Touch (S2E8) Reunions

4 04 2013

I was not prepared for this episode. I had heard Maria Bello wanted out of the show and was happy how it happens, but I had no idea it would be before the end of the season and it would happen in this way in this episode. I was sobbing. But let’s not jump ahead….

Amelia (Saxon Sharbino) is running through the desert [another dream sequence?].

Jake (David Mazouz) narrates, “Bodies at rest stay at rest, and bodies in motion stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force.”In this case she is stopped by Aster Corps security, and more specifically we see Tony Rigby (Adam Campbell). License plate on one vehicle 6Q49951. Tony tells Amelia she would have to run 1-1/2 days to reach civilization. Security takes her away.

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Amelia is caught trying to escape

Jake continues, “People, like objects, become set in their paths, embedded in a constrained reality. As we travel our path, the possible futures which were once infinite collapse down to one. One outcome. Unchangeable. Inescapable.”

[Sign read The Teller Institute, established in 1997]

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An old Teller Institute testing lab

There’s Kase! [Friend or foe?] Tony wants Kase (John Boyd) to give him data. Kase informs him the place is antiquated. Files fall out in front of Amelia. Amelia opens it and sees a man’s MRI study analysis. Patient #0001. This man, according to the report, has an abnormally enlarged amygdala on both sides of his brain and the volume of the white matter is bigger on the left side than e right. On the negative side, it also contains compromised features. His left inferior gyrus (important for language) is less developed and he has fewer connections to the right fusiform gyrus (which helps process faces). Amelia worries about his ultimate fate. She folds the paper and takes it. Tony tells Kase a new generator is on the way, but he needs results or else he is of “no use” to him [which I interpret as a death threat].

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Patient #1

Kase apparently has a gambling problem [and debt]. Amelia retreats to the beautiful garden in her head. Jake continues: “We’re each on a path and sometimes those paths become inclined, pulled into each others’ orbits and collide.”

[Blue butterfly-I discovered today that my son with autism is using a blue butterfly icon for his log-on for Windows long before this show ever aired. I thought that was cool.]

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Amelia screams to the universe for someone to help her.

Amelia calls out, “Please save me!” and Jake hears her. Outside the hospital [presumably waiting for Lucy], Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) reassures him that everything is going to be okay. But Trevor (Greg Ellis) tells them there is a problem. Phil gave a statement that contradicts him. Someone named Denny Lange had access to Trevor’s database. Martin is ready to disappear but Trevor tells him to go home. A battered Lucy (Maria Bello) walks out of the hospital. Jake writes 0175 in the window of the car.

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Tonight’s number

While driving home, Martin sees a floral van whose phone number was 310-555-0175. Follow that van!

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0715 is on the van

There it is: “Jake, stay in the car.” [This has become an affectionate joke among Twitter fandom, either that or “Jake get out of the car.” It’s Tony Rigby’s house but Calvin is there. Calvin tells them Tony murdered his mother and took Amelia. Calvin has a directory to all the high-level facilities that Aster Corps has at his place. [Red throw blanket over the couch; red pamphlet on table next to laptop.]

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Red, red and more red.

In his red jacket, Jake wanders in the loft to an experiment area. Martin freaks when he sees him with the thing on his head. Calvin said he could hurt him shutting it down. Calvin sees Wernicke and Broca waves are beginning to oscillate. He’s getting ready to speak.

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Jake is plugged into The Matrix.

Jake turns up in Amelia’s safe place in her head. Jake says to Amelia, “I found you.” Jake hears Lucy in the background to tell Amelia she loves her, which he repeats to Amelia. Tell her that we’re coming for her.” Lucy asks him to find out any details about where they are. Amelia tells him.

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Jake meets Amelia in The Matrix.

He writes 1997 1188. Martin gets it. 1188 belonged to Teller. Calvin says may have given him the information he needed to help his brother.

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Important numbers!

Calvin goes to William (David Hoflin). A 17-year-old named Evie (Katherine McNamara) pops in to say hello and offer her services. She wants to be a neurosurgeon one day. Suddenly, William is back to himself, talking and moving around. William wants to know what happened.

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William recovers….sort of

Lucy, Martin and Jake go to Amelia. There was some time for Martin and Lucy to talk about Lucy’s old life, like her profession. The car breaks down. They stop a truck and for $200 he will deliver them to the place they need to go (in the middle of nowhere). This man is Jerry Woods (John Lacy),the estranged father of Evie, the young lady with Calvin. As they survey the area, Jake lets out a primal scream to alert the guards. Martin realizes that was his plan after all. Martin runs into the path of the security guards asking them for their help. Martin may have them convinced and they take him away.

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Even bad guys pick up guys who claim they have car problems

However, he winds up in a cell at the facility. Passing by, Kase hears Martin’s pleas to the guard. Martin and Kase come face to face. Kase was hired by Calvin’s mother to care for Amelia more so than being Calvin’s assistant. Kase said they will kill him if he tells Martin where Amelia is. Martin forcefully persuades Kase to show him.

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You WILL take me to Amelia.

Calvin and William speak about times in the past. William recalls the details of the accident. There were some very emotional scenes where Calvin blamed himself for the accident and William knew he was moving mountains to save him. [It made Calvin not so much of a bad guy.]

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Calvin and William speak to one another.

Jake and Lucy break into the area with vehicles. Lucy pulls out key 6908 and Jake takes out the other keys and drops them into a grate. Jake grabs the electronic key, puts it on the windshield and runs to a door.

The guard knows Martin is gone. Tony Rigby is there. Martin meets Amelia. She skips the pleasantries and tells them they have to leave. Tony knows she is gone from her room.

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No time for pleasantries!

Amelia says that they need to block out the cameras and Martin follows. Kase moved away from them. Amelia tells Martin they will overload the system. Tony recognizes Martin Bishop (aka Martin Bohm) when the cameras catch him before the lights go out.

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They are discovered!

Amelia knows exactly where Jake and her mom are. A guard pops into the garage. Martin sees the key Jake left for them. When the second guard comes in and they notice the keys are gone, Martin and Amelia leave. License plate on the Jeep is 6IRA337.

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Martin and Amelia arrive.

Amelia tells Martin to stop at a particular place. Lucy pops out of a bush. A happy reunion commences. All four of them get into the Jeep and drive away.

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A mother and child reunion.

An anonymous woman (Mrs. Farrington, actress Frances Fisher from Eureka) tells Tony she is sending “Tanner” (D.B. Sweeney) which is upsetting to Tony.

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Mrs. Farrington–Hey she was on Eureka!

Martin wants Lucy and Amelia to disappear. Lucy agrees. Martin cares a lot for Lucy and they have an emotional good-bye and share a more-than-friends kiss.

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Martin cares deeply for this woman

Jake gives Amelia her red car from the center in New York (season 1 reference). Amelia gives Jake something to give to Martin.

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Season 1 reference– nice callback.

Jake says good-bye to Lucy and takes her hand.

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Jake loves Lucy.

Evie wakes Calvin. William has regressed. A distraught Calvin yells at her and tells her to leave. Evie cries on the bench outside, but her father arrives at the perfect time.

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Reunion for Evie and Jerry

Jake narrates: “We each have a path. Some are forced apart, but flow back together, their synchronicity inescapable. Some paths touch only briefly and glance off in different directions, forever changed by the meeting. Some loop back again and again across time and space, always finding each other.

Lucy drives off with Amelia into the sunset. But there is blackness on the horizon.

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Danger Will Robinson.

[I have been aware that Maria Bello wanted ‘out’ of the show, but I always assumed it was at the end of the season. I also know she was pleased how her storyline ended. All at once I am worried this is the end of Amelia and Lucy. But my mind is screaming, “This can’t be now! This can’t be it!” At the same time I’m trying to think, “How were they found? Did Lucy’s car get GPS’d? Did they inject a tracking device on Amelia the second time she was taken?” Logic would dictate since Martin is driving one of their cars, he would be the one they locate first.]

Jake continues: “Once we’re on our path there are limited chances to deviate, small moments when other forces come into play and knocks you off your trajectory. Mrs. Farrington tells Tanner she only wants Amelia–her mother is a liability. [Oh shit! It is going to end here for Lucy but how? Does Amelia get away or is she recaptured?]

Amelia has already calculated all possible outcomes. I presume she knows in all outcomes her mother is going to die and there is only one outcome where she escapes but her mother does not [at this point I start sobbing…a mother would die for her child].

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Lucy understands her fate.

 

Amelia starts running.  Jake: “What could be powerful enough to change your path, change your future? An act of nature, an act of love.” Lucy gets out of the truck and confronts Aster Corps, Tony Rigby. As Amelia runs, she hears a gunshot (Tony Rigby and the gunman, Cooper [Gonzalo Menendez).

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Lucy is about to die for her child.

Jake: “Once this deviation happens, you find yourself on a new path, uncharted, unknown, stretching out ahead of you.”

[Dead silence from me–I never expected that at all!]





Touch S2E5 “Eye To Eye” Recap

22 03 2013

As much as I abhor the phrase “taking it to the next level,” the writers of around just did. The show is picking up its pace in storytelling. Jake and Amelia come so close to meeting. Lucy makes a decision that starts her down a path of darkness. Guillermo takes an innocent life (i.e. A life deviates from his supposed path to glorify God or ridding the world of the 36 righteous ones. Does this make him a Godless murderer per Avram’s description? If he took the life of this holy man (Father Esteban), what is to stop him from killing Avram?

I do understand they needed a mythology but if one reads about the righteous ones in the Talmud, there really is no way to rid the world of them. If one loses their way, God puts another on this path. Once any of these individuals knows they are part of this group, they are no longer one of them. But I’ll go along with this because the story is so compelling.

This episode also ponders if the end justifies the means. Even love can be corrupted. All the people are operating from this point of view. Guillermo’s love of God is his motivation. Lucy’s mother-bear instincts to protect her daughter make her do the unthinkable in order to find her. Calvin’s love for his brother, and in part his guilt that arose from tragedy, motivates him to kidnap Amelia to find a way to heal his brother. Even Martin tells Calvin he will kill him if he touches Jake. Love is such a powerful motivator but it often blinds us on the path.

Recap

Jake (David Mazouz) and Amelia (Saxon Sharbino) both dream of the moment they meet on the pier 29 at Marina Del Rey.

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Jake and Amelia meet in a dream

“Human beings are hard-wired to connect. We are drawn to one another by our own chemistry. We produce attachment hormones that create intimacy. We build neural bridges that bond us, brain to brain, heart to heart. Those bonds, once formed, are not meant to be broken.

[Red flower in flower pot where Martin stands in the kitchen.]

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Red flower

Jake combed his hair for his first-ever play date with Soleil (Isabella Acres). But first waffles! Jake makes the microwave explode so the timer reads 8877. Tonight’s number. That means breakfast on the way to Soleil.

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Tonight’s number is 8877.

Lucy (Maria Bello) is wearing a red-striped shirt. She tells Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) a sweet story about falling asleep with Amelia, but she has not done that for 1100 days.

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Martin and Lucy

Kase (John Boyd) enters the restaurant and plays the arcade game next to Jake. Martin pays for breakfast [big red tomato on his plate]. Kase calls Calvin (Lukas Haas) and Calvin tells him to follow them and find out where they live.

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Red everywhere

In Mexico? [red in flag]

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More red

Father Esteban (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is asked to administer the sacrament of reconciliation.

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Father Esteban

Martin passes a 7-Eleven (ironically the same colors of the Mexican flag) and sees Kase following them. Martin pulls into a parking garage, Kase follows, but Martin stops Kase’s car, pulls him out and beats him up. When security catches up to them, Martin leaves the scene.

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7-Eleven looks like the Mexican flag.

Jake heads into Soleil’s house where Martin and Lucy meet Soleil’s mom, Beth Friedman (Wendy Benson-Landes) and Soleil’s grandfather (remember that Frances Norburg and Carl Hirsch (Randy Oglesby) know each other from her former job). They go to make cupcakes. Jake takes Carl’s cell phone and scrolls to Frances’ name.

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Frances Norburg’s cell number

Guillermo (Said Taghmaoui) feels he needs absolution to continue his mission to kill the 36, and Father Esteban is the unlucky priest to hear it. He says, “As a servant of God I know what I must do; as a man, it hurts”. [Remorse!] He confesses that he is one of the 36. [Talk about the ultimate self-hatred. That means that he ultimate plans to kill himself once the 35 are gone]. Father Esteban leaves the confessional when he cannot give him absolution. Guillermo runs out after him and they both see what each other looks like.

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Guillermo meets Father Esteban

Lucy and Martin tell Trevor what Calvin has been up to with Amelia and Jake. Martin confesses he lied to Lucy about the meeting with Calvin, and she gets all righteous about keeping secrets yet I do not see her tell him she went to the police. She says, “Truth–not truth–it’s either one or the other”. Martin tells Lucy that this has to be on Jake’s schedule.

Amelia takes Frances’ phone and some money. The phone rings; it’s Jake! He puts 8877 into the phone. Amelia is so smart to cover her trail too. Kase comes into the kitchen and Amelia doubles over in pain [faking it, very well I might add by collapsing to the floor]. Kase and Amelia go to the hospital. She is whisked away while the doctor takes Kase to treat his injuries.

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Fake-out!

Trevor finds information on the web about Frances Norburg. She has another child, William (David Hoflin)! She is on the board of directors of The Greyber Institute (where William is) a private residence for neuroeducation made possible by a grant from–ta-da–Calvin Norburg. Martin and Lucy head over there. [The symbol of the Greyber Institute is the tree of life, the same symbol that is on Guillermo’s blade cover].

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Once there Martin finds a door that requires a code and he puts in 8877 which he remembered from the microwave. They see Frances and William. Martin wants to get information first before they confront her. He pretends to have a wife at the facility. Frances seems like a decent human being. William was in an accident 4 years prior when the car Calvin was driving went into the water. William is in a “persistive vegetative state” but Frances believes he can understand her. Calvin is trying to find a way to get William communicating again.

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William and Frances Norburg

The cupcakes come out of the oven. [There is a bottle of oil on the cabinet that has the brand name “Star” next to another bottle that has red in it.].

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“Star” brand oil. And more red.

When Soleil looks for cupcake wrappers, Jake leaves out the back door. [Lots of red references on the cabinet island.]. Jake heads out to meet up with Amelia.

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Lots of red.

At the hospital Amelia uses a hospital computer to find out where 8877 is. She leaves [with a red ambulance parked outside as she exits].

Martin tells Lucy what he learned. Carl calls Martin to tell him Jake is gone. He tells Lucy to take the car and see what she can find out. Meanwhile Kase calls Frances to tell her Amelia is gone.

Father Esteban shares his encounter with Father San Felipo (Castulo Guerra) and says when he looked into Guillermo’s eyes it was like seeing the devil himself. He questions which is worse–to the break the seal of Canon law or to remain silent and allow others to die?

Lucy visits with William and sees Calvin’s cell number 416-506-01?? She tells him there has been a breakthrough with his brother. Calvin is in his way.

Martin sees bus 8877 heading to Marina Del Rey. Martin hops on.

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Bus 8877

Jake enters the Oceanfront Arcade at 8877.

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Oceanfront Arcade at 8877

He heads over to the Donkey Kong game [remember he plays that at BreakWire]. He scores 29 and puts in his name.

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Donkey Kong

Lucy introduces herself and threatens to kill William with a syringe filled with something. Security comes in and Lucy has to run for it (the syringe was filled with water). When she gets back in the car she calls Trevor to see if he can find more information.

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Lucy and William

[Isn’t that the same security guard who was at the desk at the building where the law firm was?]

Amelia arrives at the arcade.

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Amelia gets closer to Jake.

Kase and Frances figure out where she is headed and leave to get her.

Amelia sees the Donkey Kong game. She plays, gets the same score and leaves her name [I guess it would be too easy if Jake hung out and just met her at the game, huh?].

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Amelia plays Donkey Kong

Martin arrives. He sees the Donkey Kong game, takes a picture of it, sends it to Lucy and tells her to get over there now; it’s time.

Father Esteban contemplates going into the police station.

Calvin talks to William that he is making progress, getting closer. William shocks him when his thumb closes in on Calvin’s hand.

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William holds Calvin’s hand for the first time since the accident.

Lucy meets up with Martin and he tells her to look for something with number 29.

The sequence that was shown in the dream seems to be happening. Martin and Lucy find pier 29 and Jake. [There is an extra wearing a red shirt standing next to something that is also red.]

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More red

Lucy spots Amelia and runs towards her. Amelia smiles when she sees her mother.  However Kase and Frances pull up, Frances opens the door. Kase grabs her and throws her in the car. Frances jumps in the back seat, Kase hops in the driver’s side and they drive off as Amelia hands hit the window. Jack embraces a grieving Lucy.

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A grieving Lucy

Frances tries to justify Amelia’s abduction to Amelia, but all Amelia right now wants is her mother.

In Mexico, Father Esteban wants to report a crime, but of course, he has to go to the bathroom first. Guillermo gives him a last chance to give him absolution. [Hard choice-absolution or death? I think I would pretend absolution with my fingers crossed behind him and the turn him in].

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Poor Father Esteban; we hardly knew him. The ultimate red: Blood!

Martin goes in to console Jake and gets the surprise of his life–Jake takes his hand and holds it. Martin cries.  [I cry.]

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Tears and a red blanket.

Trevor calls Lucy with a lead to the foundation, “Mandelbrot”. [Mandelbrot was a famous mathematician where we got fractal geometry who recently died in 2010]. They just bought a loft downtown. Lucy goes alone and sees him. And she runs him over into the fence.

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This is not good. What a mother will do for her child.