Star-Crossed-Episode 1.03-Our Toil Shall Strive to Mend-Review

Star-Crossed seem to be firing on almost all cylinders last week. I was engaged, I was eager, and I was enticed. I was also exhausted (Here's looking at you Emery). All-in-all the momentum, last week was increase over the previous episode. Star-Crossed may not be long for this world, but it's enjoying while it's in it.
Last week's ratings took an increase in 18-49 up a tenth, hopefully it can keep these numbers and grow a little. But as always let's enjoy it while it's here shall we.

This week we got Atrian Sex, Emery not being able to take a hint, A glimpse of what's on the ship, some sort of answer to what my favorite Shady lady's motivation is and we met Vega, who is the kind of antagonist this show needed.

On pain of torture, from those bloody hands, Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground.
The episode begins with something I called in my pilot review, Teri and Roman having Atrian sex, there was smoldering and glowing tattoos, and this thing called chemistry (Here's looking at you Romery). Turns out it was just dream, Roman pulled out some sort of leaf from under his pillow. He went to the culprit, Teri, and it turns out these two used to be an item(I called it! *Does celebratory dance*) and Roman used to beg for her to give him these kinds of dreams and put Kyter leaves under his pillow. Teri is obviously longing for those days with Roman, but Roman just wants to be friends. (Ouch)

It is now Julia's first day of school(her and Emery's outfits were repulsively retro, it's in this year!)and she can barely contain her excitement(Or whatever that was). Emery decides that instead of rolling out with the grand things for Julia's first day, she'll just stare at Roman who ignores her. She then tells Julia how Roman won't even look at her following the carnival. Julia asks her what did she do? To which Emery replies, Nothing, I can think of(Oh but Emery, you did EVERYTHING!). Julia then snarks that it's only been a week and Emery already has boy problems.

My Favorite shady lady is addressing the Atrian Seven's class about the upcoming anniversary of arrival day, the 10th anniversary to be exact. A service is going to be held by the fallen Atrian ship. Insert cute Sophia and Luka banter here. (Also at this time I was in the middle of my futile attempt to get #Whatsontheship trending.) Gloria lets them know that the whole world will be watching to see how the Atrians and the humans are integrating, and since Atrians have successfully integrated into the human world (Aka High school) it's time for the humans students to integrate into the Atrian world (Aka the sector). Field Trip ya'll.

And then Emery suggests that it would be a good to talk and interview Atrians to get their perspective on Arrival day. Roman interjects and tells Gloria it's not a good idea for Emery to be there, that there are still people seeking retribution for her father's hand in their leaders death. Gloria dismisses Roman and permits Emery to to do her interviews. (I just viewed this whole thing as some desperate attempt form Emery to get Roman to talk to her).

(Beginning couple alert)Natalie is busy putting a ribbon on Grayson when Drake walks by and calls him a sweetheart. Natalie launches in to attack mode and calls him insensitive and a 'roided out alien(Young love) telling him the ribbons are to represent those who lost someone on arrival day, and that Grayson had a brother who was killed by an Atrian. Drake's retort? He lost have half his tribe and those that survived were gunned down or put in the sector by Bish guards. Grayson said he was sorry for his loss, but his brother was no Bish. Before Drake could make his move, Beaumont appeared to break things up.

Emery goes to Julia to tell her about her project and while Julia is excited she has to ask what we are all thinking, why are you doing this? Emery starts to speak about how this was Roman's father's passion project and before she can finish her statement Julia cuts her off and tells her the way to a boy's heart is not through his dead father's project(And this is why Julia should be Roman's lover, not Emery).

Julia has to see the erm, school counselor so she can't help Emery, but guess who can, Grayson! So anyway, that counselor Julia was going to see, it was Roman, and she confronts him about the Cyper and him healing her and he just tries to deny it. That is until she threatens to go to her doctors with her insane suspicions. He decides to take her into the closet(Not for sexy times. sad face) and she realizes he did save her with Cyper. He asks her to keep it to herself, and warns her that if people knew that their blood and Cyper healed humans they would become lab rats. But she can't keep it a secret and decides to take off her top (Not for sexy times, sad face) and reveals she's got glowing blue veins running up her body, and it's been spreading since the carnival. (Also Malese Jow retweeted my comment about her turning into an na'vi from Avatar, Score!).

Castor and Roman have a conversation that seems to lead me to believe that Castor may have turned over a new leaf about the humans. Roman probes Castor about using Cyper on Humans and Castor reveals that a side effect could be blue veins, but there is a cure called Vyre and he even tells Roman who grows it, the Iwabas.

Of honourable reckoning are you both;And pity 'tis you lived at odds so long
What would all this inter-species mingling be without a little opposition? The red hawks are at the gates of sector obviously displeased, like Drake, that this visit is even happening. Gloria and the humans arrive on a bus and are greeted by Castor(And chants of no race mixing in the background) they are then lead through the Sector and we got to see it through their eyes. The poverty, the hope, the survival the beauty.

Julia is buying more clothes to cover the fact the glowing has now grown to her neck, and Roman realizes he has got to find some Vyre, fast before they are exposed. Emery happens upon them talking and then asks Roman if he and Sophia could interview with her inside of his pod. Roman tells her no and to stay where it's safer. (Can she not take a hint?!) She then asks him introduce her to some Atrians who would want to share their survival story, and again he dismisses her. (Like, really, can I get you a copy of He's Just Not That Into You, Emery?) He stalks off and Sophia just shows up out of nowhere and tells Emery she'd love to be interviewed and take her into her pod. (This will end well)

So who does Roman ask to help him find Vyre? Teri. Is Teri on his side? Uh no. Note to Roman, never tell a girl you just want to be friends, it's always good to be honest, just work on how you phrase it. Meanwhile Drake was apprehended by Beaumont for selling drugs to humans, except he wasn't. Beaumont brought him before Vera, the newly elected leader of the Trags, and she wants Drake to become a member. Well, after he steals something off their fallen ship, something that will lay waste to the humans.(#WHATSONTHESHIP)

Let's talk about this interview Emery did with Sophia. I believe only one person had motives true to the cause. Sophia. Emery was there to try and catch a glimpse of Roman and his life and Grayson was there to try and get Emery to notice him. While in Roman's room Emery sees a star made of string which makes her curious. Could it be the same string star she and Roman played with many moons ago on arrival day? Before she can gather her thoughts Roman comes in upset with Sophia for inviting them into their home. Emery tries to defend her, but Roman just wants her with his guard.

Cut to shirtless Atrian fighting, courtesy of Beaumont training Drake. We should have taken note to the foreshadowing here as Beaumont tells Drake Atrian life depends on the plants they use and how they use them. Take Sovok, the Atrian equivalent of the brass knuckle, looks ridiculous, but it probably extremely dangerous. Beaumont later reports to Castor that the Trags have enlisted Drake to grab their weapon from the ship and Castor reveals he doesn't want to stop the war, just be on the winning side. (So Castor has no true horse in this race, as long as they align with the winning one. *I have a theory....)Castor then instructs Beaumont to not kill Emery but to leave her to him.

Julia and Roman meet up for another hushed meeting about the cure, but their conversation turns towards Emery. Julia wants to tell her about their secret since healing her was something he did for Emery, but Roman just wants her left out. He tells Julia his distance from her is for Emery's own safety, but she can't seem to grasp that. (Alright, so it's not that he doesn't want her, but being with her puts her in harms way. She just sees through him and knows what he wants because women are smart like that, but she should at least respect his wishes.)

While watching Luka win some sort of Atrian chess and ignoring Grayson's existence, Emery sees a young Atrian girl she saw earlier watching her. She grabs the camera and goes chasing after her only to run into her at a wall full of drawings of lost Atrian's. The little girl points to her mother and mentions they lost her on arrival day, and that she resides in Eljida. She then asks Em to record her as she sends out a message to her mom. Em is too captivated to know that she is being surrounded by Atrians, until Castor shows up speaking in Sondiv and clears them off. Castor explains to her this wall is called the Wall of the Missing and was crafted when they were first placed in the Sector. She asks Castor if Eljida is real, and he tells her it could be before turning the conversation to her and Roman. Emery sensing this guy is a creepy uncle and not the fun kind, dismisses herself from his presence and heads back to her friends.

Julia and Roman have broken into the Iwaba's grow house to look for Vyre, but before they could find it, Vega comes down the stairs, Roman quickly shoves Julia into hiding and tries to convince Vega he was just a curious bystander. Vega doesn't believe him and threatens to shove Bylek down his throat unless he gives her some real answers. Luckily Teri was around to do him a favor and get him out of this mess with her MOTHER. Yes, Vega is Teri's mom. Roman ducks around to get Julia and get of dodge while Vega then tells Teri she should watch herself with Roman for he loves the Humans, like his father. She tells Teri that being with Roman is keeping her from her destiny as a Trag and her daughter and that some day she will have to choose a side.

The night before the Commemoration, Em and Grayson are reviewing footage and they have a heart to heart about how hard it will be for his family to be there tomorrow especially with the Atrians there. He doesn't even think people will like their footage. When asked why did he help her then, he pretty much reveals it's because he just wanted to spend time with her.

It fits, when such a villain is a guest:I'll not endure him.
So the big day arrives and this is where things really picked up in this episode, a lot of this was exposition but the third act delivers. Grayson and Emery banter about his parents before he runs off to upload the footage and I can't help but root for those two, they seem to be better matched. The Atrians arrive to a mixed reception and Teri takes Roman to the side and hands him the Vyre he needs to cure Julia, but she warns him she has no idea what it could do outside of healing the effects of Cyper(I'm sure we will find out though). Roman immediately goes to Julia and tells her to eat the Vyre. Julia is skeptical but she's gonna do it, because Roman did save her life, no way she would want him caught so they could both end up in a lab.

Beaumont comes and removes Drake from the crowd, giving him the Sovok and starting him on his way to the ship. Gloria, on stage chooses to not talk about the success of the program but rather show it through Emery's video. Which would be fine if the Grand Patriarch of the Red-Hawks had not highjacked it in order show the true nature of the Atrians. (Which was really just two high-schoolers being too big for their britches)this got everyone in an uproar, until Roman took the stage. He assures them while there is truth to what they saw it's not all there is. He tells them how the video was supposed to share arrival day stories, so he decides to share his. He tells them that a human girl saved his life, but should they meet again they can't even walk down the street together today, but through the program he sees she is not the only one, that there are more humans willing to accept Atrians than there are Red-Hawks.

Drake goes rumbling around the ship looking for the weapon the Trags seek, which turns out to be some sort of cube. Drake attacks a guard on the ship and would have killed him if not for Teri coming to his rescue. Drake was surprised asked how did she know? She uses the same Kyter leaf on the guard to make him forget and tells Drake since her mother is Trag leader, there's not much she doesn't know and that she is now embracing her destiny.

Gloria thanks Roman for saving the program, because she is only interested in a program that works. Meanwhile Emery is stalking around Grayson's parents limo where she overhears them discussing their handiwork with the video. Disgusted, she turns around only to run into Grayson, who just wants to explain. Grayson tries to tell her that he isn't a Red-Hawk and that's it just his parents and he has no fault in this, but does Emery believe him?(More importantly do we believe him?)

So what ever happened with Julia and that Vyre? She ate it like she was instructed to, and the blue glow started leaving her veins working it's way up until she was shrouded in blue light. A short time later she showed up to Roman for another secret meeting and showed him she was clear of blue veins. Relieved, Julia hugs Roman and says thank you as Emery looks on from a distance. (Ouch, that's gotta sting Em)

Vega congratulates Drake on a job well done and welcomes he and Teri to the fold. As their reward they get to see exactly what it is they stole from the ship. She inserts Cyper into the the cube and out comes a swirling black mist which she then blows at Beaumont, leaving Beaumont with a pretty bloody mess where his mouth used to be. She then reveals that she knew he was a spy and that she plans on using Black Cyper on the Humans. Even bigger than the Black Cyper? My Favorite Shady lady has a son! An Atrian son! (Whaaa?)

Afterthoughts: This episode started a bit slow for me, while meaty with exposition, I found myself wanting some reveal to happen to shake things up. Thankfully the last 14 minutes did that. I was floored that Gloria has an Atrian son, I did not see that coming. I'm still not for the Roman and Emery romance, I find it more annoying than necessary. Emery seemed to just be desperate while Roman was just a jerk to her. I like how they did not drag out the glowing veins story they started last episode. Say what you want about the romance but the show doesn't linger on much, take Beaumont for example. His duality probably would have gotten stale after a few episodes but they just killed him off. I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction Vega it's nice to have an antagonist whose motives are not so ambiguous as Grayson or Castor. Julia continues to be the lead I wish Emery was, their chemistry seemed more natural. I really loved how much they used Atrian herbs this episode. The Kyter reminded me of Isabel's dreamwalking ability in Roswell. I think if the show shifted or promoted more of its focus on the political and Social aspects like this episode did, it would have found bigger success.

As for my theory, well what if Castor is Gloria's son's father? They way Roman speaks of Castor leads me to believe he wasn't around much, could it be because he was sticking it to Gloria? I think it's far too simple for her to be an Atrian with her marks removed like Beaumont, and Castor's statement about being on whichever side is winning stuck with me. I also wonder what the Vyre will do to Julia, all that foreshadowing about the importance of plants leads me to believe she is not out of the woods yet. Maybe she ends up psychically linked to the Atrian who used their blood to save her. Thus forming a bond with Roman that Emery can't, causing friction.

Episode MVP: Vega. In her few scenes she's really managed to raise the stakes of the game. She was ready to kill Roman, and now has a weapon at her disposal to kill the humans. I really feel she's willing to take this war to a whole new level, and I'm excited for it.
Honorary mention: Teri. Girl upgraded from just endless pool of information to someone not to be messed with. I'm interested to see her series arc.

Episode LVP: Emery and Grayson. It's a toss up between them both. I really feel they added nothing of value this week. Remove their scenes and you could just have a Red-Hawk intercept the video just the same. I felt it was the writing mirroring Emery's desperate attempt to be near Roman. Grayson was a wallflower for the most part aside from his scenes with Emery, which is a shame, he has tons of potential. Maybe they are saving it for a Red-Hawk centric episode?

Final Grade: B this episode hit mostly the write notes, everything was for the most part successful buildup to a very revealing third act. I just can't get past Emery.


What did you think? Have you come around on Emery? Are you liking all the mysterious Atrian plants an their effects? Is Gloria an Atrian, or just in love with one? Will Julia change thanks to Vyre? Are you sad to see Beaumont go? Do you think Grayson was telling Emery the truth? Is Roman being noble or just plain Stupid?

Sound off below and don't forget to catch a new episode tonight at 8/7c on the CW.

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