Emergence Season 1 Episode 3 Review: 2 MG CU BID
Lizzy Buczak
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Answers.
Three episodes in and we're already getting answers to many burning questions starting with "Who is Piper," the young girl with powers at the center of the mystery.
On Emergence Season 1 Episode 3, we find out what Piper is . . . or, better yet, what she isn't.
As many of us have guessed, Piper isn't human.
This massive reveal explained why her fever wasn't responding to treatment, why doctors couldn't find a cure, and why all of her organs began shutting down at a rapid pace.
Suspect: You can't do this. You're going to get me killed.
Jo: No, you're going to get yourself killed.
Most importantly, it explained the terrifying glitches in her programming.
But I'm not all convinced that she's strictly a robot.
Sure, robots have humanlike abilities, which explains why Piper was able to assimilate rather quickly but there are other things that don't quite add up.
How do you explain a robot bleeding while removing a tracking chip as Piper did on Emergence Season 1 Episode 1?
Would a robot have "organs" that could shut down? Or was Emily just referring to Piper's parts shutting down instead?
Piper's robotic reveal is a delicious twist, yet it's surprising so early on in the season.
Then again, the folks behind Emergence promised to be forthcoming with answers and it's a way to assure audiences that Piper's identity is only a small piece of this juicy puzzle.
With ten more episodes left, it's hard to imagine what other twists, reveals, and cliffhangers are headed our way but they'll surely supercede this one.
We already have so much to work with despite the series barely getting off the ground.
Jo acknowledged that Piper was special and different and she knew something was wrong, but she never assumed that things would take such a left turn.
She first sought out answers from Ken Lerner, the man who broke into her house and attempted to destroy all evidence linking back to Piper.
Benny: Why won't you let me talk to the girl? She's different, isn't she? She can do things other people can't do, things she shouldn't be able to do. Augur Industries have started investing in very expensive medical research. And that's what I'd started to hear about -- rumors that Kindred had begun a division using humans as test subjects.
Jo: What kind of tests?
Benny: Ones that might allow a young girl to miraculously survive a plane crash, a plane that I believe belonged to Kindred.
Lerner wasn't a good guy, but he wasn't entirely bad either.
He was simply a henchman working for the true villain, a Fortune 500 company manager, Richard Kindred (guest-starring Terry O'Quinn aka Lost's John Locke).
Sadly, Lerner wasn't able to give up all of his knowledge to Jo before Kindred's people snuffed him out by hacking into his morphine machine.
The ease at which these people can hack systems is disturbing.
And it proves that anyone who gets too close to this case isn't safe.
You know, I could do this alone. You get caught, you lose your job. I get caught, I get promoted.
Benny
Lerner admitted that Kindred's people weren't too concerned with getting Piper back because they knew the problem would take care of itself.
In other words, they knew she had an expiration date.
But with heir abilities to hack into systems and use covert radio frequencies, you'd imagine they would have had some self-destruct button to neutralize the problem immediately.
The audience has grown to like Pipe, but if you look at the bigger picture, she's quite dangerous.
It doesn't seem like Augur Industries was able to control her.
She was a test-subject gone wrong who still had her powers when she crashed the plane and escaped. At least that's what we think happened.
While getting answers is a blessing, it's also a curse because with more knowledge come more questions.
What exactly was Augur Industries testing on Piper?
Where were they flying that night?
Did Piper prove to be stronger than they expected?
Why doesn't she remember anything?
Did she reboot?
Are there others like her?
Since Emily knew the cure to Piper's condition because she'd "seen it" before, it's safe to assume that there are or were others just like Piper.
Who else is out there? How many others succumbed to their "shutdowns?"
It's shocking that Emily got out of there unscathed.
She's Jo and Benny's only connection to finding out the truth; it's unlikely that Kindred will go on record to tell them all about how his experiments went wrong.
Will Emily put her life on the line to help them?
And how does Emily know so much? Is she responsible for what happened to Piper? Is she her mother?
Related: Emergence Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Camera Wheelbarrow Tiger Pillow
Jo went above and beyond to save Piper and she's deeply invested in this mystery, but finding out that Piper isn't human adds a layer of complexity to her situation.
Jo exposed her whole family to Piper and put her job on the line only to find out that this little girl is a programmed computer with unknown capabilities.
Who knows how far she'll go to protect herself when she senses danger?
Jo had plenty of hero moments, but there were some questionable moments as well.
First off, how did she not realize that they were all being watched?
As an observant law enforcement officer, it was obvious Emily didn't feel safe speaking with them publicly.
Anyone with a connection to the case died before they could testify or utter a word.
No one is safe.
Which goes right into the question: why aren't Jo and Benny using burner phones? Sure, burners can be tapped but they'd at least add a layer of difficulty.
And lastly, why did Jo refuse to take Emily's advice on how to save Piper?
No other methods were working, and they were running out of time.
Accepting that the little girl living in your home is a robot may be a stretch, but it shouldn't be after you've just physically taken down robot dogs.
Despite being a robot, Piper understands human emotions.
She feels sad and scared, but she also seems to want to have a normal family which is why she's playing matchmaker between Jo and Alex.
She's lovable. As much as I'm rooting for her to have evil undertones, I can't help but want her to stick around and be part of the fam.
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For now, Piper trusts everyone, including Alex, but she hasn't met Benny yet.
Up until now, Benny's proven to be trustworthy, even if he is a little clumsy at times, but since there is a huge conspiracy happening, it's best if Jo puts her guard up a bit.
For all we know, Benny could be working alongside Kindred.
Other Musings
- Piper cracked the code on an airband radio, but we don't know what it means. The code was: DR5ZBZ3U. Is there some significance to her teaming up with Alex to crack it?
- Ed isn't out of the woods just yet. He lied to Jo about his cancer prognosis, and Piper knew. She's has known since Emergence Season 1 Episode 1. Will she be able to cure him?
Catch up on episodes and watch Emergence online!
What did you think of the big reveal?
Is Piper a robot?
Is she a threat?
Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..
