Reliving The Past
The Passage has taken a few episodes to get going but things are really starting to kick into gear now. This week we focus on Anthony as the dreams start getting worse and Fanning begins flexing his mental powers. This reaches a climactic and shocking finale where things end on a cliffhanger and a sign of real trouble ahead. The episode begins with Amy and Brad discussing their options inside the hospital room. As Amy begins panicking, Brad calms her down and reassures her, explaining her has a plan. It’s at this point where he convinces the scientists to let them go outside to get some fresh air. Once there, Brad builds a treehouse to make things more comfortable for Amy, only to reveal it’s actually a decoy for what’s really a lookout tower to keep an eye on proceedings. For the past couple of episodes we’ve seen Fanning mentally project himself around the compound, invading people’s dreams and generally being a menace. This week, we see this reach boiling point as Anthony’s dreams get worse and we dive into his past, revealing the painful events that have led up to this moment. Unlike last week though, these flashbacks are actually really cleverly disguised and feel part of a consistent narrative rather than throwing us back in time at random moments. It works well too and this reveals a tragic story with a past flame that eventually leads to Fanning trying to persuade Anthony to join his cause. That’s not the only person persuaded to join the cause either and it’s at this point where we see Shauna Babcock reach out to torment Richards before invading Amy’s dream and attempting to convince her to join them. Amy vehemently declines before proclaiming she’s nothing like them. Shauna leaves her with a word of caution over Brad’s future actions before we cut back to the main crux of the drama this episode. Agent Paulson is another character who’s been suffering the consequences of Fanning’s power too and this week he’s had enough. After grabbing a sniper rifle with a seemingly unlimited amount of ammo, he takes to the roof and demands a helicopter take him away from the compound. Richards is none too happy about this and calls on Brad’s expertise as a negotiator to talk him out of it. Brad reluctantly agrees but not before Paulson blows one of the generators and power is momentarily lost inside the compound. As this issue is neutralized one way or another, Richards and Brad come to blows over the resulting climax, leaving Anthony in critical condition. Tensions rise and, again, a really strange choice of music cuts in, dissipating the tension and bringing in moments of sadness and reflection. It’s such an odd choice too and this use of music is a recurring theme that really kills the vibe of the show. While I’m not suggesting throwing in cuts of stock orchestral chimes, a bit more thought around the score would certainly help this show a lot. The Passage is one of those shows that always manages to entertain and has just enough mystery to keep you coming back every week. Strange stylistic choices and expository laden dialogue does hold this back from being a better title but The Passage is an enjoyable show nonetheless. This fourth episode proves as much, delivering the best episode thus far and some really intriguing prospects going forward.
