The Passage
“You Are Like The Sun” (Episode 107)
February 25,2019

Last week on The Passage, a rift developed between Brad and Amy as her powers began to strengthen. Meanwhile, back at Project NOAH, Dr. Lear set in motion events which could have dire consequences for all of the Virals.  Catch up on all of the episode’s action with our deep dive recap and review here.

Now, on to tonight’s all new The Passage … BEWARE OF SPOILERS!

Chicago, Illinois, 2016. A sunglassed Brad is watching his daughter, Eva, play some soccer (she even scores a goal). Eva sorta freaks out when Brad tells her Lila can’t make it due to an emergency surgery – the Wolgasts are in charge of bringing team trophies to the dinner and clearly, that’s Lila’s bailiwick.  Brad assures her daughter that’ll all be fine.

In the present, we pick up basically where left off last week with Lila and Brad being zip-tied and stuffed in the trunk of a moving a car. Lila and brad begin the hunt for something sharp that they can use to free themselves.

Project NOAH. Dr. Sykes and Guilder are having a video conference with the Secretary of Defense (Bill Winkler). The Secretary would like an explanation as to the security breach and six fatalities. Nichole is all, shut this shit down now before anything else happens, but Guilder is more pragmatic.

“We could take a fresh look at our challenges and adjust. The girl has exhibited signs of telepathy. She’s impervious to disease and so far, she’s healthy. She’s everything we hoped for and more.”

The Secretary wants to hear more from Guilder on his plans. Horace lays out his Project NOAH 2.0 scenario: starve the Virals as to make them more compliant and rotate personnel through 4B more frequently, so no one falls under the Viral influence.

Sykes objects to this latter point, saying that everyone is susceptible to their influence.

This works for Guilder because it allows him to lay out his fail safe for the Secretary … if everything goes sideways, they can just kill Fanning and all the other Virals will die (including “the girl”). The Secretary of Defense is SOLD on Project NOAH 2.0; he puts Guilder officially in charge and leaves the continued employment of Doctors Sykes and Lear up to Guilder’s discretion. Good talk everyone!

Out in the hallway, Nichole runs into Clark and she gives him the update on Guilder being in charge. Richards tells her that Brad and Lila never returned and he’s worried about them. “Since when,” sasses Nichole.

“Since Winston. Since Guilder. Since this place turned into the Overlook Hotel.”

Up in Lear’s bedroom, Elizabeth is recounting the feeling of burning from the inside to Jonas. He admits to her that he tried to kill Fanning and that’s what she had the experience she did, everyone linked to Fanning felt the same. They make some banter about Tim being angry and how her symptoms feel like a bad Flu she had once. When Jonas shines a pen light in her t check her pupils, she winces in pain.  The Light Sensitivity! A sure sign that Elizabeth is beginning to turn.  Jonas tells Elizabeth that now its time to fight the mutation.

Title Card.  Commercials.

We come back from break to Brad and Lila in the trunk.  Brad’s made a makeshift shim and he starts to MacGyver them out of their handcuffs while making small talk about what’s new in Lila’s life.

“Oh no, not much. Just trying to avoid being executed by the Unite States government. Also, vampires are real. So that’s cool.”

This might be the most I have liked Lila all season.

Flashback Time! Chicago, Illinois, 2016. Lila arrives at the field to hand off the box of trophies and streamers to Brad and Eva. She apologizes to Eva for not being able to make the dinner and gives hugs and “I love yous” before taking off. Brad tells Eva they have 23 minutes to decorate the restaurant so they have to get going.

Project NOAH. Back in the present, we join Amy in her bedroom. Calr comes in and asks Amy if she’s seen Agent Wolgast. He clarifies that he’as asking as a friend.

“You shot at him at least twice.”
“I’m trying to be his friend, now.”

Amy tells Richards that she’s tried locating Brad like she did Winston, but it’s not working. She’s worried about Brad but Clark reminds her that Wolgast can take care of himself. He tosses her a bag of BBQ chips and leaves, telling her that he’s going to look for Brad but he’ll be back.

As soon as Clark is gone, Carter shows up for a mindscape conversation with Amy. Amy wants to know where he’s been to which Anthony gives a sketchy, “I’m around.”  Amy notes that he’s changed and Carter tells her that she’ll change too. And soon. Anthony is all doom and gloom, warning Amy that some scary stuff is coming but in the meantime, he can show her where her book is.

The Conference Room. Guilder walks into the almost empty conference room. He compliments the single gentleman sitting there on his work and tells “Martinez” (Kamar de los Reyes) that Washington approved his new security protocol proposals. Martinez has a lot of ideas about Project NOAH 2.0, including rotating out everyone that’s been there for the last 3 years and dialing back access to the Virals.

B T Dubs, Martinez seems Shady.As.Fuck!

Flashback Time! Brad and Eva have made it to the restaurant but Eva distresses over the lack of markers in the decorations box.  Markers are necessary for everyone to sign everyone’s copy of the group photo.  Brad notes this is on “mommy” for forgetting them but, being the super achiever dad that he is, Brad tells Eva that he’s going to try and find markers and save the day! There is a convenience store across the street. High Fives All Around. 14 minutes to go!

Back in the present, we’re back in the trunk with Brad and Lila. Brad lays out the escape plan and Lila worries about something going wrong. Brad tells Lila that something always goes wrong but they will make it through for Amy’s sake.

Commercials.

Project NOAH. In Lear’s bedroom, Elizabeth is visibly losing hope and heart. She speculates that maybe they’ve been dead the whole time, as nothing happening seems “tethered to reality.” Jonas tries to buck her up, telling her that he’s got a bunch of ideas to try to save her from turning.

Jonas joins Nichole in the lab and they discuss where things stand.  Nichole tells Jonas that Amy’s blood hasn’t made a dent in Fanning’s. Jonas has some ideas about that and wants to go over their data. Nichole’s access to the system has been revoked but Jonas’s access still works (odd, that Guilder would ban one and not the other). Jonas hypothesizes that when they have been attacking Fanning’s blood, there are “dormant reservoirs” of his blood virus that are coming in as reinforcements.  He thinks the key is to knock out all of Fanning’s blood in shot, simultaneously. He admits that he’s desperate, he refuses to let Elizabeth turn.

The Cells. Shauna and Tim have a mindscape conversation. Shauna tells Fanning that she’s kind of worried about him because they are all waiting on him to do something but he’s just … sitting. Tim assures Babcock that it’s almost over. Shauna is incredulous, from where she’s sitting, it seems like they are losing the upper hand.

Fanning states that he’s not going anywhere without Elizabeth but Shauna has problems with that plan too. What if she doesn’t choose you, Shauna asks (reasonable question)? Moreover, Shauna says that Tim  promised she’d feel free but instead, she’s feeling alone and having feelings for Richards.

“Tell me this is just a humanity hangover.”

Tim tells her that they need Elizabeth, she makes 12 and then they’ll be ready to fly the chicken coop. “Not if she says no,” Shauna reminds him. Tim is adamant Elizabeth will say yes.

In the Blood Cooler, Amy and Carter find her copy of A Wrinkle in Time. Anthony reminds her that she can’t actually take as they are not really there but, it’ll be there when her corporeal self wants it. Anthony moves on to probing Amy’s mind, seeing visions of her mom (the connection being the book – that’s the trigger here) and asking her about what he’s seeing. Amy REALLY doesn’t want to talk about it but Anthony pushes the subject, telling her that her business is now his business because they’re all linked, everyone who got the injection is linked.

“I’m not joining your stupid club.”

Anthony is ramping up his intensity, asking Amy where she is running to in the memory? Where is home? What happened to her mom? What did Amy do?  Anthony is relentless with questions.  Amy’s getting upset but Anthony won’t stop. She tells him he’s being mean but Carter assures her, she hasn’t seen mean yet.

“The guy that’s coming for you is pure evil, Amy. This is just a dry run.”

Anthony keeps pushing and Amy explodes that she’s the reason her mom is dead.  Amy tells Anthony about the night her mom died. They had fought earlier in the day over the new place they moved to and that her mom forgot to register her for school.

“I told her I hated her. And she cried. She thought I meant it. I didn’t want to see her cry. So I took my book and I left. When I came back, the ambulance was there. It was too late.”

Side Note Tangent: Can we take a second here to talk about how good an actress Saniyya Sidney is? Real talk, at 12 years old, she has more talent and emotional range than most actors twice her age and experience level. She’s a complete phenom and I love watching her on screen.  This scene, right here, should be her Emmy submission.

Guilder interrupts the mindscape conversation, coming in Amy’s room and  forcing her back to the here and now. Guilder tells Amy that he’s just coming to check on how she’s doing and oh yeah, Agent Wolgast went home; he wanted Guilder to say goodbye to Amy on his behalf. Clearly, Amy doesn’t believe him and tells Guilder that he has no idea what really is going on at Project NOAH.

“You think you’re in charge but you’re not.”

Guilder thinks this is all hints at her power so he takes the slight in stride and wants more info on what she’s seeing. “Screw you, and your weird mustache.” PREACH, AMY!!

Flashback Time! Brad is at the cash register of the convenience store, buying the markers and getting charged highway robbery. Brad goes for his wallet but remembers that he handed it to Eva so she could pay the restaurant owner the required deposit.  Luckily, Eva is crossing the street, “help is on the way,” Brad says.  A sketchy guy stands off to the side in the convenience store … looking sketchy.

Back in the present, we are with Lila and Brad still in the trunk. The car is stopping. He tells Lila to be ready. The Goon Squad takes him out of the trunk first and Brad wastes no time going into Terminator mode. He tosses one guy over the cliff they are standing at and then disarms and shoots dead the second baddie.

Kind-Hearted Dad Brad is great but Whoop Ass, Terminator Brad is BEST!

Brad opens the trunk to let Lila out but she shuns his hand and stalks off, presumably she hasn’t been too close to the real violence that is Brad’s professional life. Brad stares off into the distance.

Flashback Time! The Sketchy Guy in the convenience store has drawn a gun. Brad is all soothing words and telling him that he’ll have his money from the cash register and then he’ll be free to go. Sketchy Guy is tweaking hard. When the doorbell of the convenience store chimes, signaling that someone has entered, Sketchy Guy turns and fires. Brad helplessly lunges forward as we see it was Eva coming in the door.

Gah, I had known Eva died but I didn’t see it playing out this way. Brad and his motivations make 100% more sense now seeing this story arc being filled in.  Also, I’m not crying, you’re crying! Shut up!

Commercials.

We come back and Lila is still having a huff about the violence and death as Brad strips the baddie of his weapons and equipment. He tells Lila that they’re going to steal one of Project NOAH’s Humvees from the pumping station to sneak back on to the compound. She looks at him like he’s Death come on a Pale Horse but Brad isn’t about to apologize.

“What do you want me to say, Lila? That I’m sorry for keeping you safe.”

Flashback Time! Brad and Lila are in couples therapy. Lila says she’s thinking about going back to work but Brad thinks she is being delusional. That “no amount of therapy or going back to work will change what happened to Eva.” Lila understands that but she feels a need to move on, feel something else. Maybe help … someone. She tells Brad that he’s completely cut her out of his life. Brad gets up to leave, citing his busy day but Lila isn’t leaving.

Cut to Clark getting in Brad’s car. He tells Brad that he’s been missed around the Bureau and at Clark’s going away party. Richards hands Brad a file on the shooter but warns Brad not to do what he’s thinking about doing. As tears roll down Wolgast’s face, he tells Clark that Eva was his daughter. Clark counters that the system will put the shooter away forever but if Brad exacts revenge, it’ll be Brad that’s locked up. Before getting out of the car, Clark tells his friend to go home and start over.

Back in the present, Clark has found the abandoned car by the cliff and the dead Goon Squad Member. He tries raising the other Goon on the radio (not realizing that Brad threw him over the side). Clark switches tactics and starts asking for Brad over the radio. Calling him, “Brother,” Clark tells Brad that he thinks he’s picked up a tail. We see Brad and Lila walking through the woods and while he doesn’t respond to Clark’s call, he does stop to listen for a tail. After a moment, he signals Lila and they resume their walk to the pumping station.  He tells Lila that they should not worry about Clark.

Commercials.

Project NOAH. We come back from break with Anthony joining Amy in another mindscape conversation.  He apologizes to Amy. She calls him a bully but he ignores this, Anthony wants to talk more about Amy and her mom.  Amy thinks that maybe Carter just likes seeing her cry (sassy even when she’s sad).

“No. I want you to beat Fanning.”

Amy is like, I don’t even know who that is but Anthony promises her, Fanning knows who Amy is and he’s coming to get her. He tells Amy that Fanning will use all the guilt she has inside against her. Carter tells Amy that what happened between her and her mom was just a fight and that Amy had nothing, NOTHING, to do with her dying. Her mom was an addict and bad shit happens sometimes.  Anthony says that Fanning wants Amy to believe the worst about herself and so it’s really important she understand that she didn’t do anything wrong.

“He’ll make you feel alone. And scared. He’ll make it seem like he’s the only one that wants you.”

Carter finishes his lesson by telling Amy that Fanning is a liar though, and reminds her that she has the Agent, she has Anthony, and that she has herself.  He gets up to leave but Amy doesn’t want him to go, she doesn’t want to be alone. Anthony tells her that she doesn’t have to be alone.

“You are more powerful than you realize. You can go anywhere you want.”

In Lear’s bedroom, Nichole is giving Jonas the hard truth, the anti-viral serum isn’t keeping up with the mutation.  Jonas tells her to does Elizabeth with every anti-viral they have, he wants every minute possible with Elizabeth.  Nichole agrees and leaves.  Alone, Elizabeth asks Jonas to sit with her. He takes her hand …

We jump to a mindscape with Tim replacing Jonas holding her hand. She tells Tim that he shouldn’t have done this to her but he’s all, you’re so close now. She tells him that she doesn’t want the life he’s selling but he’s pretty sure that’s just fear talking. Because with death, there is nothing but cold and loneliness. Fanning tells Elizabeth that she doesn’t need to worry about death however, she just needs to say yes to him.

Flashback Time! Back in 2016 Chicago, Brad is staking out the Sketchy Guy that killed Eva.  When Sketchy Guy turns down an alley, Brad jumps out of his car and efficiently and without hesitation, puts two bullets in Sketchy Guy’s chest. Brad gets all wobbly just then, the realization of the cold blooded murder he just committed washing over him. He clears the gun’s chamber and magazine as a truck rolls up, headlights in Brad’s eyes.

In the present, Brad is muttering about how he needs to get to Amy.  Lila finally voices what she’s been thinking for awhile, Amy is not Eva. They are not connected events. Brad says it is connected though, that by saving Amy, he can make up for what happened to Eva.

Real Talk time.  Lila stops him and says there is no “making up” for what happened to their daughter. Brad counters that he was there and should have been able to stop the shooter. Lila can play the blame game to. If she had skipped the surgery or if she hadn’t forgotten the markers, then they would never have wound up at the convenience store. Lila says she had even bought the markers that day but forgot to put them in the decorations box.  Hearing her talk, it’s cleat this is not the first time she’s had this conversation with herself. Brad tells Lila it wasn’t her fault in any way. She grabs Brad’s face.

“If you don’t blame me, how can you blame you?”

Lila tells Brad that she still needs him so he needs to forgive himself so they can be together. They hug. Into her shoulder, he tells Lila that she doesn’t understand what he did.

Side Note: Somewhere, Lila’s Dave is crying uncontrollably and he doesn’t understand why. He is waiting for Lila to come home to him, get married and have some babies with him. Poor Dave.

Brad and Lila’s reconciliation is interrupted by one of the Goon Squad Members getting a drop on them. “Hands in the air.”

Commercials.

Flashback Time! We come back from the last break with Brad sitting on the ground in the alley; he’s in a bad way. Clark and his team are there and while Clark’s men begin to sanitize the murder scene, Clark tells his friend that turning himself in isn’t an option. Brad says he’s lost, he doesn’t know what to do.  Clark has an idea, though, and mentions his new job he’s starting. Project NOAH.

“It’s not just a job. It’s a mission that’s gonna change the world. This could be good for you.”

Brad takes his friend’s extended hand and the rest, they say, is history.

Back in the present, Brad and Lila are standing around with their hands up. Brad mouths, “I’m sorry” to Lila but no worries, Clark is here to save the day. He kills his own Goon Squad Member. Brad is wary of his former bestie but Clark proves his allegiance by handing over a gun and finally admitting the truth about Project NOAH.

“Project NOAH’s a horror show. I just wish I’d seen it sooner.”

Clark tells them the basics of his plan. Return to Project NOAH, grab Amy and then get all three of them out of dodge. The trip requires another trunk ride.  Alone, Brad finishes the story of how they got here, which was her question after they got out of the last trunk. This is the part of Brad’s history that Lila doesn’t know.  Brad tells her how he tracked down the Sketchy Guy and killed him. Which turned him into a monster. Which led to the job at Project NOAH. Which led to taking prisoners off of death row and bringing them to Colorado. Which led to them being turned into monsters.

Lila thinks a minute and then confirms Brad’s belief that he has to stay with Amy, no matter what.

Project NOAH. Guilder calls Martinez into the conference room to go over their newly implemented security plans. Martinez asks about Guilder’s plans for Amy. Horace says that he’s got high hopes for Amy, that she’s the proof of concept.  Through her, they can maybe make a miracle out of the otherwise colossal failure of Project NOAH. Martinez stares.

Martinez is Sketchy As Fuck. Mark my words, people.

Lear’s Bedroom. Elizabeth’s fever is spiking high and her heart rate is dangerously high. She is going through the last stages of death or turn … just like we saw Anthony go through a few episodes ago.  Nichole calls it the “fork in the road” moment. “Die or become one of them,” Jonas finishes. Nichole apologizes and Jonas wonders what sales pitch Fanning is giving Elizabeth right now.

Glad you asked, Jonas. In the mindscape, Tim tells Elizabeth that she’s almost there. Her face is one of conflict; whether in the mindscape or the real world, you can’t really tell which way she’s going. Then, we see her give a slight nod to Jonas. In the mindscape, Tim’s face goes from semi-smile to something darker but then we cut away.

Amy’s Bedroom. Amy closes her eyes and takes herself to her first mindscape. As “River” by Leon Bridges begins on the soundtrack, Amy finds herself in a kitchen with her mother.  This version of Mrs. Bellafonte (Saycon Sengbloh) is clean and loving, no junkie status here. As Amy’s eyes are filling with tears, Mama B tells her they can fix anything and brings Amy in for a hug.

In Elizabeth’s room, she tells Jonas to turn off the machines. He says no because he isn’t ready to say goodbye and nothing will ever be okay again.  She sees it differently.

“I choose you. I choose my life with you.”

Fucking.Tears.Everywhere.

Jonas unhooks the IV from her arm and takes Elizabeth into his arms. They say their I Love Yous, which serve as their goodbyes.

We cut to 4B where we just see the Orange Glow of Fanning’s unblinking eyes.

Amy’d Bedroom. Lila and Brad arrive in Amy’s room and try to wake her. But she’s still in the mindscape.

As Mama B holds her close, Amy apologizes for the things she said. Mama B tells her it’s alright and apologizes for forgetting to register her in school. They exchange I Love Yous (a lot of that going around this episode). Mama B apologizes for not being alive for Amy. Amy says that everyone is calling her special but she’s worried she’s really just a monster. Mama B disagrees.

“I know who you are. You are like the sun.”

Mama B hands her daughter a matchbook. So she can light her way. There is a knock on the apartment door in the mindscape. Mama B tells Amy not to answer it but Amy says she has to.  Amy opens the door and there is Fanning.

“Hello, Amy.”

And scene!

***

Thoughts.

Tonight’s episode  really crystallized what The Passage is about. It’s not about Vampires Virals; it’s not even about the folly of Man (though, it’s a little bit about that). No, The Passage is about what it means to be human. To have a human heart, feelings and emotions. What makes us … well, us. Shauna tells Fanning she feels like she’s having a “humanity hangover” because she’s having all these Goddamn feelings, of loneliness and of longing.  Lord knows Fanning, king of the Virals, is going through some very human emotions – greed, lust, (not so much Love, though he’d call it that), power mania.

And then we have our human players. Tonight was the final missing puzzle piece to the Wolgast mystery. As Lila asks, how did we get here? How did Brad Wolgast, loving father, become a henchman of Project NOAH AND lose his wife, all in two short years. Tonight fills in that gap.

As a father, my absolute worst fear in life is the thought of losing my child. Hands down, I worry about my son’s safety and well being infinitely more than my own or anyone else’s for that matter. I sympathize with Brad and I thank God, that I don’t empathize with what he’s going through. The flashback scenes to the couples therapy seems so true for those couples that have lost a child. I have known some parents who have been through this horrific event and The Passage‘s depiction of what that does to a couple, seemed very authentic. I appreciate that the show had the courage to go down this path and neither sensationalized nor lampooned such a devastating event. It just showed what the real deal was. Not many shows would have that courage or conviction.

And Amy. Her journey reached a peak tonight. Through Anthony’s bullying, Amy was forced to confront her internal demons, to spill her guts about all the feelings of loss and guilt and fear, she’s been keeping bottled up since the night her mother died. Carter’s motivation was to force Amy to confront these feelings so that Fanning won’t be able to exploit them later on but more immediately, it allowed Amy to do some cathartic reflection and begin real healing. If not for Anthony’s intervention, Amy doesn’t know, or believe, she can reach out to visit her mother in the mindscape. The importance of that short time spent with Mama B. will prove invaluable for Amy in her coming war with Fanning.

Elizabeth and Jonas. It’s funny that the catalyst for all of Project NOAH has been the least compelling relationship of The Passage. Mostly due to Elizabeth’s absence from almost the entire front half of the series, we haven’t been terribly invested in Elizabeth and Jonas as a couple. But tonight, really brought home the power of loving someone. The act of declaring, “I choose you. I choose my life with you,” is SO powerful. In that moment, Elizabeth not only expresses her true love for Jonas (which he wanted to believe in his heart of hearts but if we’re being honest, probably had some doubts about) but she foiled Fanning’s perfectly laid plans.

Elizabeth’s rejection of Fanning and the Fanning Fam is going to serve a launching point into the final three hours of this season of The Passage. Fanning will now need to woo Amy to his side to be his 12th, versus trying to eliminate her as he had been planning on doing. And, it’s going to cause issues with Shauna who predicted Elizabeth might say no.   There is no way Babcock doesn’t give a good, “I told you so” to Fanning next week.

We’re approaching war, my friends. Humans versus Humans (Guilder and this Sketchy Ass Martinez versus Brad, Clark, Lila, Sykes, and Lacey (where was she tonight), and Virals versus Virals (Fanning, Babcock and the Fanning Fam versus Amy and Carter). It’s going to bloody and the body count will be high I’m sure. And We.Are.Here.For.It!

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