– Spoiler Review –
Walker and Royalle finally air their grievances with one another and reveal their respective intentions regarding Wolfe, Calista survives taking Sway, and Krispin’s Kaotic Chic movement has devastating consequences for everyone, including those closest to him.
Well, that was an interesting way to learn how Royalle can breathe in his little private room! Royalle has to dodge Walker’s pathetic attempts to fight him after initially teleporting the ex-Powers to his secret lair and he decides the easiest way to get Walker to be cooperative is take all the oxygen out of the room on his next teleport. This has the effect of finally calming Walker down and the two get a chance to talk about the state of all things surrounding Wolfe. Royalle reveals what he’s done with Sway and tells Walker the truth–which Wolfe told Walker shortly after breaking out–which is Walker’s powers are gone and the powers he took were actually Wolfe’s. So the wily Wolfe lied to Walker recently, trying to appeal to his base desires and it would’ve nearly worked hadn’t Royalle revealed the truth. They are unable to reach an agreement on Wolfe’s fate and Royalle returns Walker to his apartment, not before Royalle states he plans on taking out Wolfe the old fashioned way, with a gun to the freaking head, with or without Walker.
Calista survives her Sway dosage, but so far her powers don’t manifest themselves in any discernible way, shape, or form. Pilgrim’s confrontation with Calista was entertaining and makes me realize we need more Pilgrim than what we’ve gotten so far this season. She’s the only one who seems to understand the ridiculousness of any situation she gets into, but somehow still is enraptured by a Powers like everyone else.
Okay, so Black Swan was quite the disappointment, as far as reveals go. Janis, after getting in touch with her mortal side versus Wolfe, is considering quitting the superhero business and goes to Triphammer to get some advice. It’s there she gets him to talk about Black Swan, which is a predictive model of all the destruction all the Powers on the entire planet will do in the future. He’s said twice now we should be beware of it, but nowhere in their little talk does he reveal just what Black Swan shows all the Powers will do, rendering the whole thing seemingly pointless and unimportant. If what it has predicted is such a big deal, how come he doesn’t tell Janis or why isn’t that information revealed to us, because without more details Black Swan just receives a giant shrug.
Cue terrible idea of the day: Candace’s boss thinks the best way to drive more support for Janis’ foundation and give Zora the spotlight she needs is to stage a battle during the big opening event. Krispin overhears one of her conversations regarding it and promptly hacks/signs-in to her e-mail and uncovers the details. Candace has found Red Hawk, some low-level villain, and uses some impressive tactics to get the reluctant Powers to commit to the fight. As big as the moment is when Red Hawk inadvertently kills Candace after swooping in due to Krispin’s interruption, part of me wonders if it would’ve happened anyways considering he had taken Sway and likely able to overpower Zora. Either way, maybe Krispin won’t see being those with Powers as such a black and white thing anymore after his actions have led to his mother’s death or he’ll get even worse and dive deeper into the Kaotic Chic movement.
That moment has big consequences for everyone else too: It causes Walker to team up with Royalle to take out Wolfe/take his powers; Janis probably won’t quit now, possibly adding some tragic flavor to her storyline, if it eventually matches up with her much shorter appearance in the comics; and how will Zora react to her inability to defeat Red Hawk? What will Chaotic Chick think of the events?
Here are a few other things:
- Again, the flying stuff just looks silly. They have been using wires and doing a poor job of it, but if that’s a sacrifice they have to make for better special effects later, it’s not a terrible one…just obvious.
- The juxtaposition between Royalle and Walker’s interactions in a flashback to their time together now was simple, but effective.
- Having Walker go from thinking Royalle’s guilty to realizing he’s mostly innocent is fun to watch, as everyone notices the switch in opinions right away.
- “Are You Alone Now?” by Dead Sea Empire was the song playing at the end of the episode.
- And I’ve asked over on Twitter if “Alchemy,” the band who plays at the event, is a real band or not. I’ll update this when/if I get a response.
- Love how the final shot of everyone on the stage looked like a panel in a comic book (see below)
Powers has been mostly solid after it’s two part action romp and “Aha Shake Heartbreak” does a great job of putting everyone into situations a simple hand wave won’t fix, but rather only drastic measures can change.
+ Red Hawk vs Zora outcome
+ Royalle and Walker teaming up
+ Has Kaotic Chic gone too far…or not far enough for Krispin?
– Black Swan reveal
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
POWERS REVIEWS:
Season One: Ep. 1: “Pilot” | Ep. 2: “Like a Power” | Ep. 3: “Mickey Rooney Cries No More” | Ep. 4: “Devil in a Garbage Bag” | Ep. 5: “Paint it Black” | Ep. 6: “The Raconteur of the Funeral Circuit” | Ep. 7: “You Are Not It” | Ep. 9 “Level 13” | Ep. 10: “F@#K the Big Chiller“