This week brings with it two new players to the Alpha team and it looks as though they may be sticking around for a bit.  The episode kicks off with Bill, who looks to be in a world of hurt.  The pills he’s been taking to combat the side effects of “amping” don’t seem to be working anymore and his wife is concerned.  Of course, he tells her not to worry, that he’s got it under control and he heads to work.  Meanwhile, Gary has added 10 seconds of screaming to his morning routine, which freaks his mother out.  She calls Rosen to ask him about it and he tells her that he’ll speak with Gary and try to get to the bottom of the issue.  Rachel gets to the office and immediately smells that something is off.  To her, it seems like someone bathed in Old Spice and her sniffer leads her to the new guy in the office, John Bennett.  He’s been brought in as the new tactical team leader.  There isn’t much time to get acquainted because Rosen shows up telling them of a file that just crossed his desk…the murder of an alpha.

The victim was Building 7 escapee Jack Duffy, whose ability is to generate electricity with his hands.  Rosen ran into him in the season premier.  Duffy was worked over pretty good and it also looks like he put up a fight, but lost…obviously.  Rachel senses that the chemical burns on his face are an acid laced with human saliva, which suggests he was killed by a fellow alpha.  They notice something written on his hand and Rachel surmises it to be a phone number, and the word Bolivia.  Bill calls the number, which gives them an address so he, Cameron, Rachel and new guy John head out to follow-up.  Rosen asks Bill to take point on this so that he can A) have a chat with Gary and B) do more research on Stanton Parish.

The lead takes the team to a warehouse and inside they find what appears to be an underground fight club….and you know the first rule about fight club.  Anyway, Bolivia turned out to be the password and in order to maintain their cover, Bill finds himself in the ring fighting….or I should say getting his ass handed to him, by another alpha.  Meanwhile, Rachel and John wait in the van, and Rachel tells him that he stinks and it’s like a spice rack exploded in her face.  Poor John.  She gets a whiff of the acidic smell and follows her nose but has a run in with a creepy guy who’s waiting for the same person they’re looking for.  Things get a little uncomfortable for Rachel, until John shows up just in the nick of time.

As Cameron is basically carrying Bill back to the car, Bill tries to get info on the next fight.  The guy in charge tells him no way, but a young girl named Kat says she’ll help Bill out and he’ll be good to go.  The guy relents and leaves.  Bill starts his training the next day and with Kat’s help, he’s able to channel his ability without suffering the wear and tear he’s been dealing with.  Kat on the other hand, seems to be able to absorb information quickly and execute what she’s learned immediately.  Sort of like in the Matrix when Neo learns Kung Fu.  Anyway, her side effect is that she has no permanent memory.  She can learn anything, but a month later will forget everything and everyone.

Rosen talks to Gary and finds that the source of his screaming has to do with the trauma of Binghamtom and watching what’s her name from last season get killed.  Rosen tells Gary that the screaming is freaking his mom out, so Gary decides to move out of his mom’s house and into his office.  His mom freaks and Rosen tells her that he supports Gary’s choice.  Cut the chord Ma.

John brings a bag of different soaps into the office and asks Rachel which one she prefers.  She’s touched by his gesture and it seems these two are hitting it off after the stinky start.  Rosen continues his research on Stanton Parish, who we actually get a little back story on.  He was going by a different name in the civil war and after being pronouced dead due to a gunshot wound to the head, he came back to life.  The battlefield doctor who witnessed this realized his ability and began to test and document everything.  After studying Stanton, the doctor wanted to give a presentation about Stanton’s abilities, but Stanton didn’t want that so he killed the doctor in order to keep his secret safe, but with Gary’s help, Rosen was able to track down the doctor’s journals.  Rosen was going through thpse journals when Cameron walked in.  Cameron comes clean about his relationship with Dani, and Rosen tells him that Nina spilled the beans.  He also tells Cameron that as long as he makes Dani happy, he gets to keep his job.  Rosen lets out a nervous laugh like he was joking, but deep down, he wasn’t.

Bill goes back to the fight club and is able to harness his new-found zen and knock his opponent out with one punch.  He’s not done yet however, because his next fight…is against Kat.  He doesn’t want to fight her, but she ends up putting her new skills to work and kicks his ass.  Once she knocks Bill out, the head guy in charge tells Kat that there are people there who want to talk to her.  John and Rachel watch as she gets into an SUV, and Rachel senses that the guy they’re looking for was in that same vehicle not too long before.  Cameron and Bill get back to the van and they follow the SUV.

Rachel senses what’s going on inside and Bill rushes in to save Kat.  After amping up and using a vending machine as cover, Bill finds Kat strapped down to a gurney in a room full of other alphas in the same condition.  Cameron uses his skills to shoot a bullet that was making its way to Bill, and John backs him up by taking out the shooter.  Bill is able to revive Kat, who promptly tells him that she kicked his ass.

After a run in with Stanton Parish at a diner, where the two discuss the finer points of war, Rosen checks Kat out to make sure she’s ok.  Turns out that whoever these people are, are doing test or something on alphas.  They find the acid spitter in the same room, but he’s already dead.  Kat puts two and two together and realizes that they are some sort of alpha special forces team and begs Rosen to let her join them, but he’s doesn’t fall for it.  Not yet anyway.

Back at the office Gary is settling into his new digs and his mom is a bit heartbroken about it, but she lets him go anyway.  The next morning, Rachel brings a new soap to John and asks him out, but he tells her it’s not a good idea with them working together.  Poor Rachel.  I’m pulling for her on this one.  He’s a nice guy and hope he sticks around for a spell.

I like the addition of the new characters and think it’s wise to add a new dynamic to the team.  I just hope it doesn’t take away from what’s already established.  Once Nina comes back to the fold things will be complete and it looks like something is going down with her next week.  So far this season has had a strong start and it just seems to keep building with each passing episode.  Things with Stanton Parish are going to reach a boiling point and Rosen will have to try and stop him somehow.  But how can you stop an alpha who is seemingly unstoppable?

About the author

Tracy Ladd has written 532 articles on this blog.

Tracy has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she's back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks. Follow her on Twitter: @ReelGoddess

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2012 at 8:00 am and is filed under Television, TV Show Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.