We’re back to finding Skinner but not without some family drama! The episode begins with the news reporting hospitals are being overrun with patients experiencing high fevers, assuming Hapna is responsible for this sudden wave of sickness. At headquarters, Team Lazarus learns the pill Chris found in Skinner’s house is to prevent blood clots for people with artificial hearts. Eleina didn’t find medical records of Skinner having artificial heart surgery but Hersch suggests he may have gone to a hospital for the wealthy who pay an extravagant fee in exchange for privacy. Leland suddenly leaves the table, changes clothes, and asks Axel and Doug to come with him because he may have a way to get into this hospital.
Leland, Axel, and Doug arrive at the Astor family mansion, which does look like the mansion Batman would live in, as Axel pointed out. Leland’s sister, Isabella, enters the room and begins berating Leland for coming home after four years to ask for a favor. Isabella assumes Leland wants to cover up a crime he’s committed but he asks to be introduced to the family doctor. Isabella’s anger about the family inheritance only going to the males turns to hurt when Leland suggests getting a husband as she describes hating all of her suitors who were only after money. After Isabella demands Leland to be the head of the Astor family, we learn Leland’s mother was his father’s mistress. Scandalous! When Isabella leaves the room, I agree with Axel’s statement that Leland brought both of them along to see the difficulties of his home life. When Isabella comes back to the room and Leland answers he indeed left white carnations at their father’s grave, she agrees to give him the information under one condition: to spend the weekend together. Leland agrees and promises to spend next weekend with her because the information will help everyone have another Sunday. It makes more sense now why Leland is part of Lazarus given that he is a member of a wealthy family and his late father is friends with Abel. Leland is becoming my favorite character because of the emotional weight he carries at a young age. From his complicated home life, to being the mole on the team, Leland is still able to do what’s best for Team Lazarus. If Skinner is found and the world is saved, Leland will need to book an appointment with the family therapist ASAP.
Leland, Axel, and Doug arrive at the family doctor where they meet Dr. Millie, who hasn’t seen Leland in a while. Disregarding doctor-patient confidentiality since the world is ending, Dr. Millie confirms Skinner underwent artificial heart surgery at the facility, but made the data from his heart untraceable when he was discharged, so no one knows his location. But Dr. Millie gives Leland a copy of the firmware to see if a third party is monitoring data from Skinner’s heart. Before leaving, Dr. Millie asks for Team Lazarus to bring Skinner to the faculty if he’s ever found. This is the best lead the team has had the entire series so I hope this helps the team. When the three make it back to headquarters, Leland begins to confess about being the mole but Axel tells him that they already knew. Eleina takes a look at the firmware, saying Skinner’s heart monitor is active but it won’t give his location. Eleina is able to find Skinner’s heart is being monitored in Pakistan which is where Popcorn Wizard, the hacker from episode five, is believed to be. Eleina convinces Doug to bring her along to Pakistan so she can get Popcorn Wizard’s exact location, so I called this a win!
At Abel’s office, he and Hersch watched footage from the Schiphol Airport Incident. The footage shows Delta Force, who take orders from INSCOM, and were there to bring in a terrorist, shooting at the airport police. The shootout results in Skinner’s suitcase releasing a gas, which was the prototype to Hapna, killing people instantly. Skinner was taken into custody by INSCOM. Three months after the incident, Skinner becomes distant and Hapna reappears in the Arizona prison where Axel was serving time. Hersch informs Axel that he and the inmates took a prototype of Hapna and the other inmates are dead, making Axel and the doctor the only survivors of the experiments. Hersch asks Axel to find the doctor and make sure he’s safe. The episode ends with Eleina registering a temperature of 99.9, like the high fevers mentioned at the beginning of the episode. The assassin makes an appearance by using a grenade, causing traffic to stop, as he walks toward Axel. That was a bit much!
The episode is filled with information to push the story along. The important thing is it was easy to follow and wasn’t confusing. The Astor family tea being spilled was a nice gift and we also learned why Schneider from INSCOM is interested in Axel. We have three episodes left and I sense a phenomenal fight scene between Axel and the mysterious assassin next week!
Umeko is a staff writer for toonamifaithful.com. Feel free to follow her on Twitter @blu_temptation
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