In Dominion this week Vega’s denizens are still reeling from the plague of darkness released by Gabriel, the eight-balls approach and the archangel grabs Michael as he watches the city crumble. Michael quickly discovers that Gabriel has the darkness in him and that Julian is responsible. After initially telling his brother that he will not fight, Michael soon has to change his mind as Gabriel sets about killing him.
This penultimate episode of season two sees pathos and home truths all happening at once. Arika leaves Claire to return for Helena, David almost dies at Lady Riesen’s hand and he sacrifices his son William for Vega once again.
This time permanently.
Day of Wrath shows more to the Gabriel vs Michael backstory, that the seal was broken by Gabriel in 2016 on Christmas Day, where he, Noma and Michael sit in a Jasper, Texas bar. The archangel repeats his mantra that “Father will come back when the humans are all gone” and over Michael’s objections breaks the Seventh Seal to start the Apocalypse.
A number of characters in this episode, “clear the air” with one another. Nomes and Claire come to an agreement and after a scene fraught with angst, regret, denial and tragedy, David and William come to terms with one another…
Whele shoots his son just a tad too late to stop him from leaving the city wide-open for the invading eight-balls. He cradles a dying William and says, tearfully, “I always loved you.”
William opens his eyes and focusses on his father’s face:
“No…You didn’t.”
The ongoing “sibling rivalry” between Gabriel and Michael is shown to have been existent for quite some time, at least as long ago as 2016. Although the two have never really seen eye to eye on anything as shown in the “flashback” of the Lyrae/Julian backstory.
As the eight-balls threaten to engulf the city and the main players of Vega interact, the two archangels do battle and a losing Michael tries to convince his brother that Lucifer still lives, despite what they, and a few other archangels did to him.
“If he lives, says MIchael, ” there’s no telling what shape his vengeance will take.” He also tells Gabriel that their older brother wants Alex.
By the end of the show; Claire is back with Alex, if only for the time they face the eight-ball hordes who have entered the tunnel under Vega, Arika, who earlier tells Claire that she is leaving, does not. Gabriel takes Michael to Mallory to see if Lucifer, aka Morning Star, is really there.
Apart from William (Luke Allen-Gale) coming through, as predicted, as the wild card, the impressive thing that Day of Wrath gives the viewer is how the archangels and the humans are so alike. Both sides argue, disagree, lie, fight and mistrust one another. This does not apply to the “lower angels” as eight-balls, they appear to have no cognizant thought process and are easily ruled, first by Julian and then by Gabriel.
The episode also revealed how each person changed after the darkness visions abated. Arika became more humane, Claire more focussed and forgiving, David more accepting of what he had become. William, once again, was the odd-man out. His vision, which revealed he was not the Chosen One at all, did not cure his madness, it just redirected it.
William’s crying laughter as he beats the gate console to pieces is almost heartbreaking as is David’s tearful, “Oh forgive me please. I love you,” just before shooting his son several times in the torso. (This was a real tissue’s required scene.)
Gabriel has dragged Michael off to Mallory, the gates of the city are open and the last scene is of Alex moving away from the small group of defenders to do…What?
A mass cleansing of the eight-balls? This may well be the ultimate test/proof that Lannon is the Chosen One although Michael will not be there to see it.
Mad props to Anthony Head this week with his powerful and entrapping performance as the “changed” David. His scenes with both Roxanne McKee and Luke Allan Gale were electric. Kudos to Carl Beukes for his beautifully delivered pathos and to Gale for his tragic figure at the end who wants to punish the world.
October 1 sees the season two finale of Dominion airing on SyFy. Do not miss this apocalyptic finale
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