Djimon Hounsou arrives this episode as the town farmer. He’s supposedly a protege of first-season villain Toby Jones, though there’s no explanation why he wasn’t around before. It stands out, of course, because Jones’s villain was pretty plainly racist; the whole project—in the first season—was about breeding white babies. In the second season, the show’s definitely gotten the note about having some Black characters; though, so far, they’re all villains.
The episode begins with a surprise resolution to last episode’s cliffhanger. Little Nazi-in-charge Tom Stevens (who’s actually great as an evil little shit) broke his promise to Jason Patric and Charlie Tahan and sent them out beyond the wall to let the monsters eat them. Only the monsters ignore them to instead pile up against the fence, which electrocutes them dead until the bodies get high enough to jump over.
I’m ninety percent sure I’ve seen the same device used somewhere else, but it’s a solid device and effective here.
Stevens gets all his teen stormtroopers in trucks and drives out to fend off the invasion. He brings his girlfriend, Kacey Rohl, along with him, which results in her getting almost immediately injured and Stevens needing Patric back from the monster side of the wall.
If Patric can save Rohl, he’ll get some semblance of a normal life again—a job as town doctor (they don’t have any others) and to live with wife Nimrat Kaur. Turns out Kaur’s got a bunch of secrets she hasn’t been telling Patric about, though he’s not ready to accept he’s living in a post-post-apocalyptic future where man-eating monsters are running around; so maybe he can’t handle her truths either.
Meanwhile, Shannyn Sossamon is back, trying to get Stevens to go out and get Tahan too. The little fascists’ only rule is they can’t kill each other, and Stevens is breaking that rule.
Sossamon being back makes almost no sense, given where things finished up last season and then with Tahan being an underground revolutionary. Apparently, since the first season, Sossamon’s gotten generally okay with living in military occupation as long as she gets her house. It’s unclear. Sossamon’s pretty good, though, albeit just in a “hysterical mom” part.
She’s got a scene opposite Kaur where it seems like Sossamon will have something to do with Patric and the new A plot, but nothing comes of it. It’s going to be interesting to see how “Wayward Pines” handles its guest stars and season one returnees.
Another returnee, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, finally gets a real scene, albeit one where she’s recovering from the electroshock therapy the kids do to keep her in line.
Patric’s good, Kaur’s good, Stevens is good. There’s a lot with Patric discovering how bad Stevens has been at caring for the townspeople, and Stevens hates Patric being right. Amitai Marmorstein’s awesome as this medical student who looks up to Patric.
Once again, there’s something almost schlocky to it, like “Pines: Season Two” is an Ozploitation flick instead of a vain attempt from Fox to get another “Lost” going. I expected the fascist teens in charge plot to stink, but they’re making it work.
Oh. Toby Jones is back for a cameo, looking markedly older than last season, which breaks the suspended animation conceit. But it’s fine; it’s first thing and over fast.
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