Ben leaps into a firefighter on the verge of retirement.

Ben needs to put out fires aplenty this week—literal and figurative. Somewhat less expected, perhaps, he leaps right into the living room of Hannah and her son Jeffry. As technologically inclined as his mother, Jeffrey is building computers in the apartment. The problem is, they keep shorting out the building’s sub-code wiring. Ben swiftly extinguishes the flames. It’s always a treat to see Hannah, and the show is making intriguing use of the character. Kudos to Eliza Taylor for conveying such warmth and brilliant intelligence and insight.

Needless to say, Ben isn’t there for Hannah and Jeffrey. Nor is he there to ensure his firefighter makes it to retirement—although that will be a beneficial result of his success. As the building goes up in flames due to the faulty wiring, his job is to save some of the construction workers on one of the upper floors. Naturally nothing can be easy, and Hannah ends up assisting him. Taylor fills her scenes as Hannah with emotion without ever overdoing it and crossing the line to maudlin or exaggerated. Hannah and Addison have some great interaction here, which is quite a trick considering that only one of them can see and hear the other.

Then—because of course he does—Jeffrey runs back into the building to retrieve some of his late father’s belongings. Jeffrey has also noticed the close connection between his mom and the “firefighter” and is instantly suspicious, disapproving, and jealous. He can’t bear to lose the last connections he has to his dad. Yes, a typical clichéd subplot, but pivotal in light of what follows.

Meanwhile back at the ranch… er, at Homebase . . .

Gideon Rydge has complete control of the project and has fired everyone he hasn’t ordered killed. He wants to completely destroy Ben and use the project for his own nefarious ends. We see Addison and the others leaving the building. Thus far James Frain has little to play beyond evil incarnate, so it will be most interesting to find out where his character ends up.

Verdict: The penultimate episode admirably accomplishes its goal: namely, setting up the finale. Alas that also makes it a tad unsatisfying, as it suffers from too much setup and not enough resolving of its own story. 7/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com