The Pullbox

The Pullbox | Geekfest International

Season 2, Episode 12
“Alpine Fields”

Written by: John Enbom
Directed by: Charles Beeson & Bryan Spicer

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. This show has one of the best writing teams on television. These guys know exactly where they’re going with this show, and they have ideas coming out of their poopers like crazy. Here we got a stand alone episode, but you’d have to be insane to call it “filler.” An episode that’s just as good as any other episode this season, but if you’ve never watched the show before, you can jump right into this episode and not be lost at all.

You know the drill. Spoiler filled review past the jump.

- SPOILER ALERT -

In this episode we get 3 story-lines. All interlocking, but happening in 3 separate times. One takes place in the “present,” where Derek is helping a girl and her pregnant mother, who’s just been shot. The second storyline takes place six months prior, when Sarah and Cameron first met this family. They’re the Fields family and they’re on Skynet’s target list. There’s a Terminator hunting them down and Sarah and Cameron are trying to protect them, without knowing exactly which one is the target. The third storyline takes place in the future, during the war. There’s some kind of weaponized virus released on the resistance, in a bunker. There’s only one survivor, clearly immune to the disease. Derek goes out in search for this survivor as she may be the key to saving everyone else from it.

In the “Six Months Ago” storyline we get to see Sarah doing her bad ass thing. She’s rigging doorknobs to explode with a home-made bomb, taping up gun shot wounds, and quietly evaluating the entire family to figure out which one is the target. Turns out the father is involved in some shady business with computer companies and things that could possibly lead to Skynet. The daughter, Lauren, is the most likely target. Turns out, in the future, she’s one of the resistance fighters.

We get to see this family fall apart when the machines come into their lives. The husband reveals his secrets, we find out the wife is having an affair, and the girl feels like her parents don’t even know her. Its yet another testament to how great these writers are. They’re able to mix this sense of urgency with a thriller style story, and still add in family drama and real world moments without any of it feeling odd or out of place.

My favorite line in the episode comes from Cameron. She knocks out “the other man,” and then asks Lauren;

- “He’s human?”
- “Yes! Of course!”
- “My mistake…”

For whatever reason, that scene just cracked me up. Its always a breath of fresh air when Cameron drops those one liners and humorous moments.

Derek recognizes Lauren as one of the people who treats him for the virus in the future, and her little sister, is the immune girl at the bunker. That’s one of the things I absolutely love about this show. The way they tie everything together. We get to see what people turn out to be in the future. How what they learn in the present helps them become heroes in the war against Skynet.

One of my favorite scenes is when Derek is walking through the bunker, and he sees all the dead bodies. When he comes across the dead pregnant lady and her two dead children, its too much for him to handle. Now we get the scene Derek and Jesse talked about in previous episodes. He runs out to kill himself and finally put himself out of his misery. Kyle is gone, and people are dying. He probably doesn’t think we can win this war against the machines. That’s when Jesse shows up, and sure enough, her first words are “You’re fly’s open.” Just like we were told it was. She’s charming and beautiful, optimistic, and brave. Who wouldn’t fall for her in that moment?

They find Sidney, Lauren’s little sister. In the present storyline, Derek even tells Lauren she’s about to have a sister, confirming he’s from the future, and filling both Lauren and Anne in on the fact that Sidney saves many lives with the immunity in her blood. “Meanwhile, in the future,” Jesse shares a long story about rabbits and how they’ve overrun Australia. I almost feel like the whole story was there so that she’d have the opportunity to refer to Australia as “OZ,” giving us our weekly Wizard of Oz reference.

Then we get the best scene of the episode. Jesse asks Derek if he’s ready to die. He says he’s not ready yet. So she asks the million dollar question:

- “Then what were you doing outside Eagle Rock?”
- “Waiting for you,” says Derek.

That was my favorite scene. Derek’s response was perfect.

This entire episode was written and directed beautifully. I genuinely cared for the characters, especially Lauren. And I finally understand why Derek is so hung up on Jesse. Its not just because she’s smokin’ hot. They shared a deep and profound experience. And technically, she saved his life. There’s a definite bond there that’s not easily broken. It’ll be interesting to see how this all turns out. Will Sarah find out about Jesse? What’s that going to do to the Connors’ trust in him. Or will Jesse’s true intentions show and will it put the family’s safety in jeopardy.

This whole Jesse and Riley situation could end very badly.

Again, great episode. I enjoyed it immensely. I give it a strong 4 out of 5. Not that there was any part of it I had a problem with. I just know that this writing team has a few aces up their sleeves, and I know we’re going to be seeing bigger and better episodes from these guys. So I want to leave a little room to rate future episodes with.

The A-Train’s “Alpine Fields” Rating: 4 out of 5 Non-Dead Babies.

Join Up and Discuss this episode over at: GEEKFEST INTERNATIONAL

A few more great scenes:

Derek & Jesse Meet

The Future

More Future Coolness