Pandora Season 2 Episode 9 Review: All Along the Watchtower
Diana Keng
at
.
Updated at
.
No one actually expected things to start making sense on Pandora Season 2 Episode 9, did we?
In a really weird narrative flex for a show whose hallmark has been character inconsistencies and continuity ... confusion(?), we're suddenly reminded that Osborn admitted to killing his wife on Pandora Season 1 Episode 7 for being a spy.
Meanwhile, Cadet Jax gets to be captain now?
Oh, and Xander's got new toys. Good for him and Tierney!
No, but seriously, how much dumb does Xander have in him? Even pretty doesn't make up for that level of stupidity. And is he completely incapable of turning down a drink?
Tierney herself admits that trusting her is a bad idea.
You're wise not to trust. People will always disappoint you.
Tierney
I found it particularly reprehensible that he took credit for planting a tracker on Zion when that was actually Jett's doing.
Speaking of that, how did Bey Turhan and his crew NOT notice that one of their clone soldiers was emitting a tracking signal?
For a secret subversive secessionist group, they don't seem great at covering their tracks.
Can we get a round of applause for our man, Jett, here? He really gets to play some key roles in this ship-jacking heist.
He's Jax's first point of contact upon her escape. He keeps her from killing Zazie on sight. He manages the timing, arranges for the false transport orders, and hacks the Dauntless with his datastream jack.
Not a bad day's work for our resident ne'er-do-well. We'll give him a pass on the whole "ship sounds hot" comment. Space is a lonely place (when you're not Jax or Xander).
His unlikely friendship with Ralen gets spotlighted, which indicates they'll probably factor into Jax's testimony to the Ancients.
Despite all her angst about her testimony, I'm not sure why she thinks she needs to say anything since the Ancients have shown that they're completely capable of pulling truth straight out of a Pandora.
Picking Ralen's thoughts on the worthiness of the galaxy for survival was a wise move.
I believe we can always strive to be better even if perfection is impossible to attain. It's the journey that makes us worthy.
Ralen
Ralen's so great.
Honestly -- and I've said this before -- out of everyone on this crew, he's the only member who wouldn't get booted into the brig within hours of a mission start.
The fact that he's also the only one with any real moral compass makes it all the clearer that human people suck.
And that leads us neatly back to Osborn and Lucas and the ridiculous entangled history we're supposed to care about.
Based on the flashback, ten years ago, Lucas and Shral spent an evening with Osborn and his wife, Laura.
Contriving to be alone with him, Lucas reveals to Osborn that Laura's been definitively identified as a Zatarian mole. She will be arrested, and Osborn must step down as leader of the C.I.S. so that Lucas can take his position.
Instead, Osborn poisons Laura and keeps his job.
For those keeping track, the shenanigans are even more convoluted.
As the current leader of the C.I.S. (finally getting her way after ten years), Lucas keeps very close company with Harlan Fried who, in turn, also keeps a close eye on her through that surveillance ship model he gifted her on Pandora Season 2 Episode 1.
Allegedly, Harlan Fried was best friends with Osborn when they were young and became involved with Osborn's sister, Eve, fathering a daughter, Tierney, with her.
When Osborn, Shral, and Pevney found baby Jax, they placed her with Eve to raise.
Harlan's other daughter, Cordelia, became romantically involved with Jax at some later date, a relationship Jax exploited to gain access to Harlan's records.
So, yeah, it's probably pretty devastating for Osborn to find out that he killed his wife on planted evidence from his professional rival.
Osborn: You never liked it that I married your sister, did you, Meredith?
Lucas: I liked you a lot less after you killed her.
However, it's a bit chilling that Lucas doesn't seem to feel any remorse for her own role in Laura's death.
(Also, Fried's surveillance feels a bit spotty. One would think that seeing his key informant taken down in her own office might trigger some sort of assistance. But, then again, that might've tipped his hand.)
I'm still not sure that Lucas's reveal was really the cliffhanger to leave us on.
I am curious about where the rest of the team's gone off to and how they managed it. All the escape pods had already been jettisoned, after all.
My final quibble with this penultimate offering of the season is that the entire point of the Ancients providing Jax with a four-month extension was for her to unite the races of the galaxy.
The secret to unifying the universe is to better understand each other
Shral
She made (brief) contact with the Lost Race and got a glowy shell necklace out of it.
She made (more intimate) contact with the Sumi and got Aleka's substantial support in times of crisis.
She's got Ralen. He's only one Zatarian, but that probably counts.
However, there's another race we've never seen and with whom she has made no effort to connect -- the Chronoms (sp?)
So now she's headed to Asmodeus VI and plans on testifying but has she actually done anything?
Howsoever they manage to wrap up this season, as you watch Pandora online, it might be worthwhile to keep in mind that they've introduced clone plots (multiple times), alternate dimensions, AND an anti-matter weapon.
With those sorts of tools in one's toolbox, anything is really possible, especially on The CW's Pandora.
Hit me with your best theories in the comments because I'm really at a loss about where they can take this in one more solitary hour.
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
