As Max and Isobel struggle with what should be done about Noah, Michael and Alex take a trip to investigate a lead relating to Project Shephard.

Last week’s episode shifted an awful lot of things in the dynamic of the show. The reveal of Noah as the mysterious fourth alien, responsible for several deaths including Rosa, simultaneously redeemed Isobel while putting an awful burden on her, lightening Liz’s load only for it to pass elsewhere – after all, is there any more total violation than learning that your husband has been not only lying to you for your whole relationship but also randomly hijacking your body to chase other girls and commit murders since before you were even together?

That violation weighs heavily on both Isobel and, in a different way, on her brothers. Max in particular is enraged, and a side of him comes to the fore here in several scenes which we haven’t seen or even suspected before. Liz perhaps has the trickiest journey of all to navigate when it comes to responding to Isobel – someone she’s hated and blamed for a long time, and to whom she cannot possibly truly relate (because who could) in terms of the source of her current pain.

Michael, meanwhile, finds himself dragged along with Alex and a less welcome third wheel to follow up on a lead with regards to project Shephard. The old prison in the middle of nowhere turns out to hide more secrets than any of them had bargained for though, both on a global and more personal level.

If there’s a common thread running through all this, it’s in a flipping of expectations and perceptions once again. Certainly a lot of things the audience has taken for granted are challenged once again throughout the course of the episode, and we are left wondering once again exactly what to make of it all.

There’s still an element of silliness there too, in some of the details – how easy it is to wander into certain places and bluster one’s way past people in authority being just one thing that may bug those who like to ask themselves who pumps up the tyres on the Batmobile. But all things considered, the storytelling has become so much stronger and more nuanced at this point that these are the sorts of details that can be forgiven. Overall, this seems to be setting things up for all kinds of possibilities if the show gets renewed.

Verdict: Taking some bold and intelligent narrative decisions after last week’s major revelations, this just keeps getting better and better. 8/10

Greg D. Smith