The Outpost
“Beyond The Wall” (Episode 108)
September 11, 2018
In the previous episode of The Outpost, Talon and Janzo meet the colipsum supplier and exchange goods, Wythers was sent to the mines, and Garret was infected by a Plagueling. If you haven’t caught up with last week’s recap, you can read it here!
On tonight’s episode…. (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
Janzo and Talon return from their journey. Marshal Higgs stops them and requests taxes on what they are bringing into the Outpost. Talon gives him two gold beads. Janzo is surprised she paid him that much, when copper would have been good enough.
“There’s something not right about that.”
They go to the Nightshade, and Janzo sees the Mistress. He informs her that they received more than what they paid for, but he advises against doing business with the Greyskins. She doesn’t care that Greyskins are the supplier, as long as the product is pure and cheap. The Mistress doesn’t appreciate what Janzo has done for her and he tells her to send Munt next time.
Janzo goes down to the basement and finds Garret drunk and chained up. Garret asks Janzo to kill him because he doesn’t want to turn into a Plagueling. Talon joins them downstairs and realizes Garret was infected. She’s insistent upon finding a cure, but Janzo doesn’t believe that there is one. Garret asks Janzo to get Gwynn so that he could say goodbye. After Talon leaves, Garret asks Talon to kill him, if he turns. She still believes in Janzo finding a cure, but gives him her word.
“You’re not going to die.”
Wythers is down in the mines and tries to escape. Sill pulls him back and reminds him that the Mistress will lose her best smuggling route if he escapes. Since the Mistress has done so much for him, he agrees to stay.
Janzo returns to the basement with Gwynn and she suggests to kill the creature before it grows. Janzo offers to try it, but Gwynn gets impatient with him. Garret advises her to leave before he infects her. She is hesitant to go, and Talon has to escort her away. Garret has his reasons for pushing her away.
“I do love you”
Talon brings Gwynn to her room, where Gwynn attempts to mend their friendship. When she comments that Talon has feelings for Garret, Talon quickly responds with “No. I don’t.” Gwynn could see through the denial, and proposes that they get through this together.
“The thought of losing him hurts you, just as much as it hurts me.”
Janzo attempts to make a concoction to test out on Garret. Talon finds a mention of the Book of Names being hidden in a temple and recognizes where the temple is on a map. The area is deep in Greyskin territory and Talon wants to get it. Garret offers to go with her but she refuses, thinking he may infect her. Janzo also offers to go because he’s the only one that would be able to translate the scripts. Talon gives in and allows them both to come along. They leave immediately and Gwynn meets them at the wall to say goodbye.
“Come back to me.”
Along their journey, they come to an abandoned watch tower in Greyskin territory. They stop for a break, and realize it’s a trap. They are attacked by two Greyskins. Talon kills one and Janzo kills the other using acid that he had.
Essa is also traveling through Greyskin territory. She kills a Greyskin as well and roasts its corpse for dinner.
Garret is surprised that Janzo brought acid along on the journey. Janzo assures him that it was only if Garret turned, so that he could try to kill the parasite. Talon is thankful for it, since Janzo saved their lives.
“He’s my hero.”
Talon chains Garret up for the night. They share a moment together, but Garret backs away. She goes over to snuggle with Janzo for warmth. Janzo enjoys every moment of having her lay close to him.
Dred, Ilyin and the Covenant Soldiers march toward the gate of The Outpost. Calkussar meets them, but doesn’t open the gate at first. When he finally does, Dred kills him.
End Credits.
Thoughts:
This was a very emotion-heavy episode. Every character pairing tonight: Garret/Gwynn, Garret/Talon, Janzo/Talon, Janzo/Garret, Wythers/Mistress, Dred/Calkussar…was emotionally driven somehow. With the thought of Garret possibly dying, we see his behavior toward Talon and also toward Gwynn, in what could be his final days. We also see how Janzo reacts to his behavior.
Garret/Gwynn: It seems as though Garret feels that he still needs to carry out ‘missions.’ He doesn’t spend much time with Gwynn at all in this episode. He kisses her, tells her he loves her, and sends her away. It has always been his mission, as a solider, to protect her. In his possible final days, he is still doing just that. He wants to be with her, but he doesn’t want her to get infected and is forced to push her away. He says to Gwynn, “I do love you.” I feel like this is an odd way to phrase that statement, almost as if he is convincing her (or maybe himself) that it is true.
Garret/Talon: Garret also carries out a mission with Talon. He considers it a necessity to go with her to get the Book of Names. Since the Book of Names can help in defeating the Prime Order, as a solider, he feels the need to make sure Talon completes this mission.
There’s a scene in this episode where we get to see how close he gets to Talon as if he wants to kiss her. This is similar to the scene when they were sparring. There is quite a bit of physical contact, but Garret cannot bring himself to admit his feelings toward her.
He always casts away his feelings, and remembers that his duties as a solider come first. We see this when he is with both Gwynn and Talon.
Janzo/Talon: The physical contact between Garret and Talon upsets Janzo immensely. It is quite apparent that Janzo has feelings for Talon, and he makes a few quips toward Garret in this episode. He mentions several times, that “there is no cure” and “he is going to die.” I’m not sure if he says this because he doesn’t want to try to cure Garret or because he doubts his ability to find a cure? Janzo needs to stop doubting himself and start believing in himself more. He has saved Talon’s life twice now, but he still is surprised when Talon calls him a hero.
Janzo and Talon share a moment together when they set up camp for the night in the desert. She snuggles with him, which she says is for warmth, but there are underlying tones of reprisal there. Garret upset her, and she did this to get back at him. I was a little surprised at her spiteful intent here. She had no regard for Janzo’s feelings at all in this scene.
Janzo/Garret: It seems as though Janzo is treating Garret like his own personal lab rat right now. I’m not sure if he even cares whether he cures him or not. If he does find a cure, I feel like Janzo would treat it very sarcastically, “Great, Garret is alive,” as opposed to a sense of accomplishment, “I just found a cure!” (A small side note that, the writer’s made sure to point out – again – that Garret has not done colipsum, a possibility as to who turns and who doesn’t?)
Wythers/Mistress: Wythers is one of those characters that you hate to love and love to hate. He has proved that he can be heartless by killing Lilly, but then he has a moment where he is telling Sill that he cares for the Mistress. I found it amusing that he mentioned to Sill about smuggling. Again, just like his son, Wythers will always have that Marshal side to him to protect The Outpost, even if he isn’t wearing a badge.
Dred/Calkussar: I wasn’t expecting Dred to kill Calkussar when he walked into The Outpost. Dred demonstrated how ruthless the Prime Order can be and why Gwynn needs to fight back against them. With Calkussar gone, this leaves Gwynn on her own now. Is she ready to be a leader?
Episode Score: I give it a 4 out of 5 Casey’s. The pace of the show slowed down a bit for this episode. I also expected to see more of Essa in this episode. Sonalii Castillo has such a presence when she is on screen and I’d like to know more about Essa’s backstory. Also, I am once again praising the musical score in this show. James Schafer does an excellent job conveying emotion through music in this episode.