3-05. "Triple Point"
Written by Georgia Lee
Directed by Jeff Woolnough
First aired 9 May 2018
SYNOPSIS
Ensign Sinopoli gives Errinwright's message to Sandrine Kirino, Captain of the MCRN Hammurabi. She and her first officer are skeptical of Sinopoli's story about being rescued and assisted by Holden and crew.
Naomi explains to Holden that she gave the Protomolecule to Fred Johnson because she feared it would be lost forever if she'd been killed on the Somnambulist, and she deeply regretted that she didn't discuss it with Holden and the others first. She also confesses she had a child by a member of the OPA who hid the child from her because she refused to help him, inferring that part of her motive behind her decision about the Protomolecule was to protect her son. Holden then presents his plans to break into Mao's abandoned Helium-3 refinery on Io, now Strickland's lab, in the hope of finding Prax's daughter.
Now almost fully transformed into a hybrid, Katoa informs Mao that the Protomolecule has nearly finished building something on Venus, but becomes unintelligible before he can elaborate. Mao tells Strickland to proceed with transforming another child, the next in line being Mei. Admiral Nguyen contacts Mao and orders him to surrender control of the hybrid soldiers.
Aboard the Agatha King, Errinwright's message reaches Souther, and he attempts mutiny. In a broadcast to both fleets, Souther accuses Nguyen of treason and orders everyone to stand down, but before he can transmit Errinwright's message as proof, Nguyen shoots him and arrests those loyal to him. As UNN ships begin firing on one another, the MCRN Hammurabi offers aid to any UNN ships that stand down. Nguyen then takes control of the hybrid soldiers on Io, now loaded into transport pods, and launches them toward Mars.
ANALYSIS
"Soon... work... finish..."
Woah, here we have a kick-ass episode fueled by political and military intrigue and capped by a mutiny and an epic space battle. It's as complicated as it is exciting, but there's nothing wrong with having to pay attention to the story—indeed, a pet peeve of mine is people who spend as much if not more time talking as watching, then whine that they don't understand what's going on. "Wait, who's that guy?" Smack.
Souther's death comes as a genuine shock, as does Nguyen's cold-blooded shooting of Lieutenant Shaffer. And with these come the realization the writers aren't afraid to rack up the body count with characters we've gotten to know and like. Plus, one must truly admire Sandrine Kirino, the level-headed Captain of the Hammurabi: she really keeps her shit together, and helps everyone else do the same, including her gung-ho XO. I hope they pin a medal on her.
Nothing to do with anything, but I found myself staring at Ensign Sinopoli, wondering where I'd seen him before... Atticus Mitchell appeared in Killjoys as a cowardly brainiac.
Best Scene: We see the UNN Agatha King in the foreground, facing the rest of the UNN fleet far off in the distance. There's a pregnant pause, and then... all hell breaks loose.
Best Line: Lieutenant Shaffer (Souther loyalist) to Lieutenant Boyer (Nguyen loyalist) over coffee: "Oh, Boyer, I've been meaning to tell you, your boss is kind of a prick."
SCORE: 