The title of tonight’s episode is “Vade In Pace,” which is Latin for “Go In Peace.” This is a Roman saying that literally means “Good-bye.” I thought this was a very fitting title given the overall theme of the episode is death and saying good-bye. Yes, folks, a very somber episode but also in my opinion, the best of the season thus far.

PLOW IT UNDER, PLOW IT UNDER

Remember when the AAA

Killed a million hogs a day?

Instead of hogs it’s men today.

Plow the fourth one under.

 

Plow under!

Plow under!

Plow under

Ev’ry fourth American boy.

 

They said our agricultural

System was about to fall.

So from Washington they sent a call.

Plow the fourth one under.

These are the lyrics to the song that is playing in the opening scene, and it’s a haunting reminder of what went down at the end of last week’s episode. Peter (Neil Napier), Anne (Severn Thompson), and Kyle (Matt Long) finally are able to pry open the door to the dining hall, but by then, it’s too late. Dozens of men, women, and children lay dead on the floor, and with the realization of what has happened crashing down on her, Anne screams in horror and collapses to the floor. Kyle also takes it especially hard, seeing the dead bodies of some of the children on the island that he had talked to and gotten to know. Terrible, terrible, heart-wrenching scene.

UH, OH, THE COAST GUARD IS BACK — AND EARLY!

Winger (Patricia Summersett) fought Peter tooth and nails about the CDC going out to St. Germain in the premiere, and she certainly wasn’t keen on the idea of having to send someone out in 2 weeks to pick them up. The CDC has been on the island for barely a week, and so, when the Coast Guard shows up almost a week early, you know something bad has happened. And, that is definitely the case.

The Coast Guard returns to evacuate the CDC and quarantine the island because the pathogen is spreading. Peter immediately questions how that is even possible since Winger had said that there were no other populated areas in the near vicinity. Apparently, Winger had lied about that because there is a U.S. military outpost just 40 miles from St. Germain, and unfortunately, there’s been an outbreak on the base. 75 people have already died, and before the disease spreads any further, Winger has orders to close off and quarantine both.

Before she even finishes, Peter says “No way” and stresses that none of them can leave until the pathogen is contained. So begins a huge pissing contest between the two, at least until Alan (Billy Campbell)  steps up and backs Peter’s play. Of course, Winger hasn’t a clue who in the hell Alan is until Peter pipes up and informs her that he’s his brother and he used to be with the CDC.

Is he as much of a pain in the ass as you? Tell me, is the other Dr. Farragut as good as Dr. Jordan says he is? — Winger to Peter

You can tell that Peter hesitates with his answer — after all, this is his chance to run Alan into the ground with respect to his abilities. But, he ends up doing the right thing and reluctantly says, “Yes.” This scored major points for Peter in my book, and honestly, I’m really starting to see that Peter may be the good brother. Peter acknowledged his brother was a good doctor, while Alan did nothing but take potshots at all of his brother’s failures. Please, Alan. Get off your high horse and grow up.

So, Winger agrees to stay on the island for a short period of time, and what’s more, the CDC has a lead. Remember the crazy infected guy who attacked Peter and Sarah earlier in the season? Well, the man is somehow still alive because he shows up at the gates of the compound before being shot and killed by one of Winger’s men. We know this disease kills very quickly, and so, how is he still alive over a week later? The answer may lie with what he had been eating. On autopsy, Alan finds part of a root in his stomach, and he had apparently been living on the stuff. Could this root be the first step towards a cure?

Alan and Kyle certainly think so because they, along with several men from the Coast Guard, decide to venture out into the woods to find the source of this root.

BROTHER MICHAEL, THE INDESTRUCTIBLE KING OF THE IMMORTALS — WELL NOT COMPLETELY INDESTRUCTIBLE

After being betrayed by his wife over 400 years ago, Michael worked so hard to always have his guard up and keep women at a distant so that he wouldn’t be hurt and humiliated like that again. Given that and after having over 400 years of practice, you would think he could smell a deceptive, manipulative woman from a mile away. Well, apparently not.

Sister Amy (Alison Louder) decides she’s getting out of that glass hell-hole in Michael’s lab one way or the other and uses the one thing she has going for her — her sexuality. Michael wants her to be his baby mama, so why not offer him exactly what he wants? If he had seen her trick, he would have kept control and no telling what would have happened. But, Michael shows his weakness and falls for Amy’s trick, hook, line and sinker.

Your mother was a fine and decent woman. But you, you have fire — Michael to Amy

And, just as Michael is about to kiss Amy, Landry (Sean Tucker) and Co. walk in and announce to Michael that his reign of terror is over.  In fact, Michael is over — or so they think.

Sister Amy and Landry then proceed to throw Michael into his own pit, but not to imprison or torture him. Instead, their intent is to kill him. But, just like her mother Anne had said, Amy is a silly, foolish, naive child. Did she really think it would be that easy to kill an immortal? Amy decides that sealing Michael inside the pit and depriving him of oxygen must be a sure fire way to do it because every human has to breathe, right? Well, when Michael starts boasting that not even burning or drowning him would be sufficient, we knew she was probably going to fail.

Fast forward 30 years… Julia (Kyra Zagorsky) is at the burnt-out compound and enters the abbey. Almost immediately she hears a knocking noise, and I don’t know about the rest of the viewers, but as soon as I heard that, I knew. That was Brother Michael, and that son of a bitch somehow managed to survive 30 years without any air, food or water. Holy crap. Julia finds the pit which had been sealed shut with a slab of concrete with the name “Michael” on top.

She breaks through the concrete, and sure enough, it’s Michael, except with a lot of beard growth (not nearly enough for being in the hole for 30 years, though). He questions why she freed him, and this is where we finally get some answers as to what her true purpose is for being on the island. There is an outbreak of a new disease that is killing their own kind, and the theory is the only cure is the stem cells of an immortal. That is, she’s looking for Sarah’s baby, and guess what? Michael smiles and says he knows exactly where it is.

Now, Steven Weber does an excellent job in the next few scenes, because I didn’t get the slightest clue that he was lying his ass off and that his real intent was to kill Julia. He lures her to the edge of a cliff, and when she looks away for just a moment, he pushes her.

Now, I can’t let you tell your mortal friends about me, now can I? — Michael to Julia

Michael is about to push her the rest of the way down the cliff, when the mother of all shockers happens — blood starts coming from Michael’s neck, and then, boom, his head falls to the ground while his body plunges off the cliff. Behind him stands Caleb (Jim Thorburn) — yes, this mystery of a guy saves the day again!

Well, we know the sword works — Caleb

Wow. So what does this last statement mean? Is Hatake’s sword special in that it’s one of the few weapons that can actually kill an immortal? Is that what Hatake meant when he called the sword his “legacy?” I don’t know but I can’t wait to find out!

SISTER AMY, THE BABY SNATCHER

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that since Landry is the one who drugged Alan, then Sister Amy was probably behind the plot to steal her baby. The only question that remained was why? Did Sister Amy want to implant the immortal fetus into herself? Why would she want to do that? It just didn’t make sense.

The fans have been racking their brains on this one, and we finally get an explanation. Now that her dastardly father is out of the way, Sister Amy fancies herself the new Brother Michael of St. Germain. She struts around his office like she’s the Queen of England, hell she even puts a picture of Michael up on the wall.  But, there is one thing that makes Amy different from her father — immortality. Michael had it, she doesn’t, and she wants it.

That is where Sarah’s baby comes in. Amy doesn’t want the baby, per se, and instead, uses it simply as a bargaining chip. She knows immortals can give their gift to other people, and she knows how desperately Sarah wants her baby back. So, she brings Sarah into her office, shows her the embryo (which is safe and sound and also appears to be developing now that it’s out of Sarah’s body), and her offer is simple — I will give you your baby back, but you have to make me immortal.

Damn. What do you think Sarah will do? We know Sarah is desperate, and so, do you think she would say “yes” without a second thought? But, do we know whether Sarah can even make other people immortal? We don’t know everything about how all of this works, and so, we don’t really know the answer to that question yet.

Helix airs on Fridays at 10/9c on Syfy.

 

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