The episode starts with Team Rachel about to impossibly storm the castle, only find it's Sleeping Beauty's castle. Instead of a Princess, they find a tunnel.
I'm sure this leads to Candyland...
Rachel continues her nearly unbroken streak of trying to get the group to change course and plans at exactly the wrong time. She is dead set on finding her Dad, and "rescuing" him from the Patriots. She spends most of the episode trying to get everyone to turn around and go back the the death-hole they just escaped from. Neither Miles or Charlie are having it. Are there a bunch of soldiers waking up around them who will want to kill them? Better stay and find Dad. Is Aaron in danger? Better go rescue Dad. Is Monroe hacking people up and stashing everyone in a basement? Better fret about Dad and whether he's okay to Charlie. Is Miles dying? Better go rescue- what? Miles is dying?!?!?!?!? Oh, that gets her out of her must-rescue-Dad funk.
Why won't any of you let me make this about me? Why?
As they track Aaron through X-Files type fog, totally uncharacteristic for Texas, they encounter a horde of Patriots also looking for Aaron because of the extremely sick fucker in the wagon. Who is now visibly sick, but still giving orders. That armed guys follow. Just sayin'. Monroe helps them literally hack their way through soldiers to a hide-hole, then to the school where Aaron and wifey are holed up. Along the way, Miles has to confess to Monroe that he's dying of some blood-poisoning from a prior hand wound. Miles makes the colossal mistake of asking Monroe to step up and take some responsibility for peoples' safety once Miles can't. Isn't that like asking Dice Clay to babysit? Eventually, they leave, and follow the Patriots to "Stay-Puft".
Aaron spends the episode talking to a kid that only exists in his brain. The whole thing is wonderfully staged, resembling both the movie A.I. and the children's book The Little Prince. Little Boy waxes on to Aaron about something called Spring City in Oklahoma, and apparently both the audience and Aaron need to know that it has the second largest ball of twine in the world. Expect a road trip there in the second half of the season. What we need to know now, is that the boy claims to be from there, and left to search for his "parents".
Why are you in school? This is Saturday!
When a healed wifey awakes, and can't see or hear this boy, Aaron panics, thinking he's in Crazytown. But it's wifey who tells Aaron to hash it out with "Kevin", a blast from Aaron's past, or at least the form the nano tech decided to take for Aaron to see. When Aaron was turning on and off the power, those ridiculously fast fingers did a lot more. They also enabled nano tech to make the jump from programmed to self-aware. Aaron inadvertently created A.I. This A.I. is like Skynet, only worse, because it has only wanted to spend the last six months pleasing Aaron. So if Aaron, who has always been beaten down, and probably hated everyone who ever bullied him, wanted someone dead, the nano tech gleefully obliged. If Aaron is hurt, the nano tech brings him back to life. If Aaron is in danger, the nano tech puts everyone to sleep, and sneaks Aaron out the tunnel. Aaron is horrified to learn that an all powerful, intelligent technology will kill. For him. Since nano tech is ridiculously small, can be breathed, exhaled, eaten, go through you and anywhere else, this A.I. is actually all-knowing. Aaron is horrified to learn that nano will make all his fantasies about killing come true, and tells the nano to stop killing and leave him alone. "Kevin's" last service to Aaron is tell him that the Patriots have arrived at the school.
Neville gets himself and Boy Band assigned to Roger, who bristles a little at the whole thing, especially when Neville reminds him his dead traitor wife brought Neville and Boy Band into Allenford's life. Long story short, when you finally give up on Mrs. Neville, Julia, there she is. And with another man, just so Neville can be even more shocked, and feel even more betrayed. Neville handles it with the slow walk-by, so Julia can see what she's been missing. Turns out, she did miss it.
I totally trust you now after that quickie
After handling business, she tells him that she thought he was dead, which is a pretty good assumption. Especially considering he thought she was dead. But while she married someone else, Neville plotted revenge. Julia calls his revenge and raises him a coup. I think. Not sure what she's got planned. But Boy Band gets to see his mom again, with Neville making sure Boy Band knows this is all on the hush hush. Three episodes ago, he openly disdained his mom for her prior affair. But his eyes on seeing his mom again give him away. He'd kill dad if it meant having his mom back. In a second.
There are a series of scenes where Aaron, wifey, Charlie, Monroe, Miles and Rachel dodge and try to hold off Patriot soldiers. Monroe and Charlie have the decency to stick to fighting,
The only characters doing what they're supposed to be doing
but Miles and Rachel decide to re-hash out a confab they had 22 fucking years ago, just so that Miles can confess that he lied, and actually, he really loves Rachel and she's the only girl for him. Then he passes out, leaving Rachel to shoot at soldiers trying to bust down the door and try to get Miles to tell her he loves her again. Aaron and wifey get caught by Dr. Brain Tumor, and it goes poorly, with Dr. Tumor insisting that Aaron cure him dammit. Aaron tries to tell Dr. Tumor that it's not that simple, even though it actually is, or was, until Aaron told "Kevin" to get lost. So Dr. Tumor shoots wifey in the chest, thinking that it will trigger Aaron's healing powers.
Look, I just want you to cure cancer, not end world hunger.
Dr. Tumor triggers a lot more than he did the night before, and when Aaron changes his mind about "Kevin", it results in first Dr. Tumor going up in flames, then all the other Patriots. But "Kevin", is also not the same obedient servant he was last night. "Kevin" is confused- why does Aaron change his mind, with death as the result? Why didn't Aaron want him to heal wifey again? Aaron suddenly remembers that's an option. But "Kevin" has realized that maybe being a creator doesn't make someone a god, and he's outta here. So wifey stays dead. Besides the obvious plot point that Aaron fulfilled by choosing death over life, the scene also represents consequences. Wifey stays dead because that's the only way Aaron will leave, and hopefully go to Oklahoma. Aaron's choice also frees up Team Rachel to leave without being followed.
But what about Miles? Does he die just as he admits the truth to Rachel? Will Monroe ditch the group and try to find his kid? Why would he do something so pointless, when there's the second biggest ball of twine in the world next door in Oklahoma?
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