Alphas Recap: Episode 2.11 – If Memory Serves
The search for Stanton Parish is in full effect and Cley’s team is all over anyone and everyone who is even remotely connected to him. A newly trained Kat is back, on the team and packing heat now that’s she’s gone through the proper training and she’s pretty excited, recording everything she can. Each team member serves their purpose and while Bill, Cam and Kat bring people in, Nina spends her time interrogating them. Things are hectic around the office and Cley gives Rosen another list to comb over. Rosen questions the methods, but agrees to it anyway.
One of the lists contains an address that ignites recognition, but Rosen tells Cley that nothing looks familiar. He pulls Cameron to the side and asks him to check it out, but it must be done discreetly. Since Rosen’s absence would be noticed, he sends Kat with Cameron as back up.
Cameron and Kat arrive at the address but hang back to do some recon. While Cam keeps and eye on the place, Kat keeps a running commentary of events as they unfold, and they notice a really big, ripped guy leaving the house. Once he drives off, Kat puts her new training to use and picks the lock. The house seems to be deserted, and only find a broken scale and a ton of empty milk bottles..that is until they find a locked door that leads to an attic room. Inside they find Mitchell (played by Sean Astin), an Alpha who can absorb, store and recall other people’s memories.
Cameron calls Rosen to let him know and Rosen knows that Parish has Mitchell stashed for a reason so he tells Cam to bring him in. They leave the house before the Caretaker gets back, but run into trouble when the Caretaker perches himself on an overpass and shoots out the tires of their car. The Caretaker than jumps on to the roof of the car, but Cam slams on the brakes, sending the guy into a guard-rail, severely breaking his neck…amongst other things. Cam, Kat and Mitchell leave the scene on foot and head into the forest to avoid any other problems. Once they walk away, the Caretaker snaps his neck back in to place and heads out after them. Apparently this guy can mend any broken bone, but needs a ton of calcium to do it, hence the empty milk bottles.
On their journey, Cam and Kat realize what Mitchell’s power is. Cam is still reeling from losing Dani and Kat is still trying to remember the women in the blue dress that she saw in her memory that Nina helped her dig up. Mitchell says he can help both of them, but neither want it.
Back at Alpha HQ, Gary has Bill take him to the hospital because his mother was in a car accident. Gary doesn’t want to be there, but Bill, trying to teach Gary about empathy, convinces him to stay and be there for her when she gets out of surgery. When she awakens, she finds Gary sitting next to her and he tells her that he’ll move home and take care of her, but as they talk, she suffers a stroke. Later on Bill comes back and Gary tells him that she had another stroke and the first one was the cause of the accident.
At the office, Rosen gets a shock when Senator Burton shows up thanking him. He’s not sure what for until it comes out that Nina secretly had the Senator’s brain scans sent to her doctors because of the effects of Nina’s pushing. Rosen is worried that the Senator will recognize Nina and tells Nina to leave. Later on, the Senator runs into Nina at a restaurant and she realizes that it was Nina who pushed her. Nina tells Rosen that she told the Senator the truth and Rosen now has to go smooth things out with her and hope that they both won’t get arrested.
As he leaves the office, Senator Burton is on the elevator waiting. He boards and she tells him that his team is more dangerous than Parish and threatens to report him. Rosen then takes the opportunity to show a side that we haven’t seen before and tells Burton that if she tries to bring him down, he’ll make it known about her connection to Parish. He then tells her that yes, his team is dangerous, and so is he.
Cameron, Kat and Mitchell make it to a town and Kat and Mitchell hide in an empty building while Cameron goes to rent a car. Just as Cam is leaving, the caretaker shows up and knocks him out. The Caretaker calls Kat, who arranges a meeting to trade Mitchell for Cam. While they wait, Mitchell offers to help Kat remember and this time she accepts. What she finds however isn’t what she thought it was. Instead of the woman in the blue dress being her mother, she finds that the woman is just from a commercial that she saw once. Gutted, now Kat has to cope with the fact that she really has no memory of her life.
The Caretaker arrives at the meeting place, which is near a body of water. I don’t know if it’s a lake, pond or what to be honest with you. He gets out of the car and Mitchell walks up. Just then, Kat comes over the hill driving a diesel truck and plows into the guy, pinning him between the truck and car, and pushes him into the water. Knowing that the man’s ability forces him to gain weight while he heals, Kat plays to the fact that the man will sink like a stone in the water. What she didn’t account for however, is that Cameron is in the trunk. Kat jumps into the water with her lock pick set and frees him, but he ends up pulling her to shore since she can’t really swim.
Back at Alpha HQ, Rosen talks to Mitchell and realizes that he had Parish’s use for him pegged wrong. He also discovers that Parish’s Achilles heel is his compassion and sentimentality. Rosen sends Mitchell to Building 7, where he’ll be implanted with a chip. Cam tells Rosen Mitchell shouldn’t be sent there but Rosen tells him that it will probably be best since Mitchell’s mind is filled with other people’s memories. Before he goes however, Mitchell offers to help Cameron, which he finally accepts. Even though we can’t see what he sees, it must be cathartic because Cameron looks almost happy for a moment.
Kat not only has to deal with the reality of her vision, but she’s also coping with killing the caretaker. She’s not comfortable with her new role and thinks that maybe she doesn’t quite have the mettle for it. Cam tells her that she can do it and gives her props for a job well done.
Knowing that the house where Mitchell was being held has special meaning for Parish, Cameron and Rosen decide to burn it down to hit him where he lives and also in the hopes that this act will bring Parish to them. Whatever is going to happen, this little stunt is going to anger Parish to no end.
This episode gave us a side of Rosen that we’ve never seen before. Sure he’s been mad or upset, or scared and worried….but we’ve never seen him be threatening or vindictive. The look that he gave Senator Burton before he exited the elevator was downright scary. David Strathairn is an EXCELLENT actor anyway and for those who aren’t familiar with his film work, this is a good example of just how diverse he can be. I hope Kat sticks around because I really dig her character. Next week both Sean Astin and Summer Glau return so that means more Mitchell and Skylar. There are only two more episodes left in the season. How do you think it’ll end? Let me know in the comments.
Tags: Alphas, Alphas If Memory Serves, Alphas recap, Alphas Season 2 Episode 11, Azita Ghanizada, David Strathairn, Erin Way, Laura Mennell, Malik Yoba, Ryan Cartwright, Sean Astin, Warren Christie
