We’ve had sci-fi, and we’ve had drama, and this week it’s time for a detective story. With this story, we get to see a lot of characters show a defensive side that we haven’t seen yet. We’ve been seeing a lot of emotional scenes, but not a lot of true conversational back and forth with this much ferocity. A lot of the writing in this episode is about that kind of conversation, coming to a head between various characters, and as a result some of the best moments of the season crop up. On the sci-fi side of things, Dr Rush pushes his research of the Ancient Repository forward, with differing results. As well as this, there’s a new alien planet for the crew to explore with some interesting plot threads that begin there. Obviously, to say any more would leave this review unreadable to folks that haven’t yet seen it, but let’s just say there are some hugely interesting plot developments here. The tension between Col Young and Dr Rush really comes to a climax in the final scenes of the episode and it will most likely set the tone for the entire second half of the series’ run. There are rivalries cropping up all over the ship, too, and the amount of tension felt through the screen is immense. The performances here are some of the best certain characters have put in yet. Elyse Levesque’s Chloe Armstrong has, unfortunately, been relatively forgettable up until now, but her few scenes in the inquisition are some of the strongest, not only of her work, but of the entire episode. I was quite surprised by the level of attitude she brings to the role, but Levesque shows that she is truly capable of better than how she was written previously, and hopefully, this will help her character bloom. I, for one, haven’t seen a series with this many ups and downs in quite a while, but I’m happy to conclude that the ups outweigh the downs by a considerable amount, and that those ups make this a series worth watching. Robert Carlyle has been an absolute dream pairing for the role of Dr Rush, and his work alone is well worth tuning in for. This episode shows a series on a high, and hopefully, one that can continue for as long as is possible. I am eagerly awaiting the conclusion to this cliff-hanger, and hope that the break will not be for too long. Check out our review of episode 9 here.
