1-6. Demons.

"And it was at this moment my child walked in

and asked what the people on screen were up to..."

Running Time: Approx. 52 minutes. Written by: The Wachowskis, J. Michael Straczynski. Directed by: The Wachowskis.


THE PLOT:

Nomi and Amanita visit their apartment and find all of their belongings either gone or ruined. A furious Nomi realizes that the people hunting her will not stop "unless we make them stop." Needing a safe place to stay, Amanita takes Nomi to hide out at the home of her mother (Maximilienne Ewalt) while they figure out their next move.

In London, Riley finds Nyx - the drug dealer her ex-boyfriend attempted to murder - waiting for her. She is able to channel Will's police training to escape, but is left on the run with no safe place to hide. In India, Kala is visited by Wolfgang, who tempts her even as Rajan urges her to complete their interrupted wedding. In Mexico, Lito, Hernando, and Dani are growing increasingly comfortable in their new relationship.

Meanwhile, Capheus' agreement with Silas takes a more serious turn, as the crime lord entrusts him with the protection of his daughter. And Sun confesses to her brother's crimes, only to immediately worry that she has made the worst mistake of her life...


CHARACTERS:

In my last review, I complained that Riley had been pushed so far into the background, she was at risk of becoming entirely redundant. This episode revives her thread in a memorable way. Nyx's interrogation with the plastic bag is allowed to run well past the point of being genuinely uncomfortable to watch, and the performances of Tuppence Middleton and Joseph Mawle are almost too good - As he placed the bag over her head for longer and longer periods, I almost felt like I needed to catch my breath.

Before that scene, Riley and Will share a bit of cross-continental flirtation. These two seem to be developing the same type of bond as Wolfgang and Kala, only they're more cute than carnal. Will tests that they aren't going crazy by plugging his number into her phone and having her call him, then passing the call to his partner, Diego (Ness Bautista) - simple but smart. I also suspect it will be important that Riley now has the means to directly contact Will. Oh, and her flipping from being indignant at Diego describin her as having "a weird accent" to declaring that she likes him when he says, "She sounds hot" is just one of many little bits that make this entire scene adorable.

Riley also seems to be the one of the eight most able/willing to visit the others. Her visit with Will in the first episode was the first direct contact we saw; and while Wolfgang and Kala have been mostly limited to visiting each other, Riley has by the end of this episode had notable interactions with Will, Capheus, and Sun, as well as sharing a smile with Nomi during Episode Four's singalong. She and Capheus are also the only ones we've seen who have neither resisted the visits or questioned their own sanity because of them.

Speaking of Capheus - I love the scene in which he meets Silas' daughter. Critically, we are shown the genuine bond between the crime boss and his cute little girl before Silas explains his love for his daughter, which makes it real in a way that the explanation alone would not accomplish. In a series that's loaded with parallels, the scene establishes yet another one: Even as Capheus makes his choices for his mother, so does Silas for his daughter. In a single scene, a stock gangster character becomes a human being, and also becomes a possible future for Capheus - If he continues on a criminal path, one can easily see the simple but brave bus driver eventually becoming the feared crime boss.

THOUGHTS:

Well, after the previous episode's pause for breath, I think we're officially getting on with it. Demons is again terrific, well-paced and turning successfully from charming character comedy to white-knuckled tension to eroticism without skipping a beat.

The decision in Episodes Two and Three to slow down and focus on some of the individual threads is now paying dividends. The last few episodes have been able to skip across all eight members of this "cluster" with absolute comfort, and with each episode we're left feeling like we know these eight (and the people in their orbits) just a little bit more. Amanita's mother is a good addition to the San Francisco strand, and it is refreshing to see a television show where a parent is absolutely accepting of their LGBT child and her partner - which at the same time makes a good counterpoint to Nomi's mother, who is anything but accepting of her.

Of course, just as it would be ridiculous to talk about Episode Four without mentioning the singalong, it would be equally ridiculous to discuss this episode without mentioning the sex scene. This is basically the singalong's erotic counterpoint. Lito and Hernando begin having sex at the same time as Nomi and Amanita, while Will lifts weights and Wolfgang basically relaxes in his comfortable nudity in a swimming pool. Soon we are moving among all of these characters, mixing them in with the partners from the other segments. Some react (Will is definitely startled; Wolfgang seems to be musing something along the lines of, "It must be Thursday"), others don't even seem to notice, but it all builds to a striking artistic tableaux.

The episode ends with several characters contemplating what they're going to do next; and since we seem to be at the point where events are starting to move more quickly, my guess is it won't be long before we find out.


Rating: 9/10.

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