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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LightPhoenix" data-source="post: 4742372" data-attributes="member: 115">I finally got the chance to watch the episode, and as it seems I am so often with this show, I'm of two minds about it.On the one hand, I thought the four escaping was pretty cool.  Furthermore, I liked how they were driven towards closure.  The implication was that despite what Adele might think, simply wiping away the memories isn't what the actives needed.  I also liked how the doctor is the only one to really get that.  It probably would have been easy for Topher to remove the memories of her attack, and some sort of surgery to remove the scars.  She chose to face that head on though.  I would have liked to get a little more information on Viktor though.  The clothing room was great, especially Viktor's rack... however I would have liked a little more payoff from seeing that and realizing they probably were sent out basically as unknowing prostitutes.  That's probably a little too touchy at any time for basic cable though, let alone the FCC.I'm still keeping my money on Topher being the mole.  He's conveniently late to a meeting where all the senior staff are - easy to do something then.  He tells Echo pretty much everything about the operation, knowing she's been recovering memories.On the other hand, I absolutely loathe these kinds of tease stories.  I was hoping we'd finally get the ball rolling on these people becoming aware.  Instead, the whole thing was a set-up and the reset button hit at the end, hard.  Heck, based on the episode, we've actually taken a step back from where we were, since they've lost what growth they've had.  It's hard to care about characters whose characterization is a chain being jerked around.  You can't have character growth if you hit the reset button.  That's what made shows like BSG and B5 (at many, but not all, times) good stories - the lack of resets.  I liken it to the difference between a river and a pond; one is moving and dynamic, and the other one is static and boring.  A leaf in the pond might be pretty to look at, but eventually it gets boring.  A leaf in the river is always moving and tumbling and much more entertaining.Sorry, a bit of a tangent there.  I really hate resets.  I hate when anything happens that renders character growth moot.  Anyway...Arc-wise, the episode would be a near total loss were it not for Echo calling Ballard... which, how did they not detect?  For that matter, how did they not detect Ballard's surveilance going dead?  Have they totally given up on him, despite the fact that supposedly he was a huge threat?  I mean, he found Caroline in the last episode.  It made no sense.  They walk this thin line with his character - sometimes he's considered a threat, but sometimes he's not.  It ends up hurting the character and the story, especially since it's hard to see him as anything other than the major protagonist.  I know the story is about the actives and Echo especially, but they need a strong protagonist, they have a protagonist in Ballard - let him be one!So in summary, while it was a pretty decent story, the big reset and the inconsistencies in Ballard's B-story were very frustrating, and brought an episode that I think would have been good to decent at best.</blockquote>

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