(Getting caught up on my recaps for the Season 2 start to Touch on Friday, February 8, 2013)
This was one of my favorite episodes as it signaled a turning point. Clea (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) moved past being the nagging person who admonished Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) for not being the parent he needed to be in order to keep custody of Jake (David Mazouz). Mystery begins to develop around “The Amelia Sequence.” Is Teller on to something or is it simply a brain event linked to an aneurysm or stroke? I have a brain aneurysm and have never had anything like that before. Who is Amelia? Who are the people who belong to the group that Teller keeps referring to as “them?” But most of all, it had one of my favorite actresses from Fringe, Michelle Krusiec, who granted me an interview.
Now onto the show itself: During the narration, Jake refers to the North Star, Polaris, as our anchor. It is at 89 degrees, 15 minutes and 50.8 seconds. It is a constant, a fixed point.
Opening sequence: A woman gets a phone call with obvious bad news and looks over at a couple with a baby. A man looks at “Lamont Properties/Queens Plaza North” on his computer. A couple reports a missing son. Clea stands on a bridge where a train rushes by. Martin wakes up from a dream of a smiling, happy Jake who jumps off a swing and into his arms only to see Jake standing over him. Jake is playing with a red car.
While reviewing Jake’s case with center-director Sheri (Roxana Brusso), Clea gets a call that her mom (Carlease Burke) is in Victory Hospital. Teller asks Martin for the numbers Jake has given him thus far. Martin starts, “3, 18, 52, 96…” and Teller finishes, “32, 87, 95, 22, 975.” It’s apparently “The Amelia Sequence.” It connects everything with everyone. Teller explains that he was told he had an aneurysm but he disagrees. He would like to see Jake that day. Martin says no, but Teller finds his old visitor’s pass to Stanford House.
Lanny Zheng (Michelle Krusiec) is at the airport and sits next to the Lamont Properties guy, Will Davies (David Julian Hirsh). She is booked on Pan Horizon Airways from JFK to Omaha at gate 77, Flight 975. He is on stand-by.
Martin brings a lost bag from JFK to the home of the missing boy, Andy. His dad, Mr. McNichols, (Diego Serrano) looks down at Andy’s red tricycle.
Clea goes to the hospital to see her mom; it’s been 6 years since she has. Clea’s mom is schizophrenic and does not recognize Clea. She takes about another child, “My baby’s at home” and the woman runs out.
At the Stanford House, Teller (Danny Glover) says he is there for a consult to get past the front desk to covertly see Jake. Jake is painting the numbers 975 on his easel and Jake has been expecting Professor Teller.
The police officer said that the mom was trying to steal cough medicine. Clea says her mother tried to take a child from a playground a few years ago. Martin walks in with a delivery for Dr. Williams. Clea is surprised to see him. They overhear news reports about Andy being missing. He was wearing a red baseball cap and has a cold.
Will is questioning his purpose today. He says he feels guilty for telling his bosses about some great real estate property, a famous building they are now tearing down to put up a skyscraper. He asks Lanny if she has ever wondered that. Lanny replies that her parents would say that it is procreation, carrying on the family name. TSA asks Lanny to come with them as her luggage went missing. Will apparently takes the seat she will no longer occupy. Before that happens though, he gives her his business card and writes on the back of it, “I O U.”
Toy cars apparently were Amelia’s favorite things. You hear Sheri come in and say, “Teller is here!” The next number in the sequence is “6.”
At the hospital, Martin gets an Amber Alert on his phone, which is case #975, for Andy. Martin convinces Clea to trust him. They are going to have to find the mother and Andy themselves.
Will wakes up in a field, attached to an airplane seat. The plane has crashed and he is apparently the only survivor. He takes his briefcase and starts walking, all the way back to his office. In a few hours, the old building will be blown up.
Lanny goes home to her partner, Serena (Camille Chen), and she is consulting a medium named “George” (Boyuen). Lanny asks why the medium is there. None of Serena’s embryos were viable. The medium said one of their dead ancestors was upset. Lanny thinks it is a pile of BS.
Using a map, Martin wanted Clea to point to where her mom used to go. Some backstory on Clea emerges: She was only 8 when she was taken from social services from her mom. She recognizes Queensboro Plaza. Clea tells Martin of a woman who got hit by a car there who had her mother’s cell phone. Martin says he witnessed that accident.
Teller goes to door 6, the one Jake was hanging around in a previous episode, thinking Amelia is there; however, he thinks he sees her in the hallway in a wheelchair connected to an IV. Teller is discovered. He accuses Sheri of being “part of it.” He asks her if she was promises money and fame” as he was.
Clea remembers her mother screaming on the tracks to try to silence the voices in her head. She spots a star made in concrete that her mom drew as a roadmap in case she ever got lost (reference to the north star that Jake narrates at the beginning). It serves to jog Clea’s memory and another landmark jogs another memory. Clea remembers the crest of the building. They find out the place is going to be blown up for a demolition drop in 10 minutes.
Teller gets into his car. It won’t turn over and he begins to see 9, 7, 5, 6 on his odometer and then sees all the numbers in a euphoric-like moment.
Will goes to his boss, Lamont (Matt McCoy). He said they go into the poorest neighborhoods, drive down the prices, and then pave it all over. What they do is wrong. The building should have been a museum since all the jazz greats were there. He is not going to let that happen. He told his boss he had to do something that mattered TODAY. Then he turns around and walks out with blood drops dotting his trail. His boss does see it. Will arrives to the scene about the same time Clea and Martin do. He runs to the building.
Lanny talks to Serena about her true feelings about having kids right now. Serena tells her she cannot wait much longer. Lanny’s cell phone keeps ringing. When she finally does answer, it is someone inquiring if she was on the flight that crashed.
Clea and Martin search and find her mother. Talking to her mother about memories of their time in that building helps her mom remember just for a time. She lost Andy. She had taken him to a park. Clea thanks Will for saving his mother’s life. Martin goes running off to the park. The foreman sees Will is bleeding, but it is too late for him; he collapses and dies. Clea sees his ticket for flight 975.
Martin hears the squeaking sound similar to his dream about Jake coming from the red swing seat at the park. Then he hears Andy’s coughing. The dream now makes sense to him.
Serena thanks the spirits. Lanny changes her mind about children after this near-death experience. Lanny points out that they could use her eggs. Serena says because Lanny was born in the Year of the Dragon, they need to pair her with a snake. The picture from NuLife Fertility Clinic is that of our friend, Will, and she takes out the card he gave to her. It looks like she believes in fate by the end.
Clea believes in Jake’s abilities now. She tells Martin he is a great father. Martin looks at the book and sees that Jake has added a 6. People run down the hall and out to the parking garage and Martin and Clea follow. Teller is dead.
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