“There are infinite ways to communicate.”
And so begins season 2 of TOUCH. After meeting Amelia’s mom, Lucy, (Maria Bello) at the pier at the end of season 1, Martin (Kiefer Sutherland) and Jake (David Mazouz) begin a new adventure: The Search for Amelia (Saxon Sharbino). Guillermo (Said Taghmaoui), a shadowy figure, kisses the tree of life, a pendant around his neck.
Martin gets Lucy up to speed. Jake plays with the crystal paperweight he got from his aunt in New York, the aunt who works for the evil Aster Corps. Jake looks at the map of the area. Martin tells Lucy Aster Corps staged Amelia’s death.
Jake stops Lucy to look at his notebook that shows the numbers 24, the next numbers in the sequence. The paperweight lights the spot on the map; 24 is translated also as 2-D.
Once at the spot, Jake jumps out of the car and Martin and Lucy follow as Martin says, “Welcome to my world.” They see the hotel sign pointing to room 2-D. The man behind the door is told they are looking for someone. Then they hear a young girl scream who takes the opportunity to jump out of the window. After a scuffle, the guy runs out of the room. He gets into the car, license plate 9NBW742.
Martin urges caution to Lucy and convinces her to do things his way. A journalist friend in Los Angeles can help them.
Guillermo is searching for a musician named Frederick LeMay. According to Guillermo, “Some same it’s like hearing the voice of angels” but he never wrote another. The waiter admires his pendant who Guillermo says is “perfection of the universe.” “Each has their own path to God, destiny preordained. It’s a mortal sin to deny it.” The waiter (Anthony Debaeck) is creeped out, especially when Guillermo admires his attire.
At Aster Corps, Calvin Norburg (Lukas Haas) is having a meltdown. He, too, has the next sequence in the Amelia equation. He wants out of the project and asks his friend, Tony (Adam Campbell) to help him get out of his contract. Calvin tells him that eventually the number will wrap around to the beginning. “This is the God sequence. It’s going to change humanity forever.” He cannot let Aster Corps have it.
Martin’s friend, Trevor (Greg Ellis), started a news organization similar to Huffington Post called “BreakWire.” Ruben Santiago (Ray Santiago) is their resident hacker who traced the license plate to a private investigator (Kirk B. R. Woller). The PI deposited cash into his bank account the same day he had an appointment with Lawrence J. Pearl (John Prosky), senior partner, of Lesser, Rasmussen and Howe, whose primary client is Aster Corps.
Frederick LeMay (Ray Proscia) is making bread. Guillermo turns the sign to “closed” and locks the door. Bread of Life: Meet the Tree of Life. Guillermo puts on the vinyl album. Frederick says from time to time people find him. Guillermo is not just seeking his autograph! He tells Frederick he has quit on God. Time to snuff him out: “You are in HIS way.” After giving him a cut that is similar to Guillermo’s neck wound, he says to a dying Frederick: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” At the moment of Frederick’s death, Jake lets out a gasp.
Jake passes the time playing video games and lands on 5227 every time. Meanwhile Trevor and Lucy play ping pong as Lucy gets background on Martin.
Meanwhile, Martin heads to the building where Pearl is to plant a sniffer program for Ruben, posing as a worker and heads to office # 5227. Norburg and Tony ever the elevator with Martin to meet with the law firm.
Norburg cannot get out of his contract. Pearl takes a call out in the hallway saying, “You LOST HER?” Martin and Pearl run into each other as Pearl heads back to his office to get a file and Martin is leaving his office. Martin knocks him over and bolts, just missing the elevator down with Calvin and Tony. As Martin passes the car they are in, Calvin opens the door and knocks out the security guy, ensuring Martin’s escape.
Guillermo discovers the sheet music and starts writing numbers for the notes, which, of course, are the God sequence.
Santiago finds lots of great information, including an address that Lucy connects to Jake’s scores on all the video machines, a place where they might find Amelia, 5227 Lindera, zip code 90046 [not a real address–bummer].
It leads to a crack house and find someone who they think is Amelia. Jakes come into the building. The PI hits Martin. Lucy and the PI search the house. “What is it with you people?” Martin knocks him out. This is not Amelia. While walking outside, Jake drops her backpack and a map falls out. Nicole (Madison Leisle) tells them some girl gave her the backpack near the pier (Amelia). Pearl apparently is her real father. Lucy makes her call home.
Norburg loses it as a stakeholder’s meeting. He says they are using this algorithm to program machines to be smarter than people. Then these machines will create new machines who are more intelligent than them. The human brain will become obsolete. It will be a “dystopian nightmare” brought to you by Aster Corps. “Evolution of the species in numerical form.” Tony tells him to prepare for the mother of all lawsuits, but someone in the audience is intrigued. Vikash Nayar (Dileep Rao) approaches. He has money, something Calvin needs, and no questions asked.
Guillermo is in a cab and when it jerks, pictures fall out of it, including one of Jake. Jake now has targets on his back, Aster Corps and Guillermo.
At the beach, Jake finds a knight chess piece after running and creating a circle in the sand.
The pattern resembles the tides and the scene shifts over to Amelia who sits at a table. IN WALKS NORBURG who says he heard she went to the beach that day. He tells her, “Your parents gave you away.” A knight piece is missing from her chess set. She is communicating with Jake!
Avram’s cousin (Harvey J. Alperin) gives Martin, Lucy and Jake a nice place to stay. Lucy says to Martin, “Nine hours and we’re already leaving together.” A record even for her.
Martin gets a call from Santiago. He discovered a death certificate on Jake, with the date issued blank, that says, “Injuries sustained in a car crash with 1 other fatality, his father, Martin Bohm. Funeral home is undisclosed. The certificate number is S0195520 (not sure if that is significant, but wrote it down anyway).
MY COMMENTS
I like the new changes. There are easter eggs if you look for them. An “aster” in biology is “a cellular structure shaped like a star, formed around each centrosome during mitosis.” If you look closely, you can see the star references. Another example is on Ruben’s desk. One of the puzzle toys on his desk are like Dr. Teller’s, the ones the boarding house tested Jake, the shape that is identical to the crystal he carries. Also, Ruben is using a screensaver on his computer that is full of stars. There are two stars that are on either side of the address at 5227 Lindera. That swirl pattern is in the gate of the crack house. The star of David on the door to Avram’s cousin’s house.
Jake needed out of the boarding house and to be with Martin as they find more pieces to the puzzle. A Los Angeles shoot provides them with access to more diverse scenery. At this point we are unsure of Calvin Norburg’s true intentions. My gut tells me that Amelia may have been feeding him the sequence and his math skills are what they appear. I 100% believe that Guillermo thinks he is doing God’s work and that is totally creepy. It adds an element of evil and explores the world of religious zealots. Going off the grid will be difficult for Martin. While Clea (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) was a great character to play off, it was something that was getting stale. Lucy and Martin understand each other and complement each other. There is potential for romance between them. Instead of having the “A” plot and “B” plot and Martin never seeing the connection between them, it looks, so far, as if the “A” plot and “B” plot have individualized stories that will eventually meet somewhere down the road. Season 1 was about Martin helping individuals reconnect while discovering what the danger was underneath. The wound Guillermo is creating on the 36 Righteous Ones is similar to the one on his own neck, so I am eager to see this episode with his backstory. This year the danger is brought to the forefront which propels the story forward.
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