by Erin Conrad & Donna Cohrs
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The pieces are coming together – and the race to see who will get the puzzle done is on! Will Peter and Det. Cohen be able to stop whatever is being set in motion – or will Rabbi Lev, Dr. Margrove, Billingham and the US Ambassador get there first – wherever “there” is?
The investigation into Emma’s death and the subsequent revelations are consuming Peter – working all night, waking Det. Cohen and his lover up at 5 am… when Peter picks Cohen up, he tells him that this is bigger than the death of one girl. “In 1991, Rabbi Lev and his radical followers were caught trying to blow up the Temple mound. Shin Bet uncovered the plot, they arrested his six co-consipirators unloading explosives with Rabbi Lev, they were taken in for questioning and never charged. These guys are planning on rebuilding the temple.” “That’s insane. Anything happens to that temple mound, the Arab world will erupt. They’ll be starting WWIII,” Cohen responds. “Exactly.” Is that the point, to force a war? Or is there a higher, more spiritual end? The dynamic between Peter and Cohen is interesting – both are alphas, used to being in charge of their own territory. Peter may be FBI, but that doesn’t carry the weight in Israel that it does in the US, and Cohen is happy to throw that in Peter’s face.
Following his rough voyage, Avram arrives in Croatia, and is picked up by a Christian man involved in the plot and his daughter. This is the first test of his Orthodox lifestyle – he has to sit next to a woman to whom he is not married. He is young (19) and most likely sheltered – what’s to come will be a rude awakening for him. He doesn’t seem to have any knowledge of what the calf is to be used for, or why he’s been entrusted with this important task, only that he must carry it out.
At the American Embassy, the Ambassador confronts Lynn about Peter. “You have a blind spot. I understand. He used to be your boss back in the States. It’s obvious to me he’s not working out. I wonder why it’s not obvious to you. Women have to prove they’re tough enough for this job. They also have to be above reproach personally.” Is she using this as a pretense to get rid of someone she thinks may be an obstacle to the events she’s working toward? Lynn is taken aback. “Meaning what?” she asks. “Meaning, you’re not screwing him, are you? Do yourself a favor. Do us all a favor. Get him under control.” When Lynn leaves, the Ambassador calls Rabbi Lev, says she talked to Peter’s superior, and if Lynn doesn’t take care of getting Peter out of the way, the Ambassador will. She asks him where they are with finding the real stone. Rabbi Lev replies that they’ll have it by the end of the day.
Peter and Cohen go to see Cohen’s Uncle Shimon. Discussing what Peter thinks is going on, Shimon says, “It’s not going to happen. The Jews have been talking about rebuilding the temple since the Romans destroyed it.” Peter has been putting some of the clues together, and tells him, “We believe the Jerusalem Heritage Center is collecting the stones for the breastplate.” “So what?” Shimon asks. “Even if they find all the stones, for this prophecy to come true, they need…” “a red heifer without blemish, a high priest born of the lineage of the first high priest, raised in isolation, without his feet touching the ground until his 13th year…” Peter fills in. (So there’s Josh and his role.) “No sane Israeli wants war over the temple mound,” Shimon insists.
But Peter is adamant: “I’m also sure that Rabbi Lev is collecting the stones. So where might he be looking?” Shimon tells him that, according to Jewish history, the stones were scattered to all four corners of the earth, and hidden away for safekeeping. “Some say there’s a passage in the War Tablet that describes the location of all 12 stones. Written by the Essenes, an ancient religious sect hidden in the desert by the Dead Sea. They call themselves ‘the sons of light,’ protecting the breastplate, keeping the stones from ever being found. They would die for this.” Remember the Essene that killed Avram’s guide in Norway? We thought he was a “bad guy” – turns out he may be on the right side!
In New Mexico, Debbie’s friend Charlie (Dean Checkvala), who turned her down when she called trying to get help, has had a change of heart and comes looking for her. He finds the waitress from the diner where Debbie beat up Faye. She tells him that she probably went back to the compound, and tells him how to get there. When he arrives, he barges in – Billingham must be sure that they’ve put her somewhere that he won’t be able to find – and he doesn’t. They convince him that she left of her own accord, and give him a box with her leftover possessions. Meanwhile, Debbie, chained up and desperate, tries to get the woman caring for her to call her mother, and says they’re going to kill her. “They killed Josh, they’re going to kill me.” The woman, obviously not part of the inner circle, doesn’t believe her. “We don’t kill people here.”
Sill traveling with the heifer, Avram is urged to change clothes because he draws too much attention. He tucks his side curls under the ball cap. The arrive at Croatian man’s home, but the Essene is watching them. They have a celebration, and Avram is reluctantly drawn in, dancing with the group, until he catches sight of the daughter in front of a crucifix, and remembers that this not what he was raised to believe, that he’s there for a different reason.
Cohen and Peter go to the Israel Museum to see the War Tablet, which contains clues to the locations of the treasures of the Temple. They find the curator dead on the floor of a locked area, and the tablet is gone. Cohen finds worker’s clothes on floor, and they desperately try to find the killer. Jason Isaacs seems to be the only person actually live tweeting during the episodes (the show has apparently set up a series of scheduled tweets, but honestly, they aren’t that interesting) – I asked him during the episode about the scenes with him crawling through the air ducts. I suggest following him on Twitter (@jasonsfolly) – he’s funny and responsive!
Khalid brings the stolen war tablet to Rabbi Lev, the Shin Bet undercover agent looking on. Peter and Cohen bring a photograph of the tablet to Shimon – had been stored in a velvet box, words had been etched on it and sat in the velvet so long they left an impression, so they scanned the velvet. Shimon doesn’t know what to make of it. The scene goes back and forth – Lev and Shimon separately both try to figure it out. The tablet has holes in it, which Peter and Cohen can tell from the copy they have. This reminds Peter of the paper he found in Emma’s journal with the holes cut out, so he pulls it out and they try to fit it onto the scanned copy. Shimon ponders the copy – “It makes no sense. Essenes hated the priests in the temple, considered them corrupt. So they abandoned them to Qumran, where there are the Dead Sea Scrolls. But unlike the other scrolls, they didn’t make they out of papyrus. They were very gifted metal workers. Why would they make the letters that deep, unless they were more interested in what was in the back than the front?”
Shimon turns it over and looks at the reverse of the page. “Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet corresponds with a number. These numbers lead us to psalm 17:8,” he explains. Peter answers, “Prayer of David. Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings.” Remember, Peter has a religious background as well – Cohen has asked him more than once about why he dropped out of the seminary. Shimon tells him that “the Prayer of David is depicted in three mosaics across the world – Rome, Istanbul, and Israel. Megiddo, also known by it’s Greek name – Armageddon.”
Charlie finds Debbie’s ring in box of her “leftover possessions,” and knows that she wouldn’t have left without it. Will he attempt again to find her, or does he believe Billingham that Debbie started using drugs again and left on her own? I hope he’s suspicious enough that he’ll try to help her!
Billingham holds Debbie in judgment in front of the congregation. He tells her to repent her sins, and she may be forgiven. She says that instead, he is the one who has sinned. “You saved me, you held me, fed me, cared for me while I got clean. You saved my life. And then you used me, made me an accessory to murder, killed the boy I helped to raise. You pervert the word of God. You are hypocrites and murderers. You need to repent, not me.” She’s brave, but will it do any good? Unless Charlie can find a way back in and rescue her, probably not! After she condemns him, Billingham asks Joshua, now revealed as the descendant of the High Priest, what the Lord says about Debbie, and he pulls a black stone from the bag, “Guilty.” What does that mean for her? Was she right, that they will kill her for what they see as her betrayal?
Back in Croatia, still watching Avram, the Essene covers himself in dirt and prays, then puts on white robes, He approaches the heifer as Avram sleeps, and says, “I am with you, but it is not time. The moon will lead us to our destination.” What does he mean? Is he really against this cabal putting together the pieces to create Armageddon, or does he have another use for a red heifer without blemish?
Khalid and Peter and Cohen race to Megiddo and arrive about the same time. They’re looking for the Prayer of David – the ancient mosaic. Khalid finds it, and knows what he is looking for, which is buried in the tiles. He hits the mosaic with a stanchion, pulls something out of it, and runs off to his motorcycle. Peter and Cohen chase him, where Peter shoots him in the leg, but it doesn’t stop him. This is one slippery guy – they’ve come close several times to catching him. What was it he was looking for? How will it help Rabbi Lev uncover the secrets he needs?
Watch this week’s Inside The Episode video for more details:
This week’s DIG lesson: Armageddon
1. (New Testament) the final battle at the end of the world between the forces of good and evil, God against the kings of the earth (Revelation 16:16) 2. a catastrophic and extremely destructive conflict. C19: from Late Latin Armagedōn, from Greek, site of various battles in the Old Testament.
Armageddon is the place where this great battle is to be fought is in Israel. “The blood will run to the horse’s bridle in this valley of Megiddo during this battle. This valley is called by the name Jezreal, also.” There have already been 20 battles fought at this very spot, but never a battle of this magnitude. This battle will be the 21st (3 x 7). Three means God. Seven means spiritually complete. God Himself will settle the outcome of this once and for all. This truly will be the war to end all wars. Shortly after this battle, Jesus will set up His Kingdom.
Verse 16 identifies the place of the final battle as Armageddon, from the Hebrew Har Megiddon (the Hill of Megiddo). The hill country of Megiddo and the adjacent valley of Esdraelon have been the site of many important battles (Judge 5:15; 2 Kings 9:27; 23:29). Learn more about Tel Megiddo here.
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