Chasing The White Rabbit
Following the first episode’s almighty cliffhanger, The Chosen One returns and picks up right where it left off from before. Lúcia scrambles to find people to help save Mateus but no one seems interested. However, she talks to the Doctors about what she’s seen, which leads Damião into the jungle where he comes across a mysterious woman dressed in white. With Damião still stuck in the jungle, Lúcia and Enzo discuss the night’s events before proceeding with administering shots for everyone – for real this time. However, Mateus shows up with no cut on his neck and tells Lúcia that miracles do happen and that he’s proof of it. She doesn’t buy it though and believes he’s a fraud, continuing to administer vaccines anyway. Desperate, Mateus confronts the crowd and tells everyone not to take the shots. The doctors ignore him but stop suddenly when the vaccinated villagers begin violently convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Damião awakens in the middle of the jungle, with the mysterious woman crouching over him, helping him drink from a bottle of water. As he stumbles through the jungle, he deliriously begins reliving past events through flashbacks to his childhood. When he does eventually regain consciousness properly, he’s lying on the ground and witnesses a strange ritual take place. Mateus meanwhile bundles up the sick villagers and makes the rest of the village pray for their safe return whilst keeping Lúcia and Enzo inside to prevent them from being lynched. However one of the villagers agrees to take them to Damião, in exchange for them leaving the village. Damião himself is caught spying out in the jungle and transported to a local village where he spends the night sleeping next to a jaguar; a thin, steel cage the only thing seperating them. After a night of sleeping on the forest floor, Lúcia and Enzo catch up with their comrade on the river crossing where they’re all reunited again, Damião looking the worse for wear. As they discuss what to do next, the sick villagers return healthy and with no visible signs of sickness. Eventually, Lúcia manages to convince one of the villagers to help Damião and she takes them on a river crossing to a sacred area housing a bell. The villagers there are not happy that the trio have arrived, however Lúcia is persistent. Just as things look to turn nasty, a strange man dressed in white appears before them – The Chosen One. With more drama and mystery this time around, The Chosen One delivers another enjoyable episode although some of the initial tension does dissipate here in favour of the cult-behaviour of the group. Whilst the little rifts between each of the villagers helps to create some drama, for the most part The Chosen One rests on its mystery and questions around faith to keep things ticking over. It’s not perfect, but the episode does well, ending on another big cliffhanger.
