Tag: The Whispers

The Whispers: Game Over Season Finale (recap and review)

LILY RABE as Claire Bennigan

With one deft move, The Whispers has turned into the Village of the Damned meets the prequel of The 4400 although one gets the impression that these missing are never going to be coming back, at least not in a recognizable form. Last week’s episode was a gut wrenching race which ultimately the grown-ups lost.  Minx was saved from extinction, just. Wes may have gotten his daughter back but the president’s girl, who is now Drill, got out that message and the family is coming for a visit…and a bit of takeaway.

At the beginning of the episode Henry and Minx bond and he apologizes for  being a bad friend. Minx asks to learn sign language so she can say Drill should pay for what he has done.  Drill, née Cassandra, is in a cage placed in the middle of a darkened room. The scene borders on surreal black comedy.

Drill, in the body of the president’s daughter and using her voice, tells Claire Bennigan that Cassandra was  dead, “The moment I took her. What you see here,” Drill says, “is nothing more than a suit. A husk. Does that make you feel bad Claire?” The thing that makes the scene both blackly comic and surreal is the lisp. Kayden Magnuson (the young actress playing Cassandra) is apparently missing a tooth in real life, ergo the lines become “more than a thuit, a huthk. Doeth that bother you…”

The lisp is not over the top, but just enough to make the scene suitably creepy yet comic, to a huge degree. During the same conversation, Drill then, using that same lisping delivery, provides a bit of unwanted feedback on the parenting skills, or lack thereof, of Earth’s parents.

Claire tells Drill, in response to his finger wag for not thanking him for all the “good things” he has done, i.e. Henry’s hearing, Sean back, et al., “You corrupted our children.” Drill’s reply is scathing:

If parents paid more attention to them, I wouldn’t have been able to. But they’re always alone, watching TV, playing video games. So who’s really corrupting the children, Claire?

Wes joins Claire. Drill tells the two adults that they would have won, if they had sacrificed. They were not willing to sacrifice the child at the building. Drill tells them that if they had killed the boy, during the blackout, he would have been unable to reach his friends and they would have won. Drill then tells Wes that his wife would also still be alive. Wes reacts badly.

“Don’t even mention her,” Wes says angrily. “Or what?” asks Drill, “you’ll kill me?”  Claire says that it would be  a shame for Drill to miss his friends after he had done all the work. Drill responds saying that he has not yet done all the work.

He berates Claire for not listening and Drill then reminds the two adults, “If you want to win the game, you must be willing to sacrifice.” With that pronouncement, Drill moves back to the seat in the cage and self-destructs, destroying Cassandra’s body.

*Sidenote* This was a brilliantly creepy scene and the glowing eyes really did pull one right back into that English village with all those blond-haired genius alien kids.

Wes is stunned and asks if Drill just killed himself. “Why would he do that,” Wes asks Claire. “He wouldn’t,” she replies, “Not without a reason.” Seconds after her line, the children, who had all been acting normally, go silent for a moment. Drill is now in all the kids.

Henry and Minx begin packing things up, communicating without talking. There is an issue  with the flashlight and after an unspoken command from Minx, she gets the device and puts it in her bag. Another child is seen spiking her mother’s glass of wine with pills. Another lad, Nicholas, has “locked” his mother in her room, he too has a bag and is leaving the house.

Jessup gets a visit from his significant other Tamara who is carrying his baby. She talks him into leaving his desk at the FBI and spending time with her.

*Sidenote* At first it seems like her odd behavior may be down to Drill controlling her unborn baby which is controlling her. Right after she talks Jessup into leaving with her, Claire goes to check on three kids by the side of the road and she is approached by a group of adults…since the grownups have men as well as women that theory was wrong, as is proved later.

At the Department of Defense “1982 Drill” is mentioned. Ron Harcourt tells Sean Bennigan about the signal received back in 1982 from the first Drill and Harcourt tells Sean that he got an answering signal when this Drill sent out his message. Henry comes in and tells his father there is a strange woman staring at the house. The woman and a group of other adults take Sean and Henry asks if they are ready.

Drill, it turns out, is using his friends from 1982. Claire and Sean are being held captive and their guard is the woman who approached Claire by the roadside. It transpires that “once a friend, always a friend.” Drill keeps his contacts. They may have been children before but Drill never leaves, lying dormant so to speak.

At the DoD Frommer learns that Drill’s friends are coming. Massive amounts of blue glowing rocks are heading to Earth. Harper has a adult friend of Drill’s taking her to where she needs to be. Jessup sees Harper and approaches the two asking about who the lady is. As he gets back in the car, Tamara sighs and tells Jessup she really wishes he had not seen Harper.

Wes comes looking for Claire and Sean, along with Minx. He finds the signal that Ron Harcourt was showing Bennigan and he finds Ron…dead. Wes grabs the laptop and leaves the house. Frommer is shown the approach of Drill’s family. There are so many, he confuses them with stars…at first.

Wes goes to his house looking for Minx and Henry when more of Drill’s grown up friends arrive to take him. Wes fights them off and as he is leaving the house Anderson calls Jessup. The FBI agent answers the phone and tells Wes he is in a trunk, “I think its mine, Jessup says. Henry shows up at a cordoned off area and a policeman asks the boy where his parents are. “Where they can’t cause any further trouble,” Henry smiles.

Anderson finds the Bennigan’s and Jessup. He also sees a marked map on the wall of the building. He takes a picture. He helps Jessup get away from Tamara. Sean gets loose and the woman who has been guarding them starts to kill Claire with a knitting needle. Wes shoots the woman before she can shove the thing in Claire’s neck.

Wes tells Sean and Claire that Henry is with the bureau. Suddenly the world is infused with blue light, Claire says, “They’re here.” They ask Henry where Minx is and he replies that she is “Where she is supposed to be.”

Frommer tells Anderson that they are sending a warhead into space to detonate a massive EMP to neutralize the rocks. Wes asks his boss to wait and Frommer does not. They send the warhead up and it is a “direct hit.” The blue light is extinguished but they have not won. Henry reveals that Drill’s family are still there.

Claire and Henry talks via sign language. He tells his mother that the message is a question, “Are you ready?” Sean then realizes that they misunderstood Drill’s mission, he was not after Earth, but Earth’s children. Bennigan then deciphers the marking on the map that Wes got a picture of.

Henry takes them to Minx and he then goes to his spot, each dot on the map was where a child needed to be. Wes heads toward Minx and Henry leaves his parents to be in place. Once he steps on his mark, blue lights come down and envelop each child. Wes rushes to Minx but as he reaches her she is “dissolved” and pulled up into the light.

Claire reaches Henry and pushes him out of the light and it is she who gets taken by Drill’s family as Sean and Henry watch. Wes has lost his wife and Minx. Sean has Henry back but Claire is gone. The three survivors stand in the dark forest as newscasters report thousands of children have been abducted all over the world.

The final line of dialogue is “Where are our children?”

ABC has produced a cracking show which has been “edge of the seat” viewing from the very first episode. After last week’s white knuckle ride, it seemed that the finale might just be anti-climatic. This was not the case as the show’s producers upped the ante and kept the pressure up till that last frame.

It is to be devoutly hoped that The Whispers comes back for a second season.  While it seems that the children might be gone, in their present form, forever, there is that question of what will happen now that Claire took Henry’s place? Not to mention that cryptic message from Drill, via Harper, about domination.

Grade ‘A’ performances from all the leads and the child actors in the show have made this a brilliant offering. Rabe, Sloane, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristen Connolly, David Andrews, Kylie Rogers, Abby Ryder Fortson have all performed brilliantly in this series. Special kudos to Derek Webster as Special Agent Jessup Rollins. He and David Andrews both got their character’s arc down pat. Mad props for young Magnuson as Cassandra, even without the added FX to her voice in this finale, she sold it, lisp and all. 

The Whispers has been a treat, great storyline, excellent cinematography, top notch acting and a completely immersive experience. Great television. For those who missed the season finale, Hulu has the finale for viewing, along with other episodes.

The Whispers: Traveller in the Dark (recap and review)

Lily Rabe as Claire Bennigan
This week’s episode of The Whispers was a gut-wrenching, white-knuckle ride. The fact that a dying Drill finally possessed one of the children and that the choice came down to Minx, Henry, and the president’s daughter Cassandra was not surprising. Kudos to the writers for some great mis-direction and for making this one so uncomfortable to watch that there should have been a warning at the start: “Box of Tissues Required.”

Minx, right up till the latter part of the episode, still came across as the very grown-up little girl who feels like the right pick for the alien entity to occupy. Take her dialogue with Claire:

Claire: “I want to help you Minx.”
Minx: “‘Cause you don’t like me.”
Claire: “No, that is… that’s not true.”
Minx: “You want me to be guilty.”
Claire: “No.”
Minx: ” You want me to be Drill. Cause then you get everything…Don’t you?”

Later, of course, it turns out that this eerily, and rather nasty, adult-like kid was being just that, a kid. One who lost her mother and who is talking to the woman who tore her family apart, but a child nonetheless. A child who is afraid and truly believes what she is saying. This becomes more apparent afterward.

Claire attempts to back up her belief that Minx is Drill. She asks Henry, who tells her that he agrees. Bennigan goes back to Silas who almost hysterically professes it was Minx who killed Benavidez in the lab. Claire tells Frommer, and Wes, that despite wishing it were otherwise, Minx is the child possessed by the entity.

Sean decides to talk to Getz and tell the reporter everything. His goal is to get Henry back. Wes goes to see his daughter and again, the feeling is that the girl is “acting” like a child. When her father tries to get evidence that she is not Drill, Minx gets angry. “You’re my dad. You’re supposed to believe me.” Her tone is angry and betrayed, not hurt, which leads us to believe that she is Drill.

Wes leaves the room and punches the wall, full of rage and frustration. After, Minx asks Henry to help her, once more we are convinced of her “guilt” when her tone to the boy becomes mean and threatening. “Aren’t you my friend, Henry?”

Frommer tells the president that Minx is Drill. It is revealed that the device that Sean Bennigan was testing, the thing that drew Drill to him initially, is what Frommer will use to kill Minx and Drill. Wes and Claire are removed from the facility where they have Minx and they watch the device being delivered that will kill his daughter.

Getz acts on the information that Sean gives him. This prompts the president to schedule a live press event where he intends to tell the public everything. He also orders the other children to be released. Bennigan’s plan has worked; he has Henry back.

Claire and Wes go to the press site to speak to the president and Sean, along with Russell, learn who Orion is, it is Cassandra, the president’s daughter. The children have been released, Minx is being wheeled down to be executed (strapped into a hospital gurney) and Cassandra joins her father at the press conference.

*Sidenote* It has to be said that mixed emotions were the result of Minx reciting “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.” Part disdain at the obvious ploy to tug at the viewers heartstrings and more than enough tears to prove that this schmaltzy scene worked perfectly.

Claire rushes to stop the live broadcast and Wes goes to save his daughter. Cassandra gives her father a pep talk. Bennigan realizes that Drill wants to use the press event to phone home. Frommer proves that he is not quite the cold hearted individual he seemed. The man steps in to throw the switch and his expression says that if this action damns him so be it, he is willing to accept the consequences to save the world.

*Sidenote* Kudos to David Andrews and the writers for making his character more than just a man who suffers from hubris and an incredible amount of nastiness. In this episode, Frommer became a hero; someone who was willing to do the unthinkable to save his fellow man, even if it hurt to do so. More importantly, the man reacted almost instantaneously when he learns Minx is not Drill and stopping the countdown. Great stuff.

Minx is saved and we know that this child will never be the same again. Drill delivers his message via Cassandra and then chillingly tells Bennigan, “Don’t worry Claire, I’m not going anywhere.”

This was edge of the seat viewing. Minx’s delivery back into childhood, all tears, snot and whimpers, was exhausting. The viewer was, most likely, in the same state as Wes Lawrence’s daughter by the time that device was turned off. (Mad props to Kylie Rogers as Minx in this episode, she killed it.) Barry Sloane shares honors with Andrews and Rogers, he made Wes’ pain so real that we did not mind the shameless manipulation by the writers of the episode.

It has to be said that Kayden Magnuson as Cassandra finally came into her own. This is the performers first time onscreen and her delivery of that last line (where she is now Drill) was brilliantly disturbing.

The season finale of The Whispers airs August 31 on ABC, this last episode has a lot to live up to.

The Whispers: Traveller in the Dark (Preview)

Lily Rabe as Claire Bennigan in Traveller in the Dark
This week’s episode of The Whispers Homesick sets up the events for the penultimate episode of season one perfectly. Traveller in the Dark pushes the series at breakneck speed (while using slo-mo to the most suspenseful extent possible) towards its conclusion. After a season that has continually delivered in terms of drama and mystery The Whispers gives us an episode that could well induce a stress attack.

In the show thus far, there have been two deaths of characters who were regulars, although Benavidez was not in the forefront too often, she was becoming a fuller character. “You know where I come from when people are rounded up by the government…” Wes interrupts Maria, “This isn’t like that.” The doctor came a long way from being kidnapped hostage of Sean Bennigan to naming her captor as the one person she trusted (Reporter Getz reveals this to Sean in Homesick, that he was to look Bennigan up if anything happened to Benavidez.). Sadly, like Lena, Maria was doomed to become a Drill casualty.

Last week’s episode started with Lena Lawrence’s wake and her death affected Wes deeply. (Who can forget that scream of anguish?) Now that Minx has been identified as the child that Drill has possessed, Lawrence is desperate to stop Frommer from executing the last remaining member of his family.

At the start of the episode Wes has a flashback to a younger, and less eerily adult like version of, Minx. She is frightened and she screams for her father. Wes comes rushing into her bedroom and calms his daughter. He recites the 1806 Jane Taylor poem Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to the child and it becomes a mantra for Minx when she is afraid. The original poem’s lines contain this episode’s title.

Then the traveller in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny sparks;
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

– Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star – Jane Taylor (1783-1824)

Of course the irony being that Drill is that traveller drawn to Earth’s tiny spark, rather obvious yes, but still a lovely touch. One could say it is almost “poetic.”

Sean decides to do things his way, Wes pleads with Claire to talk with Minx and see if she really is Drill. Frommer shows a side to his character that has been, till now, hidden and everything comes to a head in the penultimate episode of The Whispers.

Once again Barry Sloane and Lily Rabe take great huge chunks of scenes between their teeth and chew up the screen. The acting chops in this show are impressive from all the main players, as usual. The children also keep the pressure up on their adult counterparts.

Without giving anything away suffice to say that Kylie Rogers as Minx will alternatively unnerve and upset you.

Claire does not just talk to Wes Lawrence’s daughter, she also questions Henry about Minx being Drill and she takes Silas (Teo Briones) through his statement “step-by-step” on who he saw in the office killing Dr. Benavidez.

The clock ticks as the seemingly inevitable conclusion of the episode rushes to fruition. Along the way the viewer will feel tension, suspense, fear, and sadness. This is white knuckle television. Emotions will be torn and twisted. Most of all, the viewer will be on the edge of their seat watching to see who is going to win. Drill or the adults of this world.

At one point Wes punches the wall repeatedly while he cries in frustration and we are right there with him. Again, without giving anything away, “David Andrews – well played sir, well played.” Kudos to Martin Kummins as the president and the actress playing his daughter Kayden Magnuson will give you goosebumps and a little shiver in one scene.

This show, about alien controlled children, has been excellent in terms of casting. All the more so with the kids. The little performers, small only in terms of size, have managed to tug heartstrings and then completely freak out the viewer.

Congratulations to show creator Soo Hugh who knows just how disconcerting, disturbing and downright scary it is to see children acting wise beyond their years. Scarily adult expressions stare out of their eyes and they mouth grown up platitudes and truths that truly feel wrong. Hugh knows that kids that do not act like kids are damned scary, even if they are being controlled by an alien entity.

*Sidenote* Thanks to Soo Hugh and this brilliant show, I cried like a baby at least twice while watching this episode whilst in-between experiencing some heart stopping moments of pure suspense. Well done.

Add to that formula the kick of these same children suddenly becoming a child again and you have the main reason that this show works. It is not just a science fiction thriller with a heavy dollop of mystery and a touch of action, it is a study of how we see and react to kids.

Simply put, this show is brilliant.

Traveller in the Dark is going to be an emotional rollercoaster ride. (Shades of the season finale.) Be prepared to grit teeth, bite fingernails and forget to breathe while watching the build up to the end of the series. To paraphrase the tagline from the 2007 film There Will Be Blood: “Oh yes, there will be tears.”

Many.

The Whispers airs Tuesdays on ABC, watch this series and be moved.

The Whispers: Homesick (recap and review)

Henry looking very suspicious
After the death of Lena last week in The Whispers it is no surprise that Homesick opens with her funeral/wake. Claire, Sean and Henry arrive late and Wes tells his former lover point blank that it is not appropriate of her to be there. The Bennigan’s leave, but not before Henry drops off a homemade card for Minx.

Wes is grieving and angry, later he breaks the mirror in the bathroom and Minx comes in. She tells him that she feels bad and that the medicine that grandma (Dee Wallace who gets mentioned but does not appear in the episode) gave her did not work. Minx passes out in Wes’ arms and he takes her to the hospital.

Once there he learns that Minx is not alone in feeling ill, the waiting room is full of sick kids who all have fevers and headaches. The Whispers suddenly looks alarmingly like Village of the Damned just without the blonde hair. Like the 1960 film, these children all share something, not a hive mentality, but they are all friends of Drill.

Dr. Maria Benavidez pulls Wes aside and takes Lawrence and his daughter away from the waiting room. As Minx is is being pulled into the MRI machine, Maria tells Wes that the kids began “streaming in last night.” All are exhibiting the same symptoms and Lawrence tells her that they all know Drill. She reveals that the children share something else, Drill has “marked” them somehow, put a “signature” in their brain.

Wes calls Claire and explains about the brain signature and has her bring Henry in to see Dr. Benavidez. Sean, Claire and Henry arrive and as they speak with the doctor the hospital lights begin to crackle and flicker, Drill is there. They ask Henry and he says that Drill is not talking to him.

Claire follows the flickering lights to an exam room where Harper sits alone. The two talk. Bennigan asks if Drill was there and Harper says yes. “He said not to worry,” Harper tells Claire, “We’ll all get better as soon as…” “As soon as what, Harper?” Claire asks. “As soon as he finds Orion.” Harper says.

Wes convinces the President to take all the children and place them in quarantine. He explains about the marking in each child’s brain and that the entity is using it as a “symbiotic” connection. The president agrees to the action and they round up all the kids who are suffering the “Drill” symptoms. Alarmingly, there are a lot more children who have Drill in common than the adults initially thought.

While Jessup searches for “Orion” or a variation on the name, parents are told that there is an encephalitis outbreak. Kids are brought in and scanned, if they have the Drill “mark” they are separated for isolation. Wes realizes that Henry Bennigan is not among the children being scanned and he orders that the boy be picked up.

Typically, the men sent by the DoD go over the top in taking Henry. Wes arrives to calm things down. After Henry is taken, Claire and Sean reach out to other parents whose children have been quarantined. Sean theorizes that since the kids are now being controlled Drill is attempting to force the adults to help him.

Dr. Benavidez voices her concerns about the isolation and Wes reassures her. The children are suspicious of Minx since it is her father who is running the quarantine. Later, the doctor is talking on the phone while she examines brain scans of the kids. She notices something and after muttering that “this is not possible” someone comes in the room. Benavidez yells for whoever it is to stay away. There is an electric crackle and Dr. Maria Benavidez joins Lena as the next Drill victim.

When Maria’s body is examined, they find a “burn mark from a child’s hand.” Wes tells Frommer this who is not too happy at this latest development. The mark means that Drill has possessed one of the kids and that he is one the children in the quarantine. The kid’s symptoms have gone and the doctor’s computer has been “fried.” Frommer changes his tune when he realizes that Drill is in the camp. as he realizes that they now have the alien “in custody.”

Wes asks Minx to tell him if any of the kids are acting strange. She asks him to get someone else to help as the other children believe she is a spy for the adults, something that will become an important plot point later on. Wes brings in Claire to talk to the kids and to flush Drill out.

Claire explains to Frommer that she will be “talking” to the children in such a way that any “tells” (a way to see who is lying and who is not) will become apparent . While she questions the children, there is a long montage where we see several kids reacting to the conversation in different ways.

Harper becomes hostile, Henry doubtful, Minx (as usual) scarily adult, and Silas is terrified. The sessions are set up into a question and answer system. Claire will start, “I fear…” and the child will finish the sentence. One comical bit has Claire saying, “I dream…” and Harper finishes, “That you will stop asking these questions.”

While Claire looks for Drill, Sean grabs the older man who has been following the Bennigan family. He turns out to be a reporter named Daniel Getz and Maria has been talking to him. Later the man reveals to Sean that Benavidez told him to contact Bennigan if anything happened to her.

During Silas’ conversation with Claire, the boy is clearly terrified. He knows which child Drill has possessed. Claire talks him into looking at photographs and merely pointing (Drill told Silas that he would hurt his mother if the boy revealed who he was.) As Claire puts pictures on the desk between them Silas shakes his head until four pictures, two of which are of Henry and Minx, are put down.

Silas becomes agitated and before he can react the facility alarms go off. The children are all herded out of the building and into a fenced enclosure. Silas is approached by several kids, Minx and Henry included. A little girl comes up and pushes Minx she either pushes her back or grabs her and pushes her. When the girl is checked out, she has child’s handprint burned into his arm.

When asked who injured the girl all the children point to Minx. There is one problem with this little scenario however. Minx may have pushed and grabbed the child but it appears that Henry had contact with the girl as well.

This was a brilliant episode and it moves toward the season end quite satisfactorily. The focus of Drill being one of the kids, (On a sidenote, this feels so much like an evil E.T. It even has Eliot’s mother in the show!) is a great move and feels eerily reminiscent of those “children as bad seed” films of the 1950s and 60s. The misdirection at the end of the episode was brilliant.

The show’s storyline and its emphasis on Minx practically screams that this is the kid that Drill has picked to be his “vessel.” However…the Lawrence kid has been creepily adult from day one, she needed no help from the alien to be less child-like. As the “interrogation” by Claire continued, the evidence seemed to variously point to Harper, Minx, Silas and Claire’s own son, Henry.

Smart money should be on Henry as Drill. He exhibited two “tells” during the Q&A session. Watch the scene where he talks about Minx’s mother…They are there and it is clear that Drill is trying to make Henry answer correctly and its not working. Suspicions of Henry aside, one has to resist the urge to scream at the screen, “Look at their index fingers!”

When Silas was looking at the pictures of his fellow “inmates” the camera followed a child’s index finger being inserted into an electrical plug-in as sparks flew and smoke drifted lazily from the socket. Drill may use electricity with impunity, but the little body he is inhabiting will not be impervious to coming in contact with the stuff.

Homesick, which is obviously referring to the quarantined kids, also refers to Drill after a fashion. While he could be described as homesick per se, Drill is desperate to “phone home” so his fellow aliens can head to earth and take over. After all, his planet’s “future” is “bad” so they need another place to call home.

Kudos to David Andrews as Secretary of Defense Frommer. Despite having very little screen time this week, he still manages to convey that sense of major douche-age and that he will gladly flip the switch on a little person with no regret. Andrews brings big chops to the table and should be given a gong from someone come award time.

It was, however, the little people themselves who rocked it this week. Abby Ryder as Harper (this young actor has never disappointed in terms of performance), Kylie Rogers as Minx (Lawrence may just be the new Dakota Fanning), Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Henry; he was downright menacing, once or twice, and “new kid on the block” Teo Briones was amazingly good at being terrified and concerned for his onscreen mother.

Kristen Connolly was missed but unfortunately she had to go…Her character dared to defy Drill and this is the other reason that Minx cannot be the possessed child. That girl’s face at the end of last week’s episode was full of hate and anger, Minx is not Drill’s friend any longer.

The Whispers airs Mondays on ABC. Do not miss the last two episodes of this brilliant season.

The Whispers: Darkest Fears Review

Minx and Lena in The Whispers
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.

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