A vicious attack at the Church of the Believers leaves Olive shaken and Michaela struggling to find witnesses or co-operation even from the victims. But when Grace and Cal are the subjects of a hit and run attack shortly after, Ben suspects a wider issue from the so-called ‘Xers’.

With The Major in the wind, the show settles down to focus on the two main issues confronting our heroes – the impending Death Date and the violence they face at the hands of the so-called ‘Xers’ which steps up several notches here.

The attack on the church leaves Olive frightened but unwilling to speak out and let her parents know she’s been attending. This seems to sit fine with Adrian, who spouts some holier than thou nonsense about refusing to fear and leading by example to open the eyes of the unbelievers. As Michaela investigates though (unaware of Olive’s presence at the attack) she begins to suspect something odd: why is nobody – even the victim of the attack – telling her anything?

The urgency ramps up when Grace and Cal are involved in a hit and run that wrecks their car which seems obviously deliberate but which nobody – least of all the police officer responding – seems to take particularly seriously. As Grace worries about the baby, Ben’s obsession drives him to analyse the data, and the pattern he uncovers is disturbing.

Nagging at him while he does all this is a calling in which he repeatedly hears ‘save her’ but has no idea to whom it refers or what it means. His information prompts Michaela to double her efforts, assisted by a surprise witness, but the deeper she goes, the more complicated this all starts to seem. Just how far does the rabbit hole go? Who is running the Xers and what is it that they’re after?

It’s interesting to see the show step away mostly from the supernatural elements of the show here and focus on the more mundane – but no less tense – real world implications of the passengers and their return. The Xers represent the very basest impulses of humanity to fear the unknown, and the depth to which that particular movement seems to have infiltrated means they’re not just going to be something to be casually disposed of. It’s also nice to see Zeke trying to deal with the more mundane of his own issues – namely his addiction – and the bombshell the episode ends on promises much more domestic drama to come.

Verdict: A fascinating change of thematic tack that delivers no less drama and tension than normal. 8/10

Greg D. Smith