Thanks to Wikipedia (again), Hank's doppelganger is indeed the "new" Bartholomew. I'm not sure why that wasn't obvious to me from the first episode, maybe because of the "shock" that he is also Hank.
Of course now I have to wonder who the "new" Judas is, but I'm sure I'm getting ahead of the narrative arc.
"Pendulum" begins in medias res with Hank and Riley doing the insertion team thang in an abandoned building wherein they discover Laila who keeps whispering "He's coming!" and then, wait for it...there is the proverbial Plague Of Locusts.
Wow.
But ah, it's the old bait-and-switch of a dream sequence, as Hank is awakened by the prepare-for-landing announcement. Too much vindaloo, perhaps? Dude's gonna have wicked jetlag. After Riley tells him the only cure for getting over losing a loved one to murder is an equal and opposite reaction of vengeance, they Mulder-and-Scully some more and Hank says he doesn't care about the coming apocalypse, all he wants is Laila. Now while I approve of such chivalrous intensity of focus, I think Hank's gonna get a smack upside his reality distortion field as to the importance of his new job.
That's right: SAVING THE WORLD!
(Whoops sorry, I was channeling Jeremy Clarkson there for a minute. Or Movie Trailer Voiceover Guy.)
Anyway, Riley has to bring up the tough questions (because that's her job) and it's the same one we've been pondering since E1: Why? Why Laila?
Uh...really? Like we don't know she's just bait to lure Hank to whatever new locale is required as we progress through the new apostles like the Stations of the Cross to navigate whatever shocking (so not) twist the conspiracy takes?
Speaking of, suddenly we're in the City of Lights, and I'm wondering how much these aerial shots are costing the production company. Where once again, WV is pressing Laila as to the strength of her clock-fu. Because she must have some pretty wicked jetlag of her own, she looks less than enthused about the request. And then he starts regaling her with threats of his unique brand of cutlery torture and you gotta figure she's never going to butter her bread ever again, right? I've certainly lost the desire, ick, and I tell you there's nothing like a fresh crusty baguette slathered with some good Danish butter...uh, where was I?
Oh yeah...so WV is getting all psychotic boyfriend stalker-y by providing Laila with chic outfits and junk and Laila's all, "I'm a restorer, damnit, not an accessory!" So apparently she has decided to embrace her clock-fu once more to rescue herself from this badly-plotted nightmare. Way to reclaim your female agency, girlfriend!
The Scooby Gang is reunited, having an infodump moment (and Rachel is wearing a totally bitchin' jacket, btw) and they figure out that those pesky Rosicrucians are not on the side of the angels, apparently. Then, a monkey wrench is thrown into Operation SCREW YOU FBI by their appearance at the offices of Modern Skeptic (which are pretty sweet for what has got to be a niche publication, just sayin') and a quick-on-the-draw blonde, Agent Willis. Riley is accused of getting too emotionally involved...gee thanks Special Agent Obvious! And we get a nice reassurance that yes, Big Brother is watching you...everywhere.
Agent Blonde joins the Cute Squad
Meanwhile at the swanky terrorist lair, Laila uses the d-word (see, I knew it!) and states Hank's former skeptic credo, not knowing of his FEELINGS!...but White Vincent knows, in that creepy supervillain impossibly omniscient way. Laila repairs the Plot Device, and WV is all, "Pack your bags honey, jetlag be damned!"
Hank's parents appear for moral support, and that is a nicely human moment, yay Show. Anthony Edwards can act, he was the heart of ER, after all, and so I appreciate those moments when he's not seeming out of his depth in the whole conspiracy blah-blah-blah, which, if you think about it, should not be. The man runs a magazine devoted to this kind of crap, you'd think he would at least know the ways in which it plays out, even if he doesn't believe it. But he's spent at least half of his onscreen time looking all WHA? He asks, "Uh, is there any way that I could have a doppelganger ancestor from Nazi Germany?" and of course they have no idea what he's on about. Then the action intrudes again because reasons, and Laila signals Hank via the hotel lobby security camera and in another human moment we flashback to the history of their adorable relationship and again I am vindicated because Laila also knows how improbable it is to be Hank's hot wife.
(And I bet you thought I was just being bitter. Shall we play male entitlement bingo later? It's always a party!)
In further pursuit of her female agency, Laila delivers the same clue to the Scoobies and the FBI, and it's on like Donkey Kong. Hank's dad to the rescue when their Google-fu is fail and duh people, of course it's a location! What else would it be?
Show, you are giving me fits and making me talk to the screen. That's never a good sign.
Laila is the ultimate plant and next stop is the weird shit vector of...New Jersey. The Scoobies will beat WV unless the Lincoln Tunnel is backed up, which it usually is, am I right? Fuggedaboutit!
Woo, that was a long first act! I kept thinking are they just not going to show the title sequence? I know, silly me.
Apparently I was totally wrong about Hank and Riley getting the jump on WV, but in another nice aerial shot I am amused to see the Princeton Public Library looks more like a church. Laila gives clever another shot, and they abscond with the desired info. Oh Vincent, it's vandals like you which will ensure the revoking of the Freedom of Information Act, tsk tsk tsk. Father Mickle is all calm placatory to Hank's parents and it's like they're asking if he's doing drugs rather than riding to the rescue of his wife. But I love the choice of Charles S. Dutton for this role, he's perfect. But ah...apparently they have a secret of their own, which undoubtedly involves this whole mess and everything has been leading up to Hank...blah-blah-blah. I guess this is the shocking twist of this episode.
Elsewhere, Creepy Little Boy (seriously, it's like they put out a casting call for "Damian Thorn, age five") who is identified in the credits as Messenger Boy (that's a two-ton hint if I ever saw one) stands on a busy street watching a wall of televisions all showing a manifestation of the Fourth Plague of Revelations, cunningly disguised as a forest fire. You'll recall we saw the Eighth Plague of Egypt in Hank's dream. Cut to Mulder and Scully muttering "Curses! Foiled again!" at the Princeton Public Library. But wait, Hank has found Laila's message...see, the World Book never fails to inform! Flashback to more of their cute and why the library is their Special Place...aww, geek love! Interestingly, we learn that Hank's biggest skepticism is How can you, hot girl with clock-fu, love me, the skeptical schlub?
Since this is TV, that kind of crisis of faith never happens but okay Show, I'll give you points for trying to assuage all the women out there muttering, "Yeah that relationship is realistic," at the screen while rolling their eyes and Tweeting their annoyance (#interrogatingthescriptfromthewrongperspective). So the Scoobies get their Google-fu on (and Arron is wearing a gorgeous blue shirt which accents his gorgeous eyes, btw) and they pinpoint the reference as the Institute for Advanced Study...an actual brain trust...as the likely destination for the weekly showdown. Because brain trusts are totally fronts for conspiratorial organizations (*cough*Bilderberg Group*cough*).
Now occupying the same time-space continuum, we watch WV and Laila enter the destination while Hank and Riley and the FBI engage in Have You Seen This Terrorist And His Clock-fu Consultant? with the populace. A bit of misdirection has occurred because while WV invokes the ghost of Oppenheimer, the point of reference was actually the former office of...Albert Einstein (no really, there's even a plaque).
DUN DUN DUN
(That's not the cue, it's more the violins of This is some weird shit, right?)
But more shockingly, he's the new apostle! Oh get outta town, Show! Okay I take back what I said about Hank's parents being possible Nazis or Rosicrucians as the shocking twist, way to keep me guessing! The location of Al's clock is worked out, and then we have some priests engaging in the sanctity of traditional poker, because the Church is all about preserving traditions and stuff, am I right? The booze is shown, but because people don't smoke on network television anymore we don't see that long-held vice too.
Seriously though, I think we're supposed to take a moment to nod and say, "I see what you're doing there with your symbolism, Show." Father Mickle asks a question which is way too complicated for his casual conversational tone and he totally gets called on it. As the discussion continues the Steadicam relentlessly circles the table and I feel like I suddenly wandered into a DePalma movie or something. His colleagues deconstruct the situation and Mickle might have his own crisis of faith at some point after this, because friends don't let friends get waylaid by terrorists, doncha know.
Cut to Hank and Riley missing their rendezvous with destiny again...they've got a clock fer chrissakes, you'd think they would be punctual. They're half an hour behind WV, who is now giving Creepy Little Boy an update and again, there's another DePalma-esque shot of steps, and even he's afraid of the tyke, who writes down the info in some kind of code or dead language. Meanwhile the Scoobies - primarily Agent Blonde and Arron - are bonding over their love of anarchist esoteric media outlet Disinformation and Arron blurts out the best line of the episode.
It's like porn!
Ye gods that boy is adorable. But Rachel gives him a so lame, dude, so lame look and his puppy crush attempts to regain some dignity. And then there's another bombshell: WV doesn't have the right clock! All of this twisting is making me dizzy, Show!
Infodump, infodump, conversation of significance, more discussion of The Love That Will Never Die, and then WV makes that Goddamnit Laila, you're making me having feelings! face...oh Vincent, why so evil? Did no one ever love you in your antiseptic upbringing? They're both sweating, to underscore the tension of the situation, natch. I appreciate the credibility of making them look under the thumb of that wicked jetlag.
Creepy omniscience, crazy awesome science, detecting, and...breadcrumbs from Laila. Of course I want to know how she managed to find yellow pushpins in the midst of her hostage ordeal, but whatever. And lo-and-behold, that dream was prophetic, just not in the way we were thinking.
We have to stop meeting like this, Hank. Seriously
Nah, he didn't say that. Just like I figured, WV wants Hank for reasons which are probably more obvious than they should be at this stage in the game. Ah, but there are still some surprises to be had, I gotta say, this is definitely getting more interesting. And what, is everybody involved in a conspiracy here?
Gunplay, running, "Let me tell ya why you're not going to shoot me...'cause you ran out of bullets, fool!", penultimate bombshells away, plus two priests walk into a bar and...okay, one of them was already there, but infodump, and they keep looking around like some pesky Rosicrucian is gonna come in and get all medieval on their asses too, while Hank's parents attend mass and look all conspiratorial again.
Einstein's clock is recovered, the secret message inside decoded, and if there was mention of which apostle he was supposed to represent, I missed it. I'm hoping Wikipedia will clear this up. Locust symbolism ahoy! and okay, I get the destruction metaphor but how is that supposed to symbolize the destruction of God, exactly?
Despite my snark (which provides your daily allowance of alleged entertainment value), I liked this episode the most so far, the infodumps and the action merged together in a much more effective fashion.
Now to the good stuff...
There is some nicely stirring music during the on-campus scenes at the Institute, this is my favorite cue of the episode. It has a certain majestic feel to it without being overbearing. And the use of Laila's theme in the later scene between WV and Laila underscores a certain emotional resonance. The theme used during what I will refer to as the "breadcrumbs" scene has some nice electronic touches which makes me wonder if it's Paul's or maybe a collaboration. Trevor's scoring pedigree is entirely evident in the overall mood of the themes and cues, and I could be mistaken but I don't think there was any licensed music in this one, just lots of newsreel footage (faked or no it looked pretty good).
And hey, the story kept swinging...like a pendulum! Ah Show, I may bond with you after all.
