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Dominion: Episode 3 Review, The Narrow Gate

When you came here, you were lost. I saw it in your eyes – you were running. I know you don’t believe in the things we do, but I hope you find something you can believe in.

The mystery of Mallory didn’t get any resolution this week. Who is the Prophet? It certainly helped to read about the town and its leaders on the Dominion website – but really, how have these people survived 25 years without leaving the town boundaries? How big of a perimeter does that giant fire actually give them? And are they all inbreeding now, since they’re so mistrusting of any stranger? Michael is upset when he realizes that Laurel is really preparing her own grave. He’s intrigued by – and attracted to – her unshakeable faith, her dedication to the people of her town. And she is intrigued by… well, Michael is different. He’s broken. He’s beautiful. He’s very scary. And she sees someone who quickly jumped in and saved the town when the fire went out – did it go out because he came into the town without believing? And return when he came to some belief in what was happening there?

DOMINION -- "The Narrow Gate" Episode 203 -- Pictured: (l-r) Olivia Mace as Laurel, Tom Wisdom as Michael -- (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

DOMINION — “The Narrow Gate” Episode 203 — Pictured: (l-r) Olivia Mace as Laurel, Tom Wisdom as Michael — (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

So now Laurel is set, reluctantly but with complete faith, to fulfill the mission of the town leader – every five years, the leader must sacrifice him or herself after learning all the townspeople’s secrets and sins. But Michael insists on taking her place – he considers himself part of the town, but he obviously can’t let them all know exactly who he is. And now Laurel doesn’t have all the secrets, so if Michael takes her place, he can take the town’s secrets, and his own, to the grave. Except Archangels can’t be killed that easily. And Gabriel feels the death of his twin. They may be separated, but they still share feelings at times. What will Gabriel do with this belief that Michael is dead? Will he feel more free to raid Vega and try to slaughter the inhabitants? Will he try to find the person he thinks is responsible for Michael’s death? Or will it make him pause and rethink? (heh, or none of the above – trust in Vaun.)

The flashbacks to the massacre at Sodom and Gomorrah were fascinating – and revealing. Michael and Gabriel argue about how best to kill the wicked cities’ inhabitants. Michael’s a bloodthirsty git, isn’t he! He tells Gabriel how amazing it is to kill, and dismisses Gabriel’s suggestion to strike them down quickly That idea is met with Michael’s scorn. Gabriel urges, “We should use the amphorae. These vessels contain darkness to drive them to madness; brimstone to blind and burn; and blood to drown the survivors.” And one higher angel, Lyrae, listens to Michael and finds savage joy in the killing. Michael punishes Lyrae for his butchery in the most extreme way he can – he banishes him to the outer reaches of Heaven, takes away his body, and condemns his soul. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so harsh had he not realized that he had been the role model for Lyrae’s bloodlust! And so he asks Gabriel to punish him in the same way – he knew that Gabriel would never do such a thing, so it was a way to convince Gabriel of his “repentance,” when it really was no such thing. It can be argued that this was the beginning of his turning point, the event that led him to be on the humans’ side in this war, but he’s never really given up that raging bloody part of himself. Dominion’s angels aren’t anything like the angels we learned about in Sunday school – kind of makes you wonder about the morals and values we learned, if God’s angels don’t follow those morals and values!

DOMINION -- "The Narrow Gate" Episode 203 -- Pictured: Nic Bishop as Gates -- (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

DOMINION — “The Narrow Gate” Episode 203 — Pictured: Nic Bishop as Gates — (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

In Vega, Zoe, the V-1 who tried to assassinate Claire, has escaped. She must have had a conspirator, someone who brought in the weapon that killed the guards. Gates, the engineer that Claire goes to for help finding Zoe, is a new character. I don’t at all understand why Claire thought an engineer would be the person able to find one rogue V1, but there must be some reason he’s been introduced. (And does Claire look several months’ pregnant to you? No? Me either.) She uncovers a conspiracy among her guards and shoots one for not obeying orders – he is no friend to her or to the rulers of the city. Something is rotten in the heart of Vega.

And finally, we go to the newest, most interesting area – New Delphi. Obviously, I was wrong last week with my speculation about a launch key for the rockets, but that key turns out to be for something just as deadly. Did you feel like you were at a horror movie, screaming at Alex, “Don’t go through the door!!!”? But he made more than one interesting discovery in that asylum area – General Riesen, calling himself “Sam,” has been locked up for killing an angel! Alex brings him out, letting him know that Claire is pregnant – but not telling him who the father is. Does the General assume that the father is really Claire’s husband, William Whele? (Ooooh, forgot about that already, did you?) And Alex evicts another angel without killing the host body – will Julian take that as an even trade?

DOMINION -- "The Narrow Gate" Episode 203 -- Pictured: Alan Dale as General Riesen -- (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

DOMINION — “The Narrow Gate” Episode 203 — Pictured: Alan Dale as General Riesen — (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

So, were you paying attention during the Sodom and Gomorrah flashbacks? What Julian has now is a key to at least one of the deadly amphorae (and how did he get those? that’s a story). I think we can assume that he is really the banished angel Lyrae, who has some score-settling to do – both with Michael, who punished him for being too much like him, and with Gabriel, who turned away and refused to help. Julian’s a scary guy, and sure to cause a huge amount of damage. Keep an eye out for this one!

DOMINION -- "The Narrow Gate" Episode 203 -- Pictured: Simon Merrells as Julian -- (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

DOMINION — “The Narrow Gate” Episode 203 — Pictured: Simon Merrells as Julian — (Photo by: Ilze Kitshoff/Syfy)

For an insight into this episode, watch Inside Dominion

Follow me on Twitter: @ErinConrad2 and @threeifbyspace

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