Zoo - Emotional Contagion - Review: “Last Resort”

This episode immediately caught my attention by starting with an intense zoo break-in that the team is participating in for an unknown reason. Soon, we’re flashed back to 20 hours prior, where we see that the team is looking for an under-the-radar way to travel back to Africa. The FBI agent they confronted in the last episode has put their names all over the news so getting anywhere is going to be pretty difficult for them. In desperation, they enlist the help of an old “friend”, Ray, in Florida. Ray is an animal rights activist and in exchange for his help getting to Africa, he demands that they help him and the rest of his team with the animal liberation at the local zoo that they have planned. Our team is hesitant to help because Jackson and Abe have a bit of a questionable history with Ray, and I have to agree, he’s pretty much totally crazy. He’s not a very reasonable person, as we could see when he refused to believe that there was anything wrong with the animals and he almost cost them their ride to Africa.

The zoo break-in does not go according to plan and things get a little out of hand when they are confronted by guards. Soon the whole scene turns into a shoot-out and they almost lose Ray, who it turns out is their pilot, which makes his life way more valuable to them. It’s on Mitch to save the day by saving Ray, and luckily he’s successful. The guns were an unexpected, high stakes twist to the break-in that no one was expecting, although I guess it makes sense that the guards would have a form of lethal force in case of an emergency like a lion escape or something. They really should have been more prepared for that. The observations of the animals that they stole provided the latest theory that the animal behavior is being passed from animal to animal via some sort of emotional contagion, like yawning or laughing. Animals in proximity to each other are passing it on and triggering it in each other, like a spark. Jackson’s father warned him about this and that once the spark started it would become impossible to put out the flames. Clearly time is running out.

I thought it was interesting to see the interaction between Abe and Jackson during this episode now that they were working with Ray again. It’s clear that Abe does not approve of Ray but Jackson is much more accepting. Abe basically accuses Jackson of turning into his Dad…which was awkward, and later when it’s suggested that maybe Jackson is a magnet for trouble as well as Ray, Abe doesn't disagree. I’m kind of in agreement with all of this. Jackson really hasn't done that much to contribute to the team, yet for some reason he’s viewed as the leader. I certainly don’t see him that way. I thought it was ridiculous when Chloe told Jackson that they’ve made it this far because of him. Jackson has barely done anything, except make some questionable decisions. Abe, Mitch, and Jamie have been the most helpful by far! Also, I’m not against romance on a show, in fact, I love it, but Chloe and Jackson’s kiss just felt so forced and out of nowhere. I know they’ve been trying to get us on board with them romantically, but ultimately this show has just been so focused on the plot that I’ve totally missed the chemistry that they’ve been supposedly “building” over the past weeks. Clearly, the animals liked it about as much as I did considering as soon as Chloe and Jackson kissed they all started going crazy in outrage, or maybe confusion, haha. Anyways, the description for this episode stated that Chloe will make the “ultimate sacrifice” which to me, means her life, but I guess this show has a different definition. I was waiting all episode to see how Chloe would die and then her sacrifice is just falling out of the plane and getting caught by the FBI agent. Clearly, the team will find a way to rescue her eventually and Chloe can handle herself so she’ll be fine, that’s not exactly the “ultimate sacrifice”. Plus she’s not even really the one they want, she’s an accessory to murder, at best, and I have to admit, I felt pretty lied to by that episode description.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode but I feel like things have slowed down a bit. I’m hoping now that we’re nearing the end everything will become much more urgent and exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Chloe and how the team reacts to her being left behind. I also can’t wait to finally get some more answers about how the leopards waiting for them in Africa are going to help with the cure. What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!

About the Author - Kate Sidwell

Kate is a 24 year old, USA based, Psychology/Public Health Researcher - but that’s just her day job! In her spare time she is an avid TV watcher (some may even say addict!!). Some of her favorite shows are Jane the Virgin, Bates Motel, The Flash, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Rookie Blue, Silicon Valley, Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow, The 100, The Mindy Project, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time, The Royals, Orphan Black…so pretty much too many to count and a huge variety! She’ll give pretty much any show a chance! She also devotes a lot of time to her tumblr (eat-sleep-breathe-tv.tumblr.com) where you can find her reviewing and commenting on most of these shows and just generally fangirling! She’s excited to be writing for SpoilerTV on Complications, Baby Daddy, Proof, Switched at Birth, Secrets and Lies, and Minority Report!

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