Charlie's doing poorly. She looks like she's on Valium from the second she leaves the building in Austin where she killed Jason. She stumbles through the panicked crowd. No one notices her, not even a cop. Except Miles, who has magically evaded being tackled himself after killing the would-be assassin. He whisks her away, where she can stare blankly behind them as the wagon they flee Austin with proceeds to Willoughby. They're close to home base now.
Miles, somehow knowing what happened but not the details, tells her that bad things happen, that at least they won this round against the Patriots. Monroe is all for this sentiment, and wants to know what Miles has planned next. Miles just wanted to console Charlie, not give Monroe a chance to go commando again. But Monroe won't be stopped. He tells them killing Neville is next, to prevent him from killing Charlie once Jason's death is known. Their plans are cut short when seven Texas Rangers ride into hearing and then sight.
Monroe instantly wants to kill them. Miles, like a tired parent with a five year old, explains that it's great if you don't kill people whose help you want. Miles shoos everyone off the wagon and sends them to find cover, while he'll take the wagon and lead them away and lose them. It goes great, until Miles literally hits an old piece of trash, with the logo $#!& HAPPENS stuck on it. It's big enough that the bump rips the harness off the wagon, and Miles pretty much flies off, tumbling down in time to grab a knife and gun. The Rangers catch up in time for Miles to hunker down behind an old car left in the forest(?). At first, they bicker over whether Miles tried to kill Carver or prevented someone else from doing it, but eventually there's a shoot out, which consists of Miles picking them off, while none of them got a shot in him. He runs out of bullets before he can shoot the last one, and dashes off into the forest.
All your days are bad ones, Miles
The last Ranger follows and catches up to him, so of course they sword fight. They go back and forth, and the Ranger draws first blood, a nasty looking gash that will need stitches. Just as the Ranger is about to press his sword into Miles' neck, Miles grabs the guy's head and slams it into the sword handle. A second later he stabs the Ranger in the gut, and the Ranger dies. Miles stumbles off.
Aaron is still helping Nano Priscilla experience all the joys of human living, including the joy of hearing 80s music on a real Walkman. Priscilla is impressed by Starship's We Built This City, a song that could not be more cringe-worthy. Bur Priscilla loves it, once she powers it up and puts on the headphones. She's hooked on tacky 80s pop. Way to go, Aaron. Outside, Monroe only has a moment to notice Stay-Puft is back, but Charlie is hysterical when she realizes that Aaron is safe and sound, scolding him for running off. Rachel comes to say a strained hello, and hear Charlie claim she's fine. When Charlie realizes that Miles isn't back yet, she, Rachel and Monroe go off in search. But only after Connor gets in a bitchy, petulant teen-angst-ridden dig at Monroe's love for Miles.
Miles needs the help. He's staggering past an abandoned electrical tower, when his coat becomes an unbearable blood rag on him, and he takes it off, reveal a gaping, oozing wound in the process. He stumbles into a ruin of an old house, looking through shelves and finding nothing, until he sees a First Aid Kit. So close, just across those old boards. The Miles can hear breaking the second he steps on them. He willingly falls into an old basement, rolling around until the pain subsides, wondering why this is his day. Well, at least he can crawl out, until more weakening floorboards causes a nearby wall to collapse right over the opening. So, now he's trapped in a dark basement that will eventually run out of air.
As they track Miles, Rachel must have found out about Jason, because she offers Charlie a sympathetic shoulder. Charlie, of course, shuns the offer. When they realize Miles took the wagon on pavement, and the tracking is done, they split up.
Aaron finds Nano Priscilla still listening to Starship, which you think the Nano would know enough to be embarrassed by. Aaron asks if she could find Miles? Sure, but it's not worth it. Nano Priscilla knows, because six months ago, the Nano probed Miles' mind, and found some dark matter there. Or maybe dark energy. Something dark. Something she reflected back at Miles. Turns out, the Nano have probed exactly 3,289 people, to satisfy her curiosity of humanity. Now, how 'bout Aaron lets her get back to Starship? What's Miles compared to the best music ever? Oh, and how 'bout a pizza for someone really curious about human eating?
Miles checks out his basement, which lacks food or water, but has an old aerosol spray can of something, a fixed window giving him some light way above him, and a poster in a corner of a cat holding on to a rope, saying "Hang in there, Kitty". Well, at least he has inspiration. After failing to break the window, he realizes his wound won't wait, and rips apart a bed for fire kindling. He lets his sword hang in the fire until it glows red-hot, sticks something in his mouth, and lets out an agonized scream as he cauterizes his own wound. All this fire reminds him a certain burning shed. About six months ago, to be precise. Later, after recovering from the pain but losing sanity due to his injury, dehydration, and hunger, he tries rummaging. The only thing he finds is a kitty figurine that he thinks is insulting him.
Charlie is wandering a dirt road somewhere when Neville gets the jump on her. Charlie turns around, knowing that, at best, she can buy herself some time. After Neville has her disarm at gunpoint, he demands to know where Jason is. Neville looks like he's been awake since losing Jason. Charlie tells him she doesn't know where Jason is, so Neville forces her to walk on, leading him to Team Miles. As they start off, Neville starts insulting Charlie, blaming his son's desertion on Charlie's ass and Jason's crush on her. In other words, anyone but himself and his own obsession with revenge. He tells Charlie that he's going to get his boy back, and then Charlie is going to leave him alone. Yeah, 'cause Charlie was really stalking him. As if Charlie is to blame. As if Neville isn't.
You are all getting on my last nerve.
Rachel and Monroe find the Rangers' bodies. They do a bit of Forensics, guessing at what happened. Monroe insists on hitting higher ground, without bothering to find Charlie, because that's where Miles would go and they can't waste time. Besides, Monroe knows Miles, and knows where Miles would go. Rachel points out that Miles knew Monroe well enough to try to kill him. Twice.
Miles has piled every piece of rickety furniture in that basement up, and tries to use his sword as a crowbar on the opening, but it's useless, and his hopeless ladder collapses, knocking him out just in time for Monroe and Rachel to show up above and call out a few times. When they hear nothing, Monroe decides to look elsewhere, and when Rachel bitchily nags Monroe about changing his mind, Monroe decides that he's had enough of Rachel questioning him. Yes, they're finally going to get into the three-episode tug-of-war they've had over Miles' future. So they list each other's worst qualities, starting with Monroe laying into Rachel for being a hypocrite, despite always whining over doing the right thing. Monroe goes into great detail, saying she's the dictionary definition of "girlfriend from hell". Monroe tells her she's just a psychopath with a screwdriver, which is a reminder of the colleague she killed in Season 1, just to stay alive herself.
Rachel listens calmly, before she tells Monroe he's an insecure child, that he's a poisonous devil on Miles' back, urging him on to do the worst thing possible, and Miles hates him for it. Monroe is dragging Miles down into the mud with him because Monroe can't stand to be alone there. She calls him pathetic.
Oh, no. The bomb drops when Monroe demands to know why she did something bombshell-ish with him in Philly. Something at night. Something that Rachel's probably going to have to explain to Miles one day. Rachel reminds Monroe that she was his prisoner. For years. Monroe reminds her that he didn't force her. They slap each other, and then Monroe grabs her head and makes her kiss him. She breaks it off, grabs her gun and tells him to stay away from her. So, Rachel couldn't even be faithful to the guy she cheated on her husband with. Is Monroe's hatred for her from being jealous over Miles? Or, is he jealous of Miles over her?
I've always hated you, except for that one night
Charlie leads Neville to a dud- a safe house long since abandoned, except for the extra-handy knife still stashed under a table. Neville keeps her from grabbing it, though, and starts demanding to know why Charlie's lying about Jason. She evades his questions a couple of times, but eventually has to admit that he's dead. You can see Neville's brain collapsing on his face as he tries to deny it. He fires the gun, and multiple shots go into the wall above Charlie's head where she's crouching on the floor. As she gets up, Neville insists on knowing whether it was Miles or Monroe. Charlie, who's resisted talking about this with both Miles and Rachel, opens up completely with the man she probably hates most of all. The man who killed her father and kidnapped her brother, setting up her long journey into hell.
Charlie can't hold back tears as she tries to convince Neville that it was self-defense, that the Patriots must have read his number, because he could not be stopped, only shot. Charlie assures Neville, through her tears, that she cared for Jason and didn't want to kill him, but he was no longer himself. She admits hating herself for doing it. She lets Neville place a gun on her forehead, and jumps when the gun clicks. The clip is empty. Tom is done. Charlie pretty much bared her soul to the guy. Jason needed a dad who would get him as far away from the Patriots as possible, not futilely try to get his wife back all the way from Washington, D.C. Jason needed a dad who wasn't always trying to con Patriots so he could hatch a clever revenge plot. Jason never had a chance of beating Neville's own selfishness. Neville falls to his knees, crying over a son he took for granted would always go along with whatever crazy idea his dad had. Charlie slowly walks away, leaving Neville alone with his grief.
Rachel and Monroe also get a chance to share some feelings when Rachel finds Miles' coat, covered from the inside with blood. Lots of it. Rachel starts freaking out, while Monroe stays in denial mode. He goes down on one knee to reassure Rachel that Miles is alive, goddammit. So, Rachel believes Monroe this time when he insists that he knows Miles is alive. Together, they get up and keep searching.
They're still searching, two days later. Connor tries to talk Charlie out of going searching again, saying he's sorry and all, but Charlie shuts him down and goes on about how she doesn't deserve to live, not after her brush with Neville. Gone is the fatalistic nihilist of the mid-season. In her place is someone really thinking about what tomorrow should be, and it will include her uncle. Rachel and Monroe are totally in sync now. They'll fight over who knows Miles best, or who he wants the most, when they've found him.
Aaron watches them go, and begs Nano Priscilla to help them find Miles, offering her pizza made with ingredients he will personally harvest. He even offers to milk a cow. Nano Priscilla puts down Neil Gaiman's American Gods, and like a mother annoyed at being disturbed by her five year old, tells Aaron it ain't happening. Aaron yanks the book away, and tells her that she's only looking at superficial elements of being human. What matters is your loyalty to the people you say you care about. And then he plays the I-created-you-dammit card. Nano Priscilla assures Aaron that she does love him, but that she will definitely kill the real Priscilla's brain, and maybe a few more, just so that Aaron gets the point. She doesn't owe him anything. She takes back her book and tells Aaron to work on her pizza.
Miles is awake, but even worse off. Still bleeding, he's left a trail of blood to the place where's he's sitting, scratching "I'm sorry" into the wall. He can't see the point in going on and that fucking Hang In There, Kitty poster is just mocking him at this point. With the image of a whiskey bottle. In a bar. And a strangely familiar man walking past him and out the door. Miles can't resist, and he follows the stranger to an ominous-looking shed in the middle of nowhere, just like the one from the premiere. It's empty. The camera makes a point of showing no one behind Miles, so when he steps into the room and we hear a voice, Miles turns around to face..
Ben. Ben fucking Mattheson. His dead brother. He looks grizzly, but alive, and Miles realizes that this is a vision. Ben doesn't contradict him, just spends some time reminding Miles of all his moral failings. Ben is pissed that Miles fucked his wife, but he's even more pissed that Miles couldn't admit it to him. Ben tells Miles that Miles must be glad he's dead, so he can really have Rachel all to himself. Says he wouldn't be surprised, as decency isn't Miles' great talent. So, was it Ben that knew Miles best? All of Miles failings, made even more bitter because they involved his wife? Ben claims to know Miles, knows that he's a savage, and that is why the people around him suffer. That Rachel and Charlie will die if he stays in their lives. Miles doesn't want to believe him, but a mirror magically in the shed reveals Rachel's and Charlie's bodies, throats slit, and Miles punches into the glass without thinking, breaking it and ripping open his hand and wrist. He has blood on his face, and the mirror is shattered. And Miles is alone again. The Nano is done taunting him, and has gone on to another human. Miles opens the shed up, turns around, and realizes that his hand is still bleeding. For some reason, he can't leave the shed as it is, and burns it to the ground. Just like in the premiere. Is this the original intent of this season? Was it always vague so the writers could give it any meaning they wanted?
Miles can't even kill himself. For a second, it looks like he'll just waste away there, until he spies an old, dusty guitar pick on the ground. It reminds him of something else. Playing music for a woman he loved, who's still alive and worth living for. So Miles gets back up, and uses the aerosol spray to build yet another rickety fire. He stuffs the Kitty poster into the space between the floorboards above and the collapsed wall, and uses it, properly, as kindling. What else should one do with a useless motivation poster? The fire causes another cave in, but this one re-opens the hole, and leaves a lot of rubble for Miles to climb out on. With his bloody hands just barely holding on above, Miles stumbles out of the hole. Yay.
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