(WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD FOR SEASON 1 EPISODE 8 OF THE PASSAGE!)
It really feels like everything is about to kick into high gear, doesn't it? After we see Amy meet Fanning for the first time at the end of last week's episode, it feels like the game is about to change. I'll admit when I saw the episode title was, "You Are Not That Girl Anymore", I got a little nervous for Amy. Oh that tricky Passage writer's room! Let's talk about that swerve and what else happened in this week's episode.
I have to start out by talking about the face to face meeting between Amy and Fanning. Amy is not having any of his pitch at first. There is a line where she says something along the lines of her not playing games and telling him to get to the point. Man that is CLASSIC Amy and I loved it! There is just something about Fanning though, and he starts to wear her down a little bit. Granted she does tell him to leave her house, but Fanning definitely got through to her a bit and this is not the last time that they would meet during the episode. We'll circle back to that here in a few.
In the real world, Amy is sick and displaying symptoms of infection. This gives Guilder all of ammo he needs to "reboot" Project NOAH. Oh great, another useless reboot, right? Well there is one person who won't have any of it, and that's Sykes. She tries to fight him on it, but she can only do so much. Richards is very much a part of the fight as well, but Guilder announces that everyone is relieved of their duties effective immediately. Unfortunately that also means that everyone's security clearance is revoked. Well...almost everyone anyway. Grey is still managing to find his way throughout the building. We also have Guilder's choice for the new Head of Security, an agent named Martinez. Something just feels off about this whole thing, so Richards does what he can to get down to the lab.
Not only does he do that, he brings some company with him. Richards manages to snatch Guilder and force him to bring them down there. By them, I mean Sykes, Brad and Lila! Brad goes right to Amy, while Sykes and Lila get to work on trying to figure out how to stop Fanning's virus from taking over Amy. Richards is hot on the trail of Grey, who ends up knocking out the communication systems. Fanning has complete control of him it seems, or Grey just feels like this is what he needs to do to stay alive. Guilder had no idea that Grey had a security clearance. We get a MAJOR bombshell after that, when we find out Martinez (the guy who put the security protocols in place when Guilder arrived), is Viral patient #2! Guilder was being played this entire time. So not only do we have another reason to hate Guilder, he has pretty much handed the keys of Project NOAH right to the Virals. Richards knows that a fight is probably coming, so he starts trying to put a trustworthy team together.
Back at the lab, Sykes and Lila are hard at work on finding a cure. I won't get into all of the details of what they are doing, but Sykes really has an incredible mind. We have seen her show more and more drive with each passing episode. If anyone in this whole horror show of Project NOAH might have redeemed themselves, it's her. She has an idea on how to stop the virus, but she's running out of time. Amy is not feeling well, and is really starting to exhibit symptoms. I'll be honest, when she lost that tooth, I was NOT ok. Things just kept feeling like they were slipping away so quickly. This is really taking it's toll on Brad, especially when Sykes tells him that Amy will eventually make the choice to turn or die. That sets us up for one of the most emotional moments of the season. Brad tells Amy that it's ok to let go, and that he loves her no matter what she chooses. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the first time he has told her that he loves her, yes? What makes this even more sad is, Brad has no idea if Amy can hear him or not. So let's go back to what's going on with Amy.
She is back with Fanning asking him what's going on. He takes her to a path in the woods, even gives her a bike to ride. This is when they get to a really creepy tunnel. It's pretty much a physical manifestation of the choice that she needs to make. If she crosses through the other side of the tunnel, she lives and she turns. If she doesn't, she simply dies in the tunnel. Amy begins to ride through, and for a moment you think she is actually going to go through with it. She ends up stopping short of the end and she breaks down a bit. She lights one of the matches from the pack that her mom gave her, and then decides to turn around. She rides right past Fanning, who urges her to turn back around. I did find it curious that Fanning didn't really try to stop her. He even tells Carter earlier in the episode that they need 12, and that they need Amy to be able to get out. That might not necessarily be the case.
Grey manages to escape captivity, and now HE has Guilder and is using his clearance. Around this same time, Sykes reveals that she has found a way to stop the virus in Amy's system. The anti-viral is made and she is ready to deliver it. Lila also left the lab to get ice packs to bring Amy's fever down. This pretty much breaks the first rule of horror, never wander off alone. This is when Grey completely messes up everything. First thing he does is lock Sykes in the lab. He also knocks Lila out, so she can't help. Remember Brad is already in with Amy, and if he leaves, he likely won't be able to get back in. Richards is working on it, but time is running out for Amy. This is when the plan really begins.
Grey has the keys to the cells, and HE is the one that is going to let all of the Virals out. At this point, there is nobody that can stop him and he succeeds. Just when it looks like Amy is going to be killed by the virus, she wakes up and tells Brad that they have to go. Brad also sees that all of the Virals are out, so they have to move fast. He also stops to save Guilder, which shows how much of a good guy that Brad really is. Raise your hand if you would have left Guilder there with the Virals. I won't judge you! They manage to get through the door safely, but just before the episode ends, we see Amy's eyes make that turn. Does this mean what we think it does?
This episode really sets up next week's 2 hour finale extremely well. We also got another flashback dealing with Richards and Babcock this week, that could also set up an interesting showdown there. Several months ago she escaped, he tracks her down and takes her to dinner. Their bond goes stronger, but ultimately Richards turns her in. When Babcock comes to Richards during all of this craziness, he finally admits that he cares for her. Check that, CARED for her. He tells Babcock that he cared for the broken girl that he first met, not the monster she has become now. He also says he'll kill her if he gets the chance, so it's definitely on now. Saying it and being able to do it are two different things though. She even reminds him that he had a chance to kill her once before and couldn't do it.
How will things play out between Richards and Babcock? Is Amy really about the make her Viral turn? Will somebody finally stop Grey? Will the Virals find their way out of the Project NOAH facility? Can Carter fight the virus enough to help against Fanning? That barely scratches the surface of the questions I have after this week! There is so much to look forward to, along with the knowledge that even more help is on the way.
What did you think of this week's episode?
(Photo Credit: © 2019 FOX Broadcasting. CR: Erika Doss / FOX.)