The Event: Loyalty

While this episode was not perfect it finally accomplished one important goal that all television shows aspire to: I finally care about one of the characters. To be fair I doubt all television shows write at the center of their story bibles, “Make the author of Sensyden’s Sounding Board care about our characters”, but I would like think television would be better if they did! Simon is interesting and I must admit I am a sucker for the undying lover at the bedside of his elderly companion I thought it was done well in this episode.

Speaking of this episode it would seem that Simon’s loyalties are with “his” people but also to the people of this world. He is a good man even if he is 1% genetically different than the rest of the men on this planet. He went back for the faceless FBI agent and radioed frantically for everyone to evacuate the building. However, Simon will always be loyal to the people he landed with in Alaska. The series would be a bit boring if he simply came out and gave away all the secrets of his people when the next episode airs. I do think he is going to have a few interesting conversations with the agent he graduated the academy with and that should make for good TV!

The Sean and Layla stuff feels like an entirely different series which is of inferior quality to the rest of the show. Between last weeks shootout and this weeks introduction of the “former journalist who’s been discredited because she got too close to the truth and happens to be a bit crazy from the life experiences she has had since her fall” I feel like their story is just one poorly done cliche. Even Sean’s desire to hide Layla followed by her insistence on staying in the fight could be seen coming from a mile away.

According to Simon, where he comes from “has no water”. Is that literal or do they simply not have large bodies of water? Have they completely tamed the planet and stripped it for parts? If that is true why would Thomas want to return so badly?

I had guessed that Thomas and Sophia were in a relationship and their reunion did nothing to prove or deny that assumption. Sophia was genuinely happy to see him if a little disappointed about the circumstances. Though for all her talk she was willing to escape with him down into the spider hole.

On an unrelated story note, I was thrilled that Simon did not get away with his impressive plan to dose unsuspecting civilians with the radioactive isotope. While is was great thinking on his part it would simply be too convenient for it to work and for him to keep his cover.