12/19/2008
TV: Sanctuary:: 0 comments: by Amber Spence
Sanctuary: An original web based show turned primetime. Stars Amanda Tapping as Helen Magnus, scientist studying the extreme and Robin Dunne as Zimmerman the psychologist who people say sees too much.
Abnormals + Fight Club. Thanks to TPTB that is not what was presented in this past episode of Sanctuary. What we received was more character development, which is always welcome. There is also another taste of the Cabal, funding the fights between new abnormals.
The show kicks off with Will receiving a communication from the wife of one of his friends from college. Her husband Danny has been missing for some time and she is not getting any aid from the police. She swears that they know something but aren’t telling her, and concludes that Will is the only one who can help her. She also tells him that Danny had been investigating the disappearances of some of the homeless that he catered to at the soup kitchen right before he vanished. She sends him off with Danny’s files in hopes of Will finding her husband.
While they are discussing current events, we get a scene with Danny the abnormal observing a fight reminiscent of the Street Fighter video games between to other abnormals. The larger one defeats the smaller one and one of the guards kills the little guy while he is out. The room looks like someones basement and it is one of the factors from the promo that made me worry this would turn out to be a low rent version of Fight Club. We are treated with an interaction between a scientist and minions of the Cabal, who discuss the progress of the experimentation.
Back to Will and Ashley who find a warehouse that looks like it recently housed a brawl. In stumbles what seems like a random drunk guy who Magnus recognizes as her father. We get lots of flashbacks to Helen’s father after this. Now that I think about it, it felt like a majority of the episode was flashbacks of her father. This is not all bad, but not great for a recap. Drunk guy introduces himself as Charlie, much to Helen’s chagrin, and gives them a bit more intel on the fights, steering Will and Ashley toward a mechanic who may know where the next fight is. Will gets kidnapped and “juiced” up into an abnormal.
Turns out Charlie is Helen’s father and was brainwashed like everyone else involved via a scarab on the base of his spine. He had created very similar abnormals in the past and the Cabal felt the need to capitalize on it. In his brainwashed state he was set up as a spy for the Cabal, but Helen cut him open and removed his mental captor. Will fights in a four man brawl and is about to put the hurting on Danny when Henry and the crew show up to calm him down. The build-up is done quite well considering earlier episodes, but it is best viewed and not read. Will and Danny are detoxed for the happy ending, but Will is left wondering where the “juice” ended and he began.
Helen’s father turns down the offer to stay with them, attempting to divert the attention of the Cabal. He then exits grandly. Overall, this is still one of the good journeys with the group. It is a hair predictable, but it works for the show.