(WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 OF THE PASSAGE!)
Is this the episode where Fanning finally gets what he wants? After last week's wild ride with Shauna Babcock's backstory, it was Anthony Carter's turn to take center stage. When I talked to McKinley Belcher on the podcast this week, I said I could not imagine what Carter could have done to end up on death row. We have that answer, so let's talk about it.
Carter has started making an honest living flipping houses. A realtor shows up to offer her expertise, and moments after telling her that he doesn't need help, we can all tell the chemistry is palpable. Fast forward to them dating, falling in love and even going in to business together after only a few months. There is one problem with this whole thing, it turns out that she is married. Carter doesn't take this news very well and drops the "I need time to think" line on her. The next morning she is lying face down in a swimming pool, dead and not by Carter's hand. He obviously tries to save her, and the implication is that the husband was the responsible party.
Did I mention that the whole time we're getting this backstory that Fanning is in Carter's head messing with him? This is causing present day Carter to have some severe complications to the viral drug. He's spending this time trying to convince Carter to give in. In an odd way, he does sort of give Carter the push he needs to move on. See Carter never wanted an appeal, he just took his sentence. Imagine being so broken up about a decision that you made that you were willing to die as a result of it. That may be the revelation in this episode that hit me the hardest. He does admit that he wants to live, and does end up giving in to his Viral side in quite a dramatic and violent fashion. Dr. Lear gets a bit caught up in everything leading to the cliffhanger question of whether or not Lear is now exposed.
Before all of this happens, we also have Brad who has convinced the powers that be at Project NOAH to give Amy some fresh air breaks. Amy is freaking out a bit, plus Brad correctly points out that she's ten and needs to go outside. So, the build a tree house for her. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? It's far more than that, it's a great place the scout the grounds of Project NOAH. Oh that crafty Brad Wolgast, always thinking! Amy takes it a step further and ends up borrowing some binoculars from the security detail. There really wasn't much going on with Brad and Amy in this episode, which has been my favorite part of the show so far. I wondered how an episode would be without them playing a major part in it. Turns out, the writers crafted such an interesting story that I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would. I'll get back to Amy in a second, because I did want to talk about something else quickly.
Clark Richards is spiraling, and to me, it's only a matter of time before he cracks. Babcock is still in his head, and he's pretty much being controlled without even knowing it. He lied to Dr. Sykes about why he decided to save Babcock, which is something he'll have to own up to after she follows up on his lie. Babcock also tells him that one of his agents is about to cause some major problems, and she ends up being right. Another Viral seems to have gotten into this agent's head and really messed him up mentally. When this agent tries to shoot his way out, Richards sends Brad in as a negotiator. That doesn't last long once the agents starts talking about Richards and Babcock. After saying they needed him alive, Richards takes him out at a very curious moment. He's starting to make some very careless mistakes, and this has to eventually lead to his downfall. Brad saw it with his own eyes, and now Dr. Sykes knows that he has lied to her at least once. I will say, as far as side story arcs go, this Clark Richards storyline is one that I have my eye on every week. Not just because I am waiting to see when he cracks, but something interesting happened before he shot that agent. The agent said that the Virals wouldn't escape, that someone would let them out. You have to think that Richards is going to be the one that ends up doing this. At the very least, setting Babcock free. It may not quite be that simple, Grey is certainly a candidate since he is on Fanning's detail. Still, watching Richards' slow descent to madness every week has been very compelling.
The last thing I want to talk about, and possibly the most interesting, is that Amy was finally visited by one of the other Virals. Babcock comes to her while she is alone and worried about what's happening with Carter. In true Babcock fashion, she tries to convince Amy to come over to their side. Amy, fearless as always, wants to see who Babcock really is. She is barely phased by the Viral transformation from Babcock, which may be Amy's strongest moment yet. It's like when, at the end of a match, Hulk Hogan would take a punch from his opponent that would have no effect. Things end quietly between them, but it was still pretty tense and it's pretty clear that this isn't over.
The Passage continues to move it's chess pieces very strategically. You can almost see the writers with their finger poised over each piece, making sure they are making the right move before releasing it and moving on to the next. Normally, this is when I like to throw out questions to you, but this show really makes it tough to do that. Sure there is some predictability from time to time, but this show still does a great job at constantly keeping viewers off balanced. I didn't even get in to what's going on outside the walls of Project NOAH with Lila, because that is getting quite interesting, too! As crazy as things have been lately, it's hard to imagine where they will go next.
What did you think of Episode 4 of The Passage on Fox?
Photo Cr: Erika Doss / FOX.