With only a six episode final season they had a lot to cram into a very short time frame and I feel like Zero Hour got overly crammed. They threw a ton of story into this one episode and to me it felt like the episode suffered because of it. It was by no means a bad episode, but it was by far the weakest one they’ve had this season. The Desperate Hours definitely got back on track and was a great episode to lead into the Series Finale.
Alec finally learned who Jason’s mom is and while Annie seems like a lovely woman she is no Emily. I still feel like Alec will somehow end up with Emily in the end, but next week will hopefully tell us one way or another. I enjoyed seeing the awkward bonding that went on between Alec and Jason as they tracked down Annie. The best part of Zero Hour was the meeting of young Alec and Future Alec as orchestrated by The Traveler. The elder Alec seemed confused that his younger self had already met Annie, so hopefully that will set things on a path where Alec somehow ends up with Emily. They’ve changed things before, so hopefully this will be one of those things.
While Future Alec loved Annie with all his heart their love was immeasurably flawed. Emily sees Alec for who he is and he for who she is and they still love one another despite what they know. That is a love that can survive time and space and the kind of love that can lead Alec down a different path. Alec has been on an interesting journey this season as he has fought to make good on his promise to get Kiera home. He’s even made sacrifices of his own for her, so it will be interesting to see if he can make good on his promise to her. It will also be interesting to see if there are any consequences for this final manipulation of time.
Kiera and Brad have a very complicated relationship as they have seemingly come to stand on different sides of this fight. Brad went from saying he just wanted to protect Kiera in one episode to threatening her life and the lives of those she cares about in the very next one. Sure, Brad tried to ensure Kiera wasn’t in the building during the siege, but he should have known better than to think she’d stay away. He went back to his old ways in an attempt to protect Kiera, but to fall back into that life so easily some part of him must have still wanted that life.
Kiera’s relationship with Carlos suffered as a result of all the Brad drama and rightfully so. Kiera has become blinded by a singular goal and while it is noble that she would do anything to get back to her son she can’t do it at the cost of the relationships she’s worked so hard for. Alec had a finger broken and a gun held to his head by Brad in an attempt to protect Kiera’s way home. If she is ever going to find her way home it will be because of the aid of her friends. For that reason it was nice to see Kiera charge into the middle of the siege to try and protect them. She almost lost Alec and she aided Kellog’s escape from custody, but at least she tried to make things right. I feel like Kiera knows something we don’t or she would have fought harder to keep Kellog in custody.
Kellog was busy these episodes as he put the moves on Vasquez and was promptly shut down by her. These two have a very odd thing going on and I get the feeling Vasquez is hiding some valuable information from Kellog and the audience. There is some connection between these two in the future and it is quite obvious Vasquez is not impressed by the man her mentor was in the past. Still their differences weren’t enough to keep her from leading a charge to retrieve him from custody. What was curious is that Kellog didn’t seem immediately interested in being back in her guardianship. Vasquez believes in the man he is destined to become and for better or worse that man is worth every risk she is taking for him. I think she has idealized the man he is in the future and without her being brought in check or taken out of the equation Kellog will come to stand as the image of an intensely flawed and damaged future. By protecting him as she is she is doing nothing but ensuring the dark future comes to be. Ultimately Kiera will have to find a way to take Kellog out or the odds remain good that they will all be returning to the dark future the soldiers come from. And I get the impression that is not a future anyone should strive for.
Carlos found himself stuck in the middle of a million different bad options. No matter what choice he made things were always going to go sideways. He values Kiera as a friend, but he’s also come to see how blinded she is when it comes to Brad and her mission to get home. Kellog was about to serve his place in Kiera and Alec’s plan to send the former home, but Carlos wanted to see justice done more than anything else and he ignore their pleas to do so When Dillion gave him a way to take down Kellog he took it with very little hesitation. One could argue that he’s become as blinded as Kiera in his mission to take down Kellog, but I think some of his pushback with Kiera comes from not wanting to lose his friend. It was that singular focus on Kellog that led the station to fall under siege and cost a lot of lives. By the end of The Desperate Hours he was on board with Kiera and her plans, but only because he was left with very little other choice. With a destroyed station and super soldiers roaming the city he is basically out of options at this point and no good way to explain any of it to his superiors. He needs Kiera in order to stop the future soldiers and she needs him to get access to the equipment she needs to go home. It is a slippery road for both characters, but I hope their friendship can be fully mended before the series closes out next week.
Chen remains a wild card that I can’t really figure out. Just when I think I’ve figured out what side he is fighting for the line blurs again. In some weird screwed up way I actually think he is fighting for Kiera to succeed, but the guy certainly has made some screwed up decisions to keep her destiny on track. I like how he explained his place in this time and how his consciousness from one time reanimated this version of him. You know it’s a complicated situation when even the super smart Alec can’t wrap his mind around the concept.
Liber8 lost yet another member in the most heroic way possible. Travis finally found freedom from his cell only to give up everything for the innocent lives inside the station. The Liber8 characters were all intensely flawed, but in the end they all had somewhat noble reasons for their actions and some even lost their lives for honorable causes. Lucas and Travis both sacrificed themselves for the salvation of others and went out with honor. Sonya and Edouard even had a complicated path with both just wanting a better future, but honor is a word I’m unlikely to use to describe either of these characters. They both went out in dastardly ways leaving the final determination of their groups’ legacy in the hands of the least likely member. They all cost innocents their lives and did horrible and unforgiveable things, but their mission wasn’t all that different from Kiera’s. In the end most of them came to join forces with Kiera even if it wasn’t always their first choice.
As it stands Garza is the last member of Liber8 left and the one that will determine the everlasting legacy of the group. I’m not really counting Chen because I don’t think he was ever truly aligned with Liber8 and was always on his own mission. The big question going into the finale is will Garza help see to it that Lucas and Travis didn’t die for nothing by helping Kiera or will she use their sacrifices as an excuse to take on Kiera in one final battle? She’s developed a respect for Kiera and has had more than a few chances to take her out and hasn’t taken those opportunities. I believe in the end we will see Garza fight with Kiera and aid Kiera’s attempt to get home. I just hope she survives to see to it that Liber8 either never exists or becomes a much different group in the future.
These episodes were an action packed way to lead up to the series finale and while Zero Hour faltered under the weight of too much story The Desperate Hours excelled at combining action with moving the story forward. Going into the series finale the show still seems to have a lot of story to tell and I’ll admit to being quite surprised by how very little these episodes closed up in terms of story. Many of the same questions that existed in the season premiere are still left unanswered and that’s kind of scary given they only have one episode left to tie up a ton of story. I hope the final episode doesn’t get bogged down trying to close up loose ends that should have been tied up well before now. I also hope the series doesn’t close out with too many questions unanswered. I have faith in this show and am choosing to believe the series will at least end on a hopeful note.
The series winds down to its end next Friday on SyFy at 11/10c. With so many storylines still left hanging this promises to be a very fast paced series finale.
These reviews will be put up according to the SyFy airing which is a week behind the Canadian airing on Showcase. Because of that please respect international viewers who may be a week behind and do not post spoilers or comments for any episode beyond the one being reviewed here.
Hit the comments with your predictions for the series finale. Who will get a happily ever after and who will be left with an uncertain future? Will Emily and Alec end up together? Will Kiera get home to her son?
About the Author - Aimee Hicks
Aimee works for a local newspaper and has a BA in Broadcasting and Cinema. She has been a TV lover since before she really understood what TV was. She has a long list of shows that she loves to watch and can be found on twitter (@ahicks83) live tweeting about each new episode whenever she can. A list of her favorite shows includes (but is not limited to) the following: 12 Monkeys, Orphan Black, Outlander, Chasing Life, Scorpion, The 100, The Night Shift, Bitten, Black Sails, 2 Broke Girls, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Continuum, Lost Girl, Faking It, Falling Skies, Finding Carter, Once Upon A Time, Orange Is The New Black, Switched At Birth, The Fosters, The Flash, The Originals, Teen Wolf, Under The Dome, & Z Nation. The upcoming shows she is most excited about are: Supergirl, Dark Matter, UnReal, Blindspot, Lucifer, Legends of Tomorrow, Stitchers, Recovery Road, Shadowhunters, Quantico, Code Black, Heartbreaker, and Chicago Med. She has a large and passionate dislike of ""reality"" TV, especially ""reality"" dating shows, but has a weakness for Americas Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance. But those two don't really count as ""reality"" shows, at least that's how she justifies those guilty pleasures. She was the original creator and co-founder of LOST Video Island (lostvideo.net) which is still operating under the management of the very capable and skilled group she turned it over to.
You can email her at aimee@spoilertv.com.
