“A Kingdom Divided Against Itself”

Hello? Is anyone there?

It’s interesting to see how missing an episode of a TV show can throw you out a loop so much as missing a single episode of Containment. What happened that Lex is no longer imprisoned? Did that go anywhere or was that a quick shock factor, never to be followed up?  And now Lommers has a husband, one we’ve never heard any mention of before. Interesting. Although to be honest, I’m mostly gutted I missed the (naked) chemistry between Jake and Katie.

Lex and Lommers are locked in a container. And it is as dull as it sounds. With the containment of these two characters, forcing them to talk, makes for revelations and finally Lex finds Lommers is capable of sharing real information, with an admission to knowing in advance of the virus and its terrible ability to spread like gross Marmite left out in the sun.  Lommers is finally seeing what she helped create when the container becomes the site for a protest and unrest. Despite food being given out nearby to dissuade the cordoned public from protesting, tensions are growing and more and more people are packing together outside of the container. Too closely together, wuh-oh.

Why have Teresa and Xander decided to leave? Jeez, I’ve really missed so much. But it’s okay, we seem to (finally) be at the point in the story where the first episode started, almost 2 and a half months ago. So the couple have left, making their way to her grandparents, Burt and that lady whose name we only learnt last week. Seeing the growing mob by the container they split after Teresa thinks she’s spotted her mother and rather romantically Xander goes to track her down. However, all he really does is put himself in danger, and in those moments away from Teresa and in the unsettling situation in the streets, Teresa is knocked to the ground. With Xander coming in to contact with the disease, he daren’t pick Teresa up, so it’s lucky that Jana finds them and encourages them back to her base. The build towards the utter chaos promised from the first episode feels a little incoherent and heavy at moments, but ultimately pays off. Finally we are rewarded with seeing the characters in the situations we first witnessed them in. It’s a Great use of story-telling. Enjoyable.

Now we’re up to speed with Episode One’s preview of Day 16. Phew. Which means that for the rest of the episode, we are waiting for the soldiers to come out with their guns.  Lommers has already said that innocent, unarmed Americans are not important when America could be completely destroyed by the virus. We’re told that Lommers and her brash nature is due to her first mentor dying through compassion. Aye, alright then hen. Lommers comes across too desperate, giving up far too much personal information, in an attempt to show Lex (Lex being the audience) that she is only this way because of certain things. Casually throwing in her whereabouts two weeks ago, with her husband in Nantucket. Whatever for? Oh wait, this must be something which will suddenly become relevant at the end. Lex gives the ’emotional’ Lommers a pep talk, and suddenly they’re pals.

There’s a lovely wee awkward scene with Jake serenading Katie at a romantic lunch (seriously, where does her kid go this whole time? He’s conveniently away for these moments), which results in a cute sing song from Katie, this could be a nice moment from a quirky romantic show, like New Girl. But it’s not. There’s death and panic outside those hospital walls.

With Quentin, Katie’s son, revealing that the remaining two kids she’s responsible for have just been kidnapped by a man hoping to break through the barricade, the date is cut short and they rush to find the missing children. They do pause long enough for Jake to put on his uniform, but after more motorcycle mayhem, Jake makes the decision to shed his clothing for a more inconspicuous look, in an effort to protect Katie and himself.

Knowing what was going to happen, from Ep 1, made tonight’s episode much more exciting than I initially thought it would be, thinking there wouldn’t be any element of surprise. I really enjoyed watching that vision come together and fall in to place, particularly in the final ten minutes. The scenes with Jake and Katie seem to be working much better, and the initial uncomfort from watching the cheesy musical interlude, turned into a lovely piece of escapism, much like what their characters are hoping for, if they ever get to leave.

This is jeopardised when Katie thinks she has rescued one of the missing kids from a car she sees get smashed into by another vehicle. Thinking the girl died from her injuries, an upset Katie is found by Jake holding the girl close to her. Upset and covered in blood, from her own injuries, and from the girl, Jake pleads with Katie to put the body down. It takes a moment, and in that moment we see Katie realise that she may not have died from entirely natural causes. The scene of a distraught and frantic Katie scrubbing down in the same place where only recently she had shared an intimate time with Jake draws out start contrasts as the place looks grim and cold. This scene, complete with a crying Jake sitting outside the shower room, makes this episode worth while. Although I’m not sure I want to see anymore if this means anything negative for Katie and Jake’s Love Story.

Amongst all the chaos of the soldiers going into the cordoned zone, shooting some folk and a bizarre return from some members of the motorcycle Tweakers, we find Green. Desperately trying to use connections to discover the real Patient Zero (now we know it isn’t actually terrorism to blame). He’s doing alright on his own, slowly putting pieces together. All he has to do is figure out who was in Nantucket. Easy right?

Final scene. Katie in an isolation room, far less than ideal and an effective cliffhanger

Verdict

1. Coughs & Sneezes Spreads Diseases. Not sure how I feel with having two of the main characters potentially infected. Or the fact that Burt has been injured. He’s so lovely.
   The episode this week has some good balanced narratives bouncing between Lex and Lommers and of the craze building outside of the doors.
2. Exciting watch, if not distressing, to see the course of true love not running smooth!
3. Great to see the intensity build and the resulting actions that caught us on episode one.