Closer. But not there yet. Things move quickly here, but there is so much ground to cover, and it does not welcome guests.

This episode is one maze inside another, and everyone seems to be moving towards the same place but taking different paths to get there. What this is building to, I can’t completely say. But it is definitely building to something, all these elements coming together to change their world completely.

The ride is not smooth. Syd is struggling most of all. Whatever honeymoon she had with David, through CLOCKWORKS and Summerland, is over. For a show set in a fantastic version of the real world, it presents some very realistic personal challenges.

I suppose it is one thing to enjoy each other’s company when the world can be ignored for a pristine psychic bedroom. It’s another entirely when our significant other isn’t completely honest about their relationship with our future self, and when they are more interested in a psychic death duel in the desert with their nemesis than talking about their feelings. Off to the side, a teakettle steams.

So there are some difficulties. The actual plot, though, is moving ahead like a rickshaw driver running through the desert as though his life depends on it. Information is conveyed in the usual manner, though an android that has been commandeered by your mostly-dead coworker who was uploaded into a binary tree.

Which leads us out into the desert. Everyone has a different method of transportation: rickshaw, stolen motorcycle, teleportation, or parachuting in. Nobody here takes the bus, apparently. Farouk leads, but David and Syd are not far off.

In the face of inevitable conflict, David and Syd are trying to figure some things out. This comes on the heels of a “just us girls” talk between Syd and Clark, the latter of whom poses the question that seems to be less farfetched with every episode.

David is much better off than he was when sharing headspace with a psychic despot, but his notions of reality are still somewhat questionable. To be fair, he has so much power that conventional notions of reality are mostly suggestions. We’ve seen him upset. What happens if something legitimately hurts him?

It’s an open question, and maybe the only thing more frightening than finding what seem to be your own remains in an abandoned desert camp. Outside, a tremendous storm looms. There is thunder in the distance, but the wind is moving fast. And somewhere nearby, a minotaur lurks.

 

Stray Thoughts:

• This episode feels a little rushed to me. It’s not bad, but it does feel different from the middle part of the season. In terms of advancing the plot, it feels appropriate for the story arc, though.
• I do like that David has an actual plan, even if letting Lenny out seems like good news for only the local drug dealers.
• David’s Psychic Desert Battle Playset is pretty great. I do enjoy his distaste for the Farouk marker.
• 
• Is Oliver ever not drinking?
• Very little Cary/Kerry in this episode. Boo.
• I am happy anytime that Clark gets to have a real conversation with someone, though. The scene with Clark and Syd is all too brief.

P.S. I am done watching the season, so feel free to comment knowing that I won’t be spoiled. But do use the spoiler tags if needed. I’m assuming these reviews are read by people who have seen the episodes already, but I’d hate to spoil anything here.