The Assassin
After a week’s hiatus, Emergence returns with another dramatic episode, weaving more layers of mystery into the plot as Piper’s powers and Kindred’s influence come to the forefront. With numerous questions left hanging over this one and a surprisingly good pacing adopted throughout, Emergence delivers its best episode of the season so far. We return to the moments after the car crash as Benny watches on helplessly as the assassin steals his laptop and speeds away in his car. Stumbling down the street, Benny holds his wounded shoulder while Jo and the others get ready for dinner. Unfortunately their peaceful evening is shattered by Benny knocking at the front door, deliriously repeating the registration RDZ9021. Meanwhile, Piper is disturbed by rapping at the door downstairs midway through reading in her bed. As she stands up, she begins to hallucinate, opening a door leading to a large staircase. However, Mia snaps her back to reality as she reveals Benny is staying over. Some time later, we also find out that Ed’s cancer is returning, this time worse than before. It turns out the registration plate Benny memorized is linked to Kindred and Augur Industries. With a key piece of evidence linking him to the murder of April, Jo heads to Kindred’s office and arrests him. However, in the car Kindred tells her she’s going to regret her actions when she sees the real world come crashing down. He’s right too, as Jo heads back to the station and powerlessly watches as her superior berates her rash decision, omissing the thin layers of evidence she’s uncovered. It turns out Augur Industries have changed the records and unfortunately with nothing to pin on Kindred, they’re forced to let him go. Chris winds up face to face with the man who tried killing Benny some time late but playing it cool, he doesn’t let on who he is. Reviewing the surveillance footage afterwards, Benny snaps a photo of it while Jo asks Emily for help. Unfortunately, Jo’s bad luck starts arriving that evening, just like Kindred promised, as Alex loses his job after Auger Industries buys out his company and lays him off. Determined to find the man who tried killing him, Benny tracks his car with Jo and after chasing him down the street, finds himself outmatched as the man effortlessly knocks him to the ground and hurries off. Despite losing him, Benny reveals he did manage to swipe his keys in the ensuing scuffle, leading them to a safety deposit box. Managing to gain a warrant to his apartment, Jo and Benny head in and find the stolen laptop swimming in acid, with numerous passports hidden in the drawer too. Whoever this man is, he’s clearly very proficient. Meanwhile, Ed passes out at the wheel while driving the kids, a side effect of his cancer coming back, prompting them to scream out in terror. However, Piper uses her powers to stop a lorry colliding with them, before they head to the hospital in the aftermath of this drama. There, Ed finally tells Jo the truth about his condition before Piper discovers her hallucinations lead to a mental museum; a place she and Kindred can talk in private. As he talks to her about meeting up, Mia approaches her in the real-world and asks Piper outright if she has super powers, where we leave the episode. I’m a big fan of Terry O’Quinn’s work and he plays Kindred perfectly here. That balance of mystery, intrigue and danger really touches those early-LOST vibes of unnerving feelings toward him. It’s testament to the character of course and he works perfectly as the antagonist opposite Jo and the others. Props to Emergence too for its organically designed group of misfits, which really feel like a natural fit together. Out of all the shows debuting this fall, Emergence is the one I find myself the most intrigued by. That’s not to discredit anything else I watch of course but the mystery and ensuing drama is enough to make this a solid offering. Quite what the remaining episodes have in store for us remains to be seen but for now, this one is shaping up for quite the dramatic conclusion.
