The penultimate episode in the
fledgling series was high on torment and tension. I believe it is a nice set-up for all hell
breaking loose for the mid-season finale. Cobalt is a hard lustrious silver gray metal. Things are about to get harder...
The first scene opens with a view
of the American flag hanging over the detention center where Doug is being
held. An African-American man speaks to
Doug about selling insurance. Doug cries
out looking at a picture of his wife. The
other man taunts him, noting that since she is still good looking, she’ll find
“a man to help her survive through all this.” Doug cries out more despondently and is taken
out of the holding cell, the man turns to look at Nick, asking, “And who are
you?”
Ofelia is shouting at the army near
the neighborhood’s fence. She throws
things, demanding to know where her mother has been taken. The soldier who was flirting with her in the
previous episode offers to take her home.
At the kitchen table, Maddy looks
forlorn. Travis enters and assures her
he’ll find out where Nick is by talking to Moyers. Chris enters and is rude to Maddy then tries
to explain to Travis that Liza left willingly. Chris is concerned Liza will not return. Travis advises his son to “be strong” and
tells him he will get his mom back. Maddy reminds him to ask about Nick too.
Liza sutures a wound in a makeshift
hospital, which appears to be a gym. The doctor is shorthanded, stating several
nurses quit. (A few are unaccounted for, did they turn?) Liza asks to see Griselda.
The doctor is curt with her.
Maddy goes to the Trans’ and finds
the note Alicia read at the end of the last episode. She hears some banging and
goes to investigate. (Patrick Tran is still unaccounted for.) Instead, she
finds Daniel, Ofelia and the soldier duct taped to a chair. She winces as
Daniel coldly explains; “This is how we bring them home.”
The soldier says their family
members will be okay. Maddy interrupts,
“Where are they?” Ofelia pleads with her
father not to hurt the soldier, stating he doesn’t know anything. Maddy tells Daniel that Travis is going to
talk to the commander, Moyers. Daniel is
adamant he needs the soldier to bargain with the army for their families’
release. He asks Maddy to keep an eye on
Ofelia while knowing she wouldn’t want to see the man tortured.
Travis has a conversation with
Moyers. The commander is short with him
stating the “quarantined” are under the doctor’s jurisdiction and he has no say
in their release. He also says he can’t
concern himself with civilian matters. It’s
a dead end. Travis insinuates the
civilians could revolt if he doesn’t get information. The commander asks if
that is a threat, then grudgingly offers to have Travis taken to his ex-wife’s
location. The commander is abrupt with
the patrol leader who complains they’ve been up fifty hours. Is mutiny
stirring?
Daniel speaks to the soldier,
asking him not to blame Ofelia for his present predicament. Daniel takes off his shirt and opens an
assortment of “tools.” The soldier states his wife is about two miles away at a
community college, which has been set up as a hospital and quarantine area.
Travis rides along with the super
fatigued patrol unit. They approach a walker and set up their weapon to shot
the woman. Travis looks through the
scope, sees the nametag on the woman’s uniform and is unable to shoot her. (In
a scene reminiscent of Morgan in TWD Pilot where he is unable to shoot his
wife.) The men taunt him, “Do you think she’s human, then that would make us
murderers?” Travis is silent. Another man shoots her, blowing her head off.
Liza and Dr. Exner work triaging
patients arriving for care. Liza finds
one with a bite mark and that person is quickly removed down the hallway. The doctor chastises Liza, stating a missed
bite could put everyone at risk.
The military inform Travis there
are still pockets of infected, people who “don’t trust the government.” The men
go inside a building, but quickly retreat. Travis overhears screaming and
“There’s too many” on the radio in the Humvee.
Daniel seems to be toying with the
soldier. He recounts his own torture;
blood is seen on his undershirt. Daniel
asks, “What is Cobalt?” stating he’s heard the code word on the radio
transmissions. The soldier pleads ignorance and Daniel continues to skin his
arms.
Alicia rolls up to Chris on a
bright pink bicycle. She offers to take
him somewhere cool. They go to an abandoned mansion. Alicia sets out trying on
expensive gowns and jewelry. Chris
watches her; sexual tension between them is mounting.
The African-American man in the
holding cell gets his temperature taken. Nick has a fever so is about to be
removed from the others. The
African-American man makes a deal with the guard, his cufflinks for Nick. The guard agrees. What is this guy playing at?
The patrol exits from the over-run
building. Travis’s ally is dead; the man
driving says they are no longer going to the hospital but to San Diego. (Where
he has family.) Is it possible they took out their commanding officer? They don’t
say he died, just that he’s not coming back. Fragging?
Daniel emerges from the basement
carrying a bowl of soldier skin to the kitchen! Maddy asks him how it’s going. He tells her how he explained to nine-year-old
Ofelia why they had to flee El Salvador and about the things they had endured.
He adds, he never told her which part he played. (The aggressor, not the
victim!) Maddy asks, “Did he tell us what we need to know?”
Liza accompanies Dr. Exner to the
quarantine area where Griselda is slipping into septic shock after her foot
amputation. The doctor chides Liza for
not trusting her. Griselda mumbles about
seeing the face of the devil. (Daniel?)
Alicia and Chris continue to party
in the mansion, wondering where the people fled. They are drunk on champagne. Suddenly, Chris begins to break things, and
Alicia joins in, eager for some catharsis.
Travis finds Ofelia who tells him
what’s going on in the basement. He asks
her if she knew what her father was going to do. Downstairs, Daniel hears the soldier recount a
frightening story. He tells of a large group, perhaps two thousand people in a
confined area. The military couldn’t tell the infected from the living so they
shot everyone then locked them inside. Travis enters the basement. Daniel asks
the soldier, “Tell him about Cobalt!” The soldier explains Cobalt is the code
for the evacuation of the L.A. basin, with “humane termination” of civilians. It’s due to start the next morning!
In the holding cell, Nick throws
up. He asks the man, “Why did you save me?” The man says, “I’ve obligated you!”
He’ll need him when he makes his next move. He thinks the army will be leaving
soon and they will be on their own. As an addict, he views Nick as a survivor
and wants him on his team. He shows Nick
a key, presumably to the pens where they are locked up.
Alicia and Chris head home after
their “play-date.” Alicia sees the army go by and says, “Something is wrong,
they aren’t patrolling anymore.” Have they started Cobalt?
In the quarantine area, Griselda struggles
for breath. The doctor states her brain is swelling and there is nothing left
to do. Abruptly she dies, and Dr. Exner
informs Liza they have to induce head trauma or she will “come back.” Using a
cattle gun, Liza shoots Griselda in the head.
Daniel sees the military trucks
leaving the neighborhood. He goes up a set of stairs to find the doors chained.
Inside, the dead groan and strain at the doors. How long will the chains hold
them? I predict all hell is about to
break loose and this rag-tag group will have to bind together to survive on
their own.
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