The Whispers last week ended with the man who killed the first Drill being murdered by the new one. Not before the parents learned how to destroy the alien though and in Darkest Fears Wes Lawrence becomes more than proactive in his hunt for Drill and the goal of killing the entity. The way to take Drill out was highlighted in the previous episode; once he possesses a child, Drill can be killed.
Secretary of Defense Frommer briefed the president about how to kill the alien and he made it clear that the prospect of murdering a child did not bother him in the least. Frommer has always been a despicable character, threatening Sean and attempting to kidnap Bennigan’s son Henry. As cold blooded as Drill is, Frommer (perhaps because he is a human monster) beats the entity hands down in terms of the willingness to do harm.
A young boy, Nicholas, has no friends and his father does not understand or like him. Nicholas’ dad has the one thing that Drill needs, codes which he will use later on. The alien is getting weaker as the energy it is consuming lacks the nourishment needed to survive for a long time period. It is explained that Drill’s eating electricity is like a human trying to sexist on celery.
Claire and Wes come up with a plan to use the Washington D.C. power grid to trap Drill and starve him to death. Drill has made friends with Nicholas Brewster, whose dad has the DSN Code Key list. Henry is ill. The boy has continual headaches and Sean takes his son to the hospital for Dr. Maria Benavidez to examine hm.
Minx is to be taken on a cruise by her mother Lena, on a ship there are no electrical lines for Drill to travel over. The plan impresses Wes and both parents believe that Minx will be safe. Frommer explains to the president about Lawrence’s plan and he approves it.
They begin their plan and start shutting down power grid sectors in order to force Drill into their trap. As the agents, the president and Frommer wait anxiously, without any sign of the entity showing up, Claire gets off a brilliant zinger against the douche that has the commander-in-chief’s ear. After complaining about crime reports coming in from the first blacked out areas, Frommer says, “Question is, how long do you stand around at the dance till you realize that you’ve been stood up?”
Claire responds, “Maybe you should tell me sir…My dates always showed up.”
Touché.
While this was very satisfactory (on a sidenote,David Andrews really has channelled his inner arsehole to play Frommer) this was a light moment before the storm. In short order Drill is trapped, as are Sean and Henry in their return trip from the hospital, as are Lena and Minx, who were meant to be on their way to the Caribbean cruise. Both pairs move to get back home.
Lena tries to call Wes but gets a constant busy signal, after a cab driver refuses to take them into the city, explaining that it is in a gridlock, a kindly older gentleman offers to take them back. Sean works his way out of the blackout induced traffic jam and just as he and Henry share a Peter Pan quote, “Second star to the right and straight on till morning,” a car comes speeding out of nowhere and hits their vehicle.
The FBI and DoD joint plan to trap Drill works. As they verify that Drill is trapped in an old school, Wes and Claire realize that a child is in there with him. Meanwhile, Sean gets help from a fierce acting stranger who assists him in removing a trapped Henry from the wreckage of the car. Lena and Minx are dropped off home by the kind older man. After Lena tries to pay him (he refuses the offer) and then thanks him for not being a crazy, we learn he is something much worse. While it is not spelled out, this chap being there to assist the Lawrence’s was not a coincidence or serendipity. Before driving away, the man takes out a notebook and all the main players names are on it; Claire, Lena (misspelt as Lene), Minx, Sean, and so on.
At the school, Wes and Claire chase down Nicholas and confront Drill who is with the boy. With no source of power, the entity attempts to possess the boy and Wes jumps forward to save Nicholas only to be knocked off his feet. Once Drill appears to be in the child, Frommer demands that the president kill the boy and the alien. The president hesitates as Wes tells him that they should find another way and put the power back on, allowing Drill to escape.
Lawrence appeals to the father side of the president who decides that they will not kill Drill by killing Nicholas. Later the man asks his Secretary of Defense if Frommer thinks he did the wrong thing. Frommer answers categorically that he knows the president made the wrong choice. As predicted before, the leader of the DoD would have no problem slaying a child for the “greater good.”
Wes promises Drill that he will hunt him down and not stop until he has killed him. After his emotional rant, the electricity crackles and fluctuates. Back at the Lawrence home, Lena calls out to Minx that chocolate sundaes are coming up. Minx is in bed already and as Lena goes to check on her, water is shown flowing steadily from the refrigerator’s ice maker.
The floor is covered with water and a barefoot Lena goes to the fridge and, with one foot in the fluid, she touches the door and is electrocuted. Drill has responded to Wes and his threat by punishing the man with his wife’s death. Unfortunately he has also punished Minx who stands outside the house crying and glaring up at the sky later while inside the Lawrence home, Wes cradles his dead wife and screams.
The Whispers has made another turn into a deeper darker area. Last week and the week before were both deadly in nature, a backstory of child murder and the follow up being another child murdering the now grown Thomas Harcourt. In terms of violence and “self defense” Drill has (pardon the pun) taken off the kid gloves.
The episode title of Darkest Fears is very appropriate. Two darkest fears, if not more, are broached. The, almost, murder of a child being possessed by Drill, their inability to kill the entity, Henry almost dying (on top of his health scare), and Wes losing his wife to an extremely vengeful Drill. On top of these issues is another, newer one. Who is the “kindly” gentleman with the list?
Perhaps the darkest fear of all is the one where the adults, Claire in particular, feel they cannot talk to the children as well as Drill can. The entity accuses Bennigan of lying to the children and not telling them the truth. Drill actually does this by telling the kids what they want and need to hear. Certainly he rewards them if they perform as asked but he just a quickly becomes deadly when things do not go his way.
Kudos to Barry Sloane as Wes Lawrence this week. This episode was his showcase full stop. Can there be anyone who did not get emotional when Wes desperately cradled Lena’s unresponsive body saying “it’s alright, it’ll be alright” and then screaming? Powerful stuff this and worthy of an Emmy nod surely.
The death of Kristen Connolly’s character is a blow and now it seems there will be a race to see who can be the biggest monster, Secretary of Defense Frommer or Drill. It feels like the alien has made a huge miscalculation in killing Minx’s mother, this young lady was eerily adult-like in her thought process already, it is not too unbelievable to think that young Ms. Lawrence may be instrumental in Drill’s death.
The Whispers airs Mondays on ABC and this compelling science fiction thriller continues to draw the viewer into a fascinating and frightening world.
I’m not going to lie about it, I cried…real tears (sorry, Uncharted II reference). Everything came together for a scene that had the effect of a punch.
Wow, what an ending. It was really powerfully done, from the cinematography and camera work, to the acting (the physical reaction that Wes has upon discovering Lena’s body was perfect), and of course the haunting song “Fly Low Carrion Crow” by Two Gallants. The ending scene reminded me of so many Sons of Anarchy episodes which always had really powerful final scenes.