(WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 1 EPISODE 6 OF THE PASSAGE!)
The hunt is on for Winston. Brad and Amy's bond hits a snag. The plot thickens for Sykes and one of the Virals. I knew this week's episode of The Passage was going to be intense, but we also got A LOT of crucial information leading up to the Season 1 finale. So, who dropped the line "I Want To Know That You Taste Like"?
I want to start by talking about Babcock, and an unlikely relationship she had with Dr. Sykes. Sure Sykes was Babcock's doctor, but they actually started to bond before Babcock turned. After Sykes arranged a favor for Babcock, they found out that they were both suicide attempt survivors. It's hard to deny a strong bond like that once it's revealed. There was more to it than that though, these two were actually becoming friends. Babcock's choice to target Richards makes even more sense now. Obviously we saw what happened with the two of them, but now this revenge plot kicks it up a notch. Babcock feels like she was abandoned by not just her doctor, but her friend. So it turns out that she is being driven by revenge as well. Babcock comes to Sykes and confronts her about all of this. This was a REALLY tense scene, when Babcock warns Sykes that they will not find a cure and that there is no stopping what's coming. She pretty much wants to take everything that Sykes has and then either turn her or kill her. It's another amazing scene from Brianne Howey, but a ton of credit goes to Caroline Chikezie as well. I'll get to more about her in a minute, because we have a Viral-hunt to discuss.
If you saw what happened last week, you know that Winston is on the loose. You also saw Amy's book left behind, and yes, that is going to be an issue. Brad tells Amy to keep everything to herself, but she really starts to rebel in this episode. She reveals Guilder and everyone else that she can see what Winston is seeing and she can track him. So they get a team together to hunt him down. We learn a couple of interesting things during this hunt. The first of which is that Virals can create other Virals by biting someone. This is new and something we certainly haven't seen before, but there's more to it that I'll talk about in a moment. Turns out Lila was on her way to Project NOAH thanks to Richards, which Brad is none too happy about. She narrowly avoids becoming a Viral herself, first from Winston and then again from one of his victims. This is when everyone meets up for the final push to go after Winston.
This entire time Amy is being very cold to Brad, and is just very upset in general. As someone who has grown to love their connection on the show, this was difficult to go through. I felt like I was feeling everything that Brad was feeling, none of which was good at the time. During this time, Winston also get a visit from Fanning telling him to kill Amy (and that he was an idiot for leaving.) Guilder, Richards, Brad and a team go into a building after Winston only to encounter more Virals. Winston makes it out, and chases after Amy while being burned by the sun. Amy avoids him for a while, but Brad eventually makes the save and takes down Winston. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long before Brad and Amy talk things out and are ok again. I just love what Mark-Paul Gosselaar is doing, and him being a father really shows in scenes like this. He tells Amy about the daughter that he lost, and they bond all over again in their grief over the loss of a loved one. In a surprise move, it appears that Richards in now on board with helping Brad, Amy and now Lila escape from Project NOAH. We'll have to see where that goes.
Finally, I want to talk about Dr. Lear and what leads up to what we see at the end of the episode. Lear has a nice moment with his wife, but eventually tells her that she has been injected with the virus. Now imagine how you'd feel if you were told similar news. Yeah, Elizabeth doesn't take it well and that takes it's toll on Dr. Lear. With everything going on with that, and what Sykes has been experiencing, they make the decision to terminate all of the Virals. There's just one problem with that. We found out when Winston died, that each Viral that he created died when he did. That's right, if they kill Fanning, that means that anyone injected with his form of the virus dies. That means Amy and Elizabeth as well, so they shut it down. If you think Fanning was mad before and wanted to destroy mankind, imagine how he is feeling now. Not to mention Guilder won't be too happy that the two doctors were about to destroy a multi-million dollar project.
What will the fallout be from the failed execution? Will Richards finally be the one that helps Brad and Amy escape? Are Babcock and Fanning now more motivated than ever to strike? Can a cure be found to save Elizabeth? I have a feeling that we will be getting answers to these questions soon. I think we also get to find out what happens with Brad and Lila's daughter in Episode 7, so make sure you check our review/recap next week too!
(Photo © 2019 FOX Broadcasting. Cr. Erika Doss / FOX)