Recap
Charleston is running for cover as the Espheni beamers fly over head and they fear they will break the towns defenses. The 2nd mass is on the edge of town defending off a large number of mechs attempting to make ground. Tom is the only one who seems to trust the Volm enough to believe their defense net will work.
The shooter who is in jail is taken outside to watch the Volm’s defense system at work. She tries to run fearing the beamers will take them out. However the Volm’s weapons shoot and take out all the beamers and Charleston is safe yet again. The sniper is in shock, not sure what is going on. Cochise comes up behind her and explains that the answer to her questions are not easy even for him to explain.
Hal nearly spills to Tom that he thinks he is the Mole when Maggie steps in yet again to stop Hal. Anne takes a swab from the baby just as Lourdes steps into the room. When Anne says I love you to the baby, the baby replies I love you back. CREEPY!
Lt. Fisher insists that Hathaway needs to know about whats going on in Charleston. They killed more mechs, skitters and beamers then she has ever seen. Tom agrees to let her contact him over short wave radio.
Lourdes explains to Ben and Denny that although the harness was removed, the nucleus fibers from it are still intact and constantly regenerating. This results in the abilities that Ben and the other kids have, but the stress on their bones and body is just too great. Lourdes expects, if they don’t use the Volm machine to remove them, their live spans will be very short.
Tom and Weaver need to borrow Pope’s plane in order to meet Hathaway. Pope won’t let it go without a fight, so Pope is going with them on the mission. While they are gone, Weaver and Marina are left in charge, as Bressler will be flying the plane. Anne hears of his mission and wishes him luck and to stay safe. Tom, Pope, Cochise and Bressler get on the plane with Lt. Fisher to meet president Hathaway.
Ben and Denny talk about the things he will miss should they get their spikes removed. Ben is worried about no longer being needed, not being better than his brother and being important to the fight. Dr. Glass visits Kadar in the underground and asks for his help in setting up a DNA test so that Anne can determine if the de-harness machine has any lasting side effects on those children.
Ben and Matt have a conversation about Ben’s spikes and the fact that he is nervous about removing the harness. The plane lands at ‘keystone’ and is meet with guns pointed and cautious apprehension. General Donovan is not about to allow an alien near the president and orders Cochise into custody. Tom and President Hathaway go into a secure location to discuss what is going on in Charleston.
Hathaway is far from convinced about the 2nd mass’s claims and success. Hathaway wants to know more about how the Volm are helping them. Donovan is suspect of what the Volm will do with earth after the Espheni are killed, much like the rebel skitters want to know. Tom says that is why he brought Cochise with, so they can ask him face to face.
Hathaway asks Cochise directly, why are they fighting the Espheni. Cochise tells a story about the Volms home world. They have been fighting the Espheni for hundreds of years. He has never seen it or stepped foot on it. Him and his brother were born on the war ships that set out hundreds of years ago to fight the Espheni. He hopes one day he will be able to let his children’s children step foot on their home world again. His story is enough to convince Hathaway to go to round 2 with Tom.
Ben is still very unsure about having the spikes removed and the abilities that he has now. He feels that with his spikes that makes them part of the solution to win this war. Ben jokes that he will like Denny with glasses. Hal is looking for his father but isn’t getting the answers he wants.
Hal is not feeling right, he is asking questions to Weaver he knows he wouldn’t question. When Hal looks in the mirror he has a split personality experience. The ‘evil’ within Hal speaks to him while looking in the mirror, convincing him that he knows exactly what he is doing. In a fit of rage, he punches the mirror, and it seems the probe has taken over Hal’s body for a bit.
Hal isn’t himself, and he goes to Maggie and tells her he wont bother telling anyone whats going on. Kadar has the results back, and it appears 1 of the DNA results came back as a mix of alien and human DNA. Anne realizes that Lexi isn’t human, and Kadar says Tom must know about the results. Anne freaks out and hits Kadar over the head and flees.
Hal and Maggie make out, but the look on Hals face indicates it’s the evil Hal who is having the fun. The real Hal inside knows what he is doing and he is horrified about it. Ben shows up for the deharness session but cannot find Denny. Denny shows up and tells Ben she decided against it, as did Ben. They will remain ‘spiked’.
Anne meets up with Lourdes and the baby. Anne gives Lourdes a drink in which she spiked and Lourdes passes out. Anne takes the baby and decides to leave Charleston in order to protect Lexi. Ben and Denny star up at the stars and talk constellations, while wearing fake glasses and joking with each other.
Back at keystone, the enemy has found their camp. Hathaway takes Cochise on their plane with Tom, Bressler and Pope on the first plane. Beamers come in and start shooting at both planes, as they attempt to lose them. The presidents plane is shot down, with Cochise aboard. Their plane takes a hit in the left engine and they go crashing down into the woods.
Anne is caught leaving the city by a harnessed kid and a skitter. The skitter knows of Alexis but as Anne tries to run, Hal stops her.
Review
Anne and the baby
Tonight’s title “At All Costs” is a friendly reminder that even when they are winning, there is a price to pay in the end. Anne continues her efforts to figure out just what is going on with Lexi and she comes up with a plan, DNA test. Kadar helps her with this test and she finds out the baby has alien DNA. I can’t say any of us are shocked by this, but the real question is, how is that possible? That means the aliens did something to Tom when he was aboard the ship. Just as the episode closes, Anne hits Kadar over the head, drugs Lourdes and is caught by Hal and skitter trying to leave Charleston. When will we see Anne again?
Hal vs Hal
Hal’s split personality hits new heights this week as we see the inner battle flesh out on-screen in a bit of a bloody mary style talking mirror scene. The ‘evil’ Hal takes over and uses Hal to advance Karen’s mission, including the capture of Anne and the baby. The writers felt like throwing in a love scene between evil Hal and Maggie and it just felt out-of-place. It served no real purpose to the story and felt like a wasted bit of screen time used to ‘shock’ people but it felt more wrong than shocking.
President Hathaway
We got our first look at president Hathaway played by Stephen Collins and his general Donovan played by BSG veteran Michael Hogan. They don’t take too kindly to Cochise at first but after talking with Tom and Cochise, they decide to work together but not before the aliens find them. The episode ends with Tom’s plane crashing and the president’s plane gone after trying to outrun a beamer. Collins as the president felt off to me. He didn’t have the passion on-screen to shine above anyone. In fact, what little screen time Pope had stood out more. Perhaps the writers did this knowing of the plane crash and didn’t bother to build him up that much.
Did Cochise survive the plane crash? What about the general or the president? It is clear the mole found out about the use of Pope’s plane to meet the president and as a result put a tracker on the plane. That leaves many lingering questions about who the mole is.
The Harness & the spiked kids
A lot of questions were brought up about the harnesses and what it means for Ben and Denny. In the end they decided against removing them, knowing that the abilities it gives them is the only thing that keeps them useful and is helping win the war. The look on Ben’s face was that of relief that not only does he have a friend who will remain like him but that someone else understands his reasoning for keeping them. However, they are keeping them at a very big price. Their lifespans are going to be very short if they continue to allow the spikes to grow and advance. I wonder what the Volm might be able to do in that area? Ben’s inner struggle with being needed and fitting in has not gone away and as human/alien relations continue to strain, he may find himself pushed further away with his decision to keep his spikes. We all knew he was not going to get rid of his spikes, it’s a part of the mythology and story from season 1 up until know and there is far more to discover and discuss on that front. What the writers did nicely was how Ben came to the decision not to get rid of them and they wrapped it up in 1 episode rather than dragging it out. Strategically it was good for the war machine, but personally as much as he hates the spikes they give him the one thing he never had before: being needed.
Darker intentions?
Has anyone else noticed the fact that the spikes on Ben and Denny glow the same color as the device worn by Cochise and all the weapons used by the Volm? Let’s assume it’s not a budget design thing and there is more to it. We got some backstory on the Volm and the claim Cochise is making is that they have never seen their home world. That for hundreds of years they have been fighting the Espheni and they are here to end it. The rebel skitters are very skeptical of the Volm’s mission and seem to have insight into them that the humans don’t have. The rebels have warned Tom not to trust what the Volm are saying and their ships are on the way.
I wonder if the Espheni are not running from the Volm because the Volm are the aggressors. All the weapons and tech used by the Espheni and Volm revolve around the same energy discharge and it makes one wonder if the harnessing technology was not first developed by the Volm. Despite all the weapons the Espheni have, the Volm seem more advanced. We do know from our interview with Connor Jessup, that the Volm and Ben will have screen time together later in the season. The question is, will it be on good terms or will the Volm show their true colors?
I for one do not believe the machine used to remove the harness leaves the kids free and clear. I also feel that at some point this season there is going to be a confrontation with the spiked kids and the Volm as their ships approach.
Quotes
“Are you certain this aircraft is…..capable of flight?” Cochise
Mole Poll
Tonight’s episode helped eliminate a few more suspects in our mind. For starters, Cochise was with Tom and the others, and was not likely the mole, as he would be signing his own death warrant. Pope and Bressler also seem to be free and clear in this search for the mole. We did not get to see much of Marina this week but she has been the leading choice by many as being the mole. I am personally not convinced it is her, and I have my questions and doubts about other characters based on conversations over the past 4 episodes.
Ben and Denny are not clear either. In their conversations on tonight’s episodes they both expressed the need to continue communicating for the rebel skitters and there may have been a hint of distrust for the Volm. Could one of them be a sleeper agent for the Espheni and not know it? We know they can get into their minds through the spikes.
So tell us who you think the mole is based on this weeks episode.
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Images
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