are.
Amy's blood is still HER blood and how her physiology mutates the mutations in Fanning's blood remains to be seen, but it will be coming. There is everything different about her versus the original test subjects. The blood reference also gets reframed in terms of family connections by Fanning to Carter and Shauna to Amy. Again, Amy has that connection and if we equate family with blood, then Brad is her blood. Amy has a place to turn and a support that none of the others had.
So ... its going to be interesting.
Then, of course, there's Dr. Lear in the end and question of whether or not he's been accidentally infected. If he is, I can see a monster smack down in the works between Lear and Fanning. The history that the two men share suggests that Lear is not going to be as easy a convert as any of the others, if he is convertible, at all.
Random Thought:
*Still loving on The Agent and Amy and their Father/Daughter relationship. Nothing screams love like building a tree house with your kid and then training her on how to do surveillance. I also love how he totes reins he in when she devolves into panic mode.
B: What are we NOT going to do?
A: Panic.
B: And what are doing?
A:Panicking
They are so much awesome.
* How much do I love that Amy was not fooled one little bit by Shauna.
Why do I feel like all of this is really bad science? Dr. Pet is lazy and smug and destined to be lunch. His continued dismissivness in regards to the Virals is astonishing in light of the fact that you contributed to creating this new species but show no real interest in studying them to the fullest extent. Plus! nobody has obviously ever watched a horror movie because, dude, all with the secrets and lies. When characters start going crazy and then start clamming up that's when you know that things are about to go to shit.
Clark, the asshole in charge of security, has Shauna Babcock on the brain and doesn't seem to find it weird or worth noting. Where's the commitment to the science?! The entire reason your job at NOAH exists? What about the integrity of the security?! Your total raison d’etre for like EVERYTHING. What the actual HELL, showrunners?!?!?! It all seems sloppy and CRAZY irresponsible and obvious without the uber creepy horror that happened in, like, Helix.
However, there is a creeping malice punctuated by actiony bits that make this episode work very well. Fanning and Shauna are moving people into place like pieces on a chess board and it brings to mind a little T.S. Eliot:
this is the way the world ends
this is the way the world ends
this is the way the world ends
not with a bang, but a whimper
The ENTIRE Carter backstory is heartbreaking and tragic and I was begging my TV for him NOT to choose Vadar during the entire end sequence. When he hulked out in the ice bath, I was so, so sad.
***
The central question of Who's Blood is That ties the relationships in the episode together: Virals to their handlers, Fanning to his acolytes, and to his increasing pressure on Carter to come over to the Dark Side of the Force. Blood is only the most obvious place of connection, a connection that has expanded into dreams (sleeping and waking) for the infected and the people closest to them. The opposing force on those pressures are reflected, in a real way, in the "new" blood. Amy's influence, I think, in a way is what keeps Carter from turning so quickly. She counter-balances the pull that Fanning exerts on Carter. A pull that he either increases to get Carter to turn more quickly (note the uptick in his brain activity noticed by Dr. Lear) or to speed up whatever neurological change that Carter is undergoing. What is clear at this point is that the Virals exist as part of a hive mind and Fanning is the Queen Bee at the center.
So, what if Amy's youth and innocence are the key traits that change the trajectory of the virus? Not JUST that she's young, but also that there's less emotional damage for Fanning to hook in to. If the key is the surrender, Amy's youthful resilience may very well be part of what is going to keep her grounded, that, her incredible self-possession, and her relationship with The Agent. In the course of the series thus far, they have become family and Amy recognizes that. Shauna's timely interruption happens both at the point where Amy displays her first real changes as a result of the virus (re: that terrified dash across the lawn) and at the point where Carter is on the cusp of falling. Personally, I think Shauna is a little surprised at Amy's awareness and her self-possession. She's going to underestimate My Girl. They all are.
Amy's blood is still HER blood and how her physiology mutates the mutations in Fanning's blood remains to be seen, but it will be coming. There is everything different about her versus the original test subjects. The blood reference also gets reframed in terms of family connections by Fanning to Carter and Shauna to Amy. Again, Amy has that connection and if we equate family with blood, then Brad is her blood. Amy has a place to turn and a support that none of the others had.
So ... its going to be interesting.
Then, of course, there's Dr. Lear in the end and question of whether or not he's been accidentally infected. If he is, I can see a monster smack down in the works between Lear and Fanning. The history that the two men share suggests that Lear is not going to be as easy a convert as any of the others, if he is convertible, at all.
Random Thought:
*Still loving on The Agent and Amy and their Father/Daughter relationship. Nothing screams love like building a tree house with your kid and then training her on how to do surveillance. I also love how he totes reins he in when she devolves into panic mode.
B: What are we NOT going to do?
A: Panic.
B: And what are doing?
A:Panicking
They are so much awesome.
* How much do I love that Amy was not fooled one little bit by Shauna.
