The future history of the world is clear to Flynne and she’s reporting back to her own people what that means.

This week we see that few things can remain secret, at least not for long. As Flynne and Burton’s activities continue, more and more people are taking notice. The show does an excellent job of looking at the strain that takes on not just them but their friendships too.

In the end secrets and words unspoken ruin friendships as often as explicit actions.

This isn’t the only focus for Flynne. Challenged about the status of her relationship with those in the future, Flynne takes the criticism to heart and calls out her handler, Wilf, on the power asymmetry between them. For his part he gives her what she wants which results in one of the two absolutely shocking moments in this episode.

The show continues to surprise both in its human elements and what they’re capable of bringing to the screen but also in how it’s handling the story. We have consequences dealt with in the frame rather than sidelined and emotions handled with care rather than forgotten for the sake of plot. All of this elevates what could otherwise be an innovative but familiar feeling sci-fi thriller.

For all the strength on display, the resilience being asked of our main characters, there is vulnerability too and both Flynne and Wilf feel fragile, as if you could tackle them in just the right way and they’d shatter.

What is clearer this week are the stakes. We have a moment in which we follow Alita in flashback as she tracked down what is really going on in Future London. Her actions upon discovering a key piece of information are what have led to the entire sequence of events in which Flynne and Burton are embroiled.

Although Flynne survives another attempt to stop her ongoing activities others aren’t so fortunate and it feels like it’s only a matter of time before violence finds her regardless of the protection afforded to her. If her antagonists regarded her as an easy mark at the beginning she has shown she is anything but.

Sometimes hitting the bully makes them back right off. Other times it leads to a proper fight and it feels like we’re heading for the latter of these two possibilities.

Either way, with the stakes now clear, at least in terms of how Alita came to be involved and even, possibly, resulting in the damage done to Burton’s unit, it’s become obvious who needs to be stopped and why.

Although there’s almost no one in Future London worth our sympathy, there are clearly some who deserve our antagonism.

Rating? 9 manipulated soldiers out of 10.

Stewart Hotston