[S3E2] We're Not From Here

Dean has a memory of being involved in a childhood like the one on display here. A kindly mother who took care of him, who allowed him to be the center of her world. Sam is un-attached from those types of haunting memories. Perhaps that is why he is a more complete human being. There was a consistency in his childhood, as terrible as it was. Dean experienced the upheaval of his whole world.

[S3E2] We're Not From Here

After returning to Lallybroch in the final minutes of episode 301, we find Jamie eking out a solitary existence in a cave somewhere in the woods on the estate, hiding out from the English soldiers who continue to patrol the area and who seem to spend an inordinate amount of time harassing Jenny and Ian for their suspected Jacobite sympathies. Jamie returns periodically to deliver game he's caught and check in on his sister, and he's often visited by Fergus, but he's clearly no longer the warrior he once was, refusing to teach his young protege how to shoot to try and protect him from the wrath of the English.

Both literally and figuratively, episode 2 tackles the idea of phantom limbs; the things we lose that we continue to carry with us. Fergus and Ian have to deal with the physical reality of that loss -- the ache of something that isn't there -- but for Jamie, losing his heart seems to be a disfigurement that he can never come back from, at least until he's given a new purpose.

Is there anyone else who actually knows what the true state of Mandalore is? In the Mandalorian season 3 premiere, Din tells The Armorer (Emily Swallow) he bought a piece of Mandalorian architecture from a Jawa who, in turn, got it from a traveler who claimed they had visited Mandalore. Who could this mystery traveler be? Even more importantly, are they, Din, and Bo-Katan the only ones who know Mandalore is (mostly) safe to visit?

Glimmer: Oh she hates this idea, which is why I didn't tell her where we were going. Besides, it's not like anyone else has a plan to stop Hordak from opening a portal. You're right. Tracking Mara's message to the source is the best lead we have.

Adora: [looks over his shoulder with Glimmer to see a cartoon Bow head with x-ed out eyes and his tongue out] So, we're without a map. and the plants are evil. Heh. But it's okay, we're coming from the north.

Entrapta: [sits up as well] This doesn't make sense. It should work. The machine didn't have enough power, so we added First Ones Tech. [stands and walks over to the destroyed machinery] Then it was blowing out the power grid, so we rerouted it. Now it's powered, it's functioning, but it won't activate a portal. It's like there's a key. Maybe when Catra brings that tech back from the Crimson Waste--

Adora: [stands on a table and accidentally knocked over a bit of someone's drink, raising her hand] Hello. Sorry to interrupt, uh, but we're not from around here, [ignores Bow and Glimmer who were signaling her to stop talking] and we're hoping someone would give us directions?

Huntara: [whips around and uses one hand to push her against the stone wall, the other hand spearing a bug right next to Adora's head] Huntara doesn't run from anything. You got that? [lets her go and looks at the bug] I want to be here. [she then bites off the head of the bug, chewing it as she walks off]

Adora: [sighs and gets up, leaning against a rock and covering her face] Having this mission made me feel in control. After the last few days, I really needed it. I needed answers. I thought if I found out more about Mara, I'd find out more about myself, where I came from and why.

[Glimmer throws another sparkle bomb before teleporting away; the bomb knocks the horned goon away and Glimmer ports in between Huntara and the goon, groaning as she strains to pull the sword from its sheathe in the ground; Huntara sees this and runs at her, sliding and kicking the sword out of her hands with a shout; the sword spins in the air and Huntara snatches it and points it at Glimmer, now on the ground; Glimmer glances to the side and dives for Bow's bow and arrows, teleporting away; Huntara growls in anger as she and the goons look around for Glimmer; Adora sprints up and tackles Huntara from behind, both grunting as they fall to the ground; arrows fly in and land near the horned goon, making them groan and run as Glimmer ports where they were and taunts the four-armed lizard girl with a raspberry, making the lizard girl jump after her a couple times as she ports away]

Huntara: I was a Horde soldier. They told us we were heroes, freeing Etheria from the evil princesses. But when I saw what we were doing...how Hordak just...threw soldiers away...well. You know what we saw. You were one of us. That's where you learned to fight, isn't it? I'd recognize that training anywhere.

When Picard gets to the bridge, he learns that the Enterprise has been contacted by the Sheliak Corporate, for the first time in 111 years. In a recorded message, set on repeat broadcast from the Shelia system, they demand that a Human colony on Tau Cygna V be removed, as this planet was ceded to the Sheliak in the Treaty of Armens. They give them four days to remove the Humans. The Federation has no record of a settlement on the planet, which is cloaked in hyperonic radiation that is lethal to Humans. Picard reasons that the Sheliak have not broken a century of silence for no reason. He knows there must be someone there, so they set course for Tau Cygna V.

On arriving there, Lieutenant Worf detects Human life signs, but interference from the radiation prevents him from determining how many exactly. The radiation also prevents the use of the transporters and phasers. Crusher suggests that they must have adapted somehow; previous research by Milan had suggested it could be done, perhaps through extensive virotherapy. Picard says they must be evacuated or the Sheliak will remove them forcefully, as they consider Humans a lower form of life. 'Forceful removal' would more than likely equate to outright extermination. As Data is unaffected by the radiation, Picard orders him down to the surface, Riker commenting that there are probably only a dozen or so survivors.

Data lands the shuttlepod Onizuka on the surface, and is approached by two Humans, Kentor and Haritath. They recognize that he must be from the Federation and tell him he is the first visitor they have ever had. They will bring him to their leader, Gosheven. They claim to be descendants of the original settlers from the colony ship SS Artemis. On the USS Enterprise-D, Riker learns that the Artemis was launched 92 years ago, its destination being Septimis Minor, but when they missed a check in, an extensive search by Starfleet was begun. To the shock of the bridge crew, Data informs them that there are a total of 15,253 colonists. Without transporters, and using only shuttles it will take over four weeks to evacuate the colony. Picard orders Data to prepare for evacuation, and tells Worf to attempt to hail the Sheliak colony ship.

Picard has the Enterprise put on yellow alert and tells the Sheliak they will have to go through him to get to the colonists. He then decides to look through the treaty for something that will help. On the planet, Data has made his way to the pumping station unseen, where Gosheven has posted four guards armed with bludgeons and many of the colonists are present to watch what Data may do. He pops up from his hiding spot and stuns the guards as a demonstration of his firepower. When Gosheven tries to intervene, Data warns him to stop, and then demonstrates a stronger setting and firing it at the aqueduct and vaporizing the entire flow of water up to its source in the mountains; making good of his promise. He informs the stunned colonists that he could reduce the pumping station to a pile of debris, but trusts that his point is clear. He then tells them that one android with a hand phaser has destroyed their aqueduct, while hundreds of Sheliak are on their way, with far more powerful weapons, and the will, to eradicate their entire colony from orbit; they will not even see the faces of their killers before they die. The choice is theirs. Kentor speaks out, saying they must leave, telling Gosheven that there are challenges awaiting them elsewhere on another world. As colonists leave to start preparing for the evacuation, Data comforts Gosheven, hunched mournfully over the aqueduct, where the water has started to flow again. Gosheven now understands the reality of their situation, but tells Data that he really was ready to die for all they've built. Data reminds him that the aqueduct is merely a thing. It can always be replaced: lives cannot.

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Last week, we got a a good look at our zombie apocalypse survivors working as a team in the season three premiere of The Walking Dead on AMC.  The crew stormed a prison, cleared the grounds of Walkers and prepared to hole up in the secure and defensible cell blocks.  Unfortunately, one of their own took a Walker bite to the ankle in the process and the gang found out that they were not the only survivors seeking refuge in the prison.  The second episode, "Sick," picks up right where we left off.  After the solid opening episode, the follow-up has managed to ratchet up the tension while satiating the audience's appetite for Walker (and non-Walker) deaths alike.  Hit the jump for my recap and review of episode two of The Walking Dead. [Spoiler Alert: All reviews and recaps come with a general spoiler warning from this point onward.]And speaking of spoilers, you guys hate it when we writers ruin something for you, so please have the courtesy not to ruin things for others in the comments.  The show does not stick to the Robert Kirkman comics 100% (as we found out with Shane's character arc), so don't assume you know what's going to happen.  If you want to show off how smart you are, take it somewhere else.  Now that that's out of the way, here's a brief recap of the events of episode two, "Sick."Tonight's episode literally picks up where we left off with Rick, Daryl (Norman Reedus), T-Dog (IronE Singleton) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) trying to get the injured Hershel (Scott Wilson) to safety while facing off against the new prisoners.  We're introduced, somewhat, to Big Tiny (Theodus Crane), Tomas (Nick Gomez), Andrew (Markice Moore), Oscar (Vincent Ward) and Axel (Lew Temple).  Daryl's got them pinned back at crossbow point as Glenn gets a makeshift stretcher for Hershel.  It's clear that Tomas is the leader of this crew (and none too bright at that) with Andrew as his second.  None of that matters for now as our guys get Hershel back to the safety of the cleared cell block.  While the women try to stop the bleeding, the guys have another confrontation with the prisoners, who have followed them back.  Rick makes a deal with Tomas that he'll help them clear out a cell block of their own if they give up half their supplies.  Sounds fair, right?After explaining what went down in the world outside while the prisoners were safely locked up in the prison, both groups unite to take out the Walkers in another section of the prison. Upon their first Walker sighting, the prisoners go ape shit and attack the undead like it was a prison riot, shivving and shanking and stomping til their heart's content. While fighting a larger group, Big Tiny gets bitten but pleads his case for survival.  Tomas answers by smashing his head to a bloody pulp.  The ruthless prisoner again shows his true colors as he attempts to get Rick killed by throwing a Walker on top of him.  Rick answers his betrayal with a machete to the head.  The remaining prisoners have a choice: Andrew decides to attack Rick and then run, landing himself amid a pack of Walkers (where Rick locks the door behind him), while Oscar and Axel submit and are granted leave of their own cell block.Meanwhile, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), Carol (Melissa McBride), Beth (Emily Kinney) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) are trying to keep Hershel alive, but have cuffed him to the bed in case he goes Walker on them.  Without a doctor, Carol knows it's going to be tough to deliver Lori's baby, especially if a Cesarean section is necessary.  So she does what any sane person would do and kills a lady Walker to practice her surgical skills, while an unidentified someone watches from the treeline. Back in the prison cell, Hershel has stopped breathing, but lunges at Lori when she gives him CPR.  Zombie Hershel? Nope, just having crazy old man dreams.  He wakes briefly to wordlessly thank everyone for saving him.  Finally, Rick and Lori share a nice moment on a prison walkway while zombies claw at the fence below them. Ah, romance.I loved this episode.  There was a fair amount of gore and it was dished out to undead and living alike.  The tension between Rick and Tomas was so thick you had to cut it with a machete.  I'm almost sad to see Tomas go because the guy was so brutal and ruthless that you almost want his end to be drawn out with suffering a bit longer.  Shane (Jon Bernthal) was a great source of tension towards the end, and these new prisoners are filling in for him now.  But the tension didn't only come in the violent moments."Sick" had equally great character-building moments to the season premiere.  Carl, who I'm really rooting for, decides to go off and clear out the infirmary on his own, casually killing two walkers and returning with much-needed medical supplies. His pride got the better of his senses and when his mother yells at him, he snaps right back.  Unfortunately, the budding love interest between Carl and Beth is set back by this as Beth tells him he can't speak to his mother that way.  However, Carl was right back by the bedside, gun drawn, when it looked like Hershel might take a bite out of dear old mum.There's something interesting going on with Maggie, too.  At the sight of her father's injury, she more or less throws up her hands and thinks it's all over.  The assurances of the rest of the group, including an intimate conversation with Glenn and a sweet moment with her sister Beth, don't seem to assuage her doom-and-gloom anymore. Keep an eye on her; she ain't right in the head.  Carol used to be the one with the mental stability issues, but as she's cutting up corpses in the prison yard for the good of the group, I think she's at least gotten over her squeamishness.Rick is becoming the honey badger of this group: he don't care, he don't give a shit. "You got more food than you got choices," he tells the prisoners while trying to make a deal that's best for everyone.  He didn't hesitate to axe Hershel's leg off last week and he didn't wait too long to split Tomas' skull ("Shit happens.") or chase down Andrew once the prisoners had exhausted their chances.  I even expected him to put Oscar and Axel down, too.  Lori even said, "Do whatever you gotta do to keep this group safe and do it with a clear conscience."  But it was touching to see that Rick might still have a tenuous hold on his human side as seen during that last conversation between him and Lori, who clearly still loves him (she smelled her damn shirt where his bloody hand had been for God's sake!). I can only imagine that Rick's rock-solid resolve is being showcased now because it will surely be tested in upcoming episodes.Some of you had problems with my 7/10 last week, whether you thought it was too low, or in one case, too high.  Here's the thing, the opener had great action sequences, good dialogue scenes between our key characters and great effects work, as usual.  But it was all rush, rush, rush, one action sequence to the next.  There were nice moments, but few real surprises and a general lack of tension until the last bit.  "Sick," however, ratchets up the tension, gets in all the gory kills and even manages to develop the characters more than the opener.  And there's some added intrigue as to the question of who was watching our crew from outside the prison walls.  The only way it could have impressed me more is if they'd thrown in some big twist/surprise. That's why I'll give this episode:Rating: 9/10Musings: 041b061a72