Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...
Whatever the cost is right. Unfortunately, the cost of finding Dani, from the push that Nina gave to Hicks, was Dani herself.
"The Devil Will Drag You Under" was a thrilling and poignant "dark before the dawn" episode that helped elevate Dani up the ranks to become a character whose death we care about possibly even more, at this point, than some of Rosen's actual team members. It also both redeemed her character and gave our villain, Parish, a more savage edge. Now I'm sure none of us thought Parish would actually spare Dani at the end, no matter how conflicted he might have been. He's a man who's lived way too long and seen far too much "sacrifice" to ever get trapped inside sentiment. But does anyone else think that he'll actually emerge from this angrier and more determined than ever as well?
Rosen and Hicks will be devastated, naturally. But it also seems like Parish will now carry around a deep resentment for Rosen and his ideals for turning Dani against him and forcing his hand. Which brings me to another great aspect of this episode - Parish's plan to kill all of Manhattan as a way of "culling the herd." Yes, from the playbook of "That Escalated Quickly," it turns out that the soft-spoken Parish isn't interested in baby steps. Nope. No gassing a subway car or taking out a bunch of people at a sporting event. He's skipping over a bunch of villainous rungs and going right for the genocidal maniac mantle. And yes, Rosen sending Dani back into Parish's clutches, as an obvious double agent, wasn't going to turn out well for her. That's writing 101. But if he hadn't, they'd also never have discovered Parish's plot.
In fact, it was purely because Parish revealed his master plan to Dani that Rosen and Hicks had to go in and rescue her. Because it caused her to noticeably freak out in Parish's eyes. Causing him to detain her. Causing her to miss her meet-ups with Rosen. And just when I thought Nina was going to be confined to doing her Nina-rounds (trying to comfort the distraught members of the team), she was revealed to be an instrumental component in Rosen's plan to send Hicks in after Dani.
In fact, there was quite a bit of mind manipulation in this episode. Kandyse McClure (BSG's Dualla) stopped by as a mind-vetter named Agnes. Who suffers the Rogue-esque curse of never being able to touch someone with her skin. Which then causes her to admire the true love that Hicks feels for Dani. Also, creepy Kimi was back, creepily whispering into Hicks ear, trying to get him to blow his brains out. Come to think of it, Hicks' mind was kind of like a boxing speed ball in this episode. But no matter how powerful these mind Alphas can be, they can't bring someone back from the brink of death.
Save for Rosen, everyone around Dani's fallen body had powers. But no one could heal her. Not even Nina's last ditch effort to push her with "DO NOT DIE!" It was a tragic, well-crafted scene that will hopefully push our heroes into the final stretch of Season 2 with an inspired fury.
Ashes for paradise.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and IGN. WARNING: No Nudity!
Source : ign[dot]com
