Yes, we know it’s been cancelled. But damn it, we’re going to see this through to the bitter end. And we’ll make sure it’s bitter. This week, it’s all set-up for the big finale, full of unexpected twists that come right out of the left field (or the fence beyond left field) and leave you feeling…nothing.
You know, we had a complete scene-by-scene breakdown all done and the computer ate it. But you know what? Doesn’t matter. So little and so much happened this week that we can say it all much more quickly without the scene by scene.
First: “Doctor” Winter’s surgery of Channing last week didn’t work nearly as wonderfully as he thought. She’s dying of sepsis. He actually kidnaps a doctor-friend to confirm it after hours of agonized reappraisal, and he does: get her to a hospital or she’ll croak. But…he hesitates. Even at the end of the hour, he still hasn’t taken her.
Second: Tate has become a complete pussy. He now gives Winter-like speeches about how he’ll do anything to save/protect Bo, including helping her sneak into a gala and confront Skouras.
Third: in true Believe fashion, the show-runners and writers ignore or break any rules they had. Where last week, when trapped underground, Bo could barely use her much-displayed telekinesis at all, this week it’s available on demand, and so subtle she can fry security ear phones and read minds a at will, without fail, over and over. Meanwhile, whole new, previously unmentioned powers and side-effects are all over the place. Dani, the anti-Bo at Orchestra, gets a horrible skin lesion that she discovers all the Orchestrators (except Bo, apparently) get, and it’ll kill her sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Bo and Tate escape Skouras’ guys when Bo turns them invisible, a power she’s never even hinted at before. Explanation: Tate: “I didn’t know you could do that.” Bo: “Neither did I.” Oh, so that explains it. And then, to top it off, Bo blows out more bad guys by striking them with lightning. Not shoving them off with TK or turning invisible, which they did twenty minutes earlier. Lightning. And they wonder why sf/ supernatural fans didn’t flock to this? Because they want consistency in character and concept, and there ain’t nothin’ like this here. At all.
Fourth: Basically the whole episode is run-and-talk, talk-and-run. The “revelations” are so baseless that they feel tacked on and immaterial, and the speeches that are supposed to be heartfelt are so out of character or repetitive that it only points out two things: (1) most of these actors are way beyond their limits here, and (2) There is absolutely no chemistry between Bo and Tate. It’s not subtle, it’s not understated, it’s just not there. And have we mentioned recently how much we miss Twin Peaks? No?
Big revelation of the night: Skouras says to Bo: yeah, yeah, I killed your foster parents and shot Channing, but it was Winter who was responsible for your mother’s death. And when Bo vibes Winter – a guy she’s been touching, living with, reading for weeks – she discovers that at the crucial “demo” where Bo’s Mom used her power too much, collapsed (oh, look! There’s a lesion on her hand! What that there in the first episode .. hmm…) and died, Skouras was pushing them to make Mom do it, even though he knew it might kill her…and Winter didn’t’ stop him. That’s his sin. Not Skouras for pushing, Winter for not pushing back. As if that would have stopped Skouras. So who’s the villain here? And who’s the coward?
Where does it all end? Dani, the Anti-Bo, goes completely Carrie, tele-chokes Skouras, but then decides to wreak her revenge by getting to Bo instead. Bo and Tate decide not to go with Winter anymore (now hauling Channing’s dying form around in a helicopter. So apparently he can get a chopper any time he needs, but can’t find a hospital that will take her under an assumed name or something. Huh), and drive into the night. Skouras calls the airborne, Bo-less Winter and says, “I need your help,” presumably to stop Dani from getting to Bo. And we’re on to the finale next week.
We’ll skip all the minor inconsistencies (Why did Tate leave the key in the lock at Skouras place? How did Zapeda find them without trackers and such? How could Dani wander around a high-security facility without running into guards or locked doors? Would Winter really just let Bo and Tate go off, all by themselves, after everything he’s done, including killing and kidnapping people and letter others die to protect her? Do cell phones work in helicopters? And if Skouras had Winter’s phone number all along…why are we here?). Let’s just skip to the end and accept that this has degenerated into a battle royale between two Stephen King characters: Carries White vs. Charlie from Firestarter. And we’re ready to roll.
