Secrets dominated this third episode of
The Outpost. Every character is harboring secrets. Some clearly have bigger implications than others and none of them are ready to be out in the open about them. Talon and Gwynn arguably have the biggest secrets, but the secrets being carried by the others hold their own dire consequences. This episode dealt with building new character relationships and shoring up others. The writers are taking their time allowing these characters to bond with Talon. She is the glue that is bringing them all together and it’s fascinating to watch new dynamics form as she shakes up all of their lives. They are discovering that although they have all known each other for a long time, there is still much to learn about one another.
The thing is, Talon didn’t come to the outpost looking for new friends or allies, she came to avenge her people and her family. That was her sole objective. Then people started caring about her and somewhere along the way she started caring about them. In the last episode, Gwynn, Garret, and Janzo all played major roles in nursing her back to health and keeping her head firmly attached to her body. They rallied around her in their own ways. For the first time in a very long time, Talon was being cared for, unconditionally. None of them asked for anything in return other than for her to rest and stay out of trouble. She wasn’t good at doing either, but they still got her through it. She even gained a mentor in the Smith. And, by the end of the hour, she had saved Garret’s life from his plagueling infected best friend.
That is the point where this week’s episode picked up, with Talon taking Garret and his deceased friend to Janzo’s vast laboratory. Here is where the first big new dynamic came into play. Garret and Janzo clearly know each other from around town, but it was evident they never really spent much time together. They are complete polar opposites. Janzo seems to see Garret as the dumb hero type while Garret seemed to treat Janzo like some mad wizard. All the while, Talon was in the background trying to mediate between them. The banter and comedic brilliance between these two is so spot on. Hopefully, the writers picked up on the great rapport between both performers and characters and will provide Janzo and Garret many more scenes together. This scene and their shared scene out in the woods were brilliant. Enough good things can’t be said about either of them. Both have their fingers on the pulse of their characters and know exactly who these men are. That allows for very rich performances.
Speaking of Janzo, we learned more about his relationship to the Mistress, which led us to see more of the makeup of his cobbled-together family. The Mistress is actually Janzo’s adoptive mom and the dearly departed Bill (Bryce Bishop), as well as Munt (Adam Johnson), are his adopted brothers. How Janzo came to be in need of adoption is unsure, but the Mistress seems to have a type in regards to the young men she chose to adopt. She seems to find those who would do anything she asked of them. Bill was the reliable one that she trusted. Munt is the muscle whom she doesn’t appear to trust at all. Then there is Janzo, who is, by all accounts, utterly brilliant but blindly loyal to his mom. The answer as to why he is so loyal can be explained by how she came to cross paths with him. That is a story that would be lovely to see play out. The Mistress seems like a fierce businesswoman, but there also might be a tiny bit of heart hidden under that tough exterior. She tried to play off Bill’s demise like it was no big deal, but it clearly shook her. She’s not really the nurturing type, but she does seem to care. The way she sought to deliver her own message to Worm (Ric Sarabia) showed that her children do matter even if she doesn’t treat them particularly well.
This episode also delivered the first big interaction between Talon and the Mistress. They are both very clearly volatile and it was brilliant to see these two women in each other’s face laying down the law. Neither was going to take grief from the other and what they ended up with was a mutually beneficial agreement. Talon not only got to keep her room, but she got a job. Granted, she has to pay back her damages, but it’s a small price to pay to have shelter. In exchange, the Mistress got a new barmaid and part-time bodyguard. That well-timed, last minute save Talon made when Worm tried to kill the Mistress should realistically clear Talon’s debt, but the Mistress clearly isn’t that kind of woman. Talon is going to have to pay back every cent of the damages to her room and with her penchant for fighting, she’s only going to keep inflating her debt by causing more damage.
Another volatile pair in this episode was Garret and his father. Wythers is clearly not a tender father, but he does seem to care about the well-being of his son. So much has come between them that they have lost touch with that precious father-son bond that they surely shared at some point. When the two men were talking about recent happenings there were a few blink and you’ll miss them moments where it looked like Wythers was actually proud of his son. They were fleeting but they were there. Andrew Howard was masterful in the way he portrayed those brief moments, there is a proud father hiding under that grumpy, angry exterior. And while these two men don’t agree on much, they both unknowingly agree about Talon leaving town. During different conversations, they both tried to urge her to leave sooner than later.
Talon doesn’t really follow direction well so she has no immediate plans to leave town. She is still on a mission to find the Wolf and still has to deal with her demon problem. The demon problem took a dark turn when it murdered a woman and left her as a trophy for Talon. That sent her running back to the Smith where she got some Mister Miyagi level cryptic advice. The scene between the Smith and Talon was brilliant. He is a perfect match for Talon. He doesn’t take any nonsense from her and is making it clear that he will only teach her when she can learn to sit still and actually listen. He also has no problem poking fun at her and taking her down a few pegs. He knows how special she is but he doesn’t treat her as anything special. It will be something special when the day comes when she enters his building and he looks at her and tells her it’s time. She is far from that point, but these sorts of crass interactions will make that moment all the sweeter. He is actually already training her and guiding her even if she doesn’t yet realize or accept it.
The Smith sees Talon as an “impatient little twit” and not yet ready to accept her Blackblood responsibilities. He explains to her about her people and their blood connection to the demon lord. Since her people descend directly from the demon lord does that make Talon herself part demon? It was curious to learn how she can banish demons with just a simple command, but it will take her being able to be of clear mind which she clearly hasn’t had over the past thirteen years. He is certainly right that she is far from being ready to take on the demon, which means she’s going to try before she is ready and get herself in trouble. Hearing about the Plane of Ashes explains why the demon doesn’t want to go back and gives further argument to the theory that Dred and his kind may have some sort of demon blood themselves. That is really the only solid argument as to why Dred so badly wants Talon destroyed. Either that or he is just a truly horrible monster that just enjoys genocide.
Talon likely never meant to put down roots at the outpost, but, like it or not, that is what is happening to her. She is becoming attached to the town and its inhabitants, and some more attached to her than others and some caring more than others. No opinion of Talon matters more than that of Gwynn. Gwynn harbors a particularly powerful secret. Her power and influence was enough to outvote even her own father to ensure Talon’s freedom. So far, Gwynn is the only one to very firmly declare she wants Talon to remain in town. This episode marked the birth of the foundation for a potentially strong friendship between these two women.
During Talon and Gwynn’s private time the fierce Talon appeared timid at times. Talon has no fear in a fight, yet she was shy and nervous as she undressed in Gwynn’s room. Jessica Green perfectly handled Talon’s nervous uncertainty in this moment and Imogen Waterhouse was perfect as Gwynn gave Talon a once over and delivered a sly little smile and nod of approval. It was the first time the audience has seen Talon off her game and was perfectly played to be both humorous and tender. Gwynn knew what she was doing by getting Talon out of her comfort zone. By putting Talon into a completely foreign position she got the fierce warrior to relax and open up a bit. Plus, Gwynn did everyone a huge favor by ordering Talon to bathe. By all accounts that bath was well past due and Green likely appreciated getting to lose that layer of makeup that was simulating a large build up of grime and dirt.
The bath scene that followed was excellently executed by Green and Waterhouse. They have a terrific rapport and it shows in their characters. This scene also allowed both actresses to showcase the more vulnerable sides to their characters. For the first time, both characters got to be free for a brief moment and to enjoy the company of someone who understands their burden. Gwynn seemingly doesn’t have many near and dear friends outside of those ordered to keep her company. She sees a kindred spirit in Talon. They are so very opposite, yet they actually seem to have a lot in common, both being overly burdened by secrets that weigh heavily on them.
The secrets both women are hiding have the power to bring down the entire delicate balance of the outpost. As Gwynn noted, they need each other. They might be like “fire and ice,” but they balance each other out. Together there is very little they can’t accomplish. Now the big question will be if the women can put this into practice. Can they truly open up to each other and rely on the other? It’s possible, but they must be very open and honest, something at which neither really excels. But of all the characters, Gwynn now has the best chance of getting Talon to truly open up. Gwynn might end up being the key to get Talon to be free enough to banish the demon. Gwynn’s approach to trade their secrets might get her further with Talon than Garret’s upfront questioning. It will be curious to see if Gwynn shares her big secret and if Talon will share her Blackblood secret. It is starting to look increasingly more likely that Gwynn might be a part of the overthrown royal family. If so, she needs Talon more than ever. And Talon will need Gwynn when the Prime Order soldiers arrive and Wythers inevitably tries to throw her to them to meet her end. Interesting times are ahead for these two women.
This episode marked the birth of the foundation for a potentially strong friendship between these two women, but could they ever be more? Talon showed an interest in the young human girl when she was a child. As an adult, we don’t know if she has had any relationships with anyone man or woman. Her companion at the beginning of the first episode clearly wished he and Talon would be more than friends. Janzo clearly wants to be more than friends with the “perfect” Talon. Garret with all of his charm and dimples can’t even get her on the hook. Though to be fair, she does at least flirt back in regards to Garret, but sometimes it feels like she just uses her sexuality to lure Garret close just to take him down a couple pegs. Then Munt got to talking about how some women do love other women and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the writers could be prepping Gwynn and Talon for something in the future beyond friendship. Though, to be realistic, it seems that at the moment it is Garret who the writers are aiming to set her up with. And it would be quite interesting to see how Gwynn would react to them being together, given her feelings for Garret. Even putting her with Janzo would be a really nice twist, though he seems more likely destined to have a brotherly type relationship with her as opposed to a romantic one. The writers really can’t go wrong in whatever they choose to pursue for Talon. The entire cast has a ridiculous amount of chemistry so no matter who ends up with whom it’ll work amazingly well.
One thing that can be really appreciated is the fact that the writers didn’t just throw Garret and Talon together when he and Gwynn still aren’t really officially over. They still deeply care for one another and she still seems to desperately want to convince him that they can be together. Garret retains a lot of respect for being considerate of Gwynn’s feelings by not just running off and kissing her new best friend behind her back. They did come very close there at the end up in the tower. It would be interesting to know what Garret would do if both women were free to be with him. Gwynn is bound by her social station and Talon is bound by her emotional ties. If he ends up with either of them it isn’t going to be an easy road.
By the end of the hour, no one was yet willing to let go of their secrets. Headway was made to build the necessary level of trust to perhaps start changing that. They will need to learn to trust one another and soon. The end of the hour delivered a solid introduction to Everit Dred (Philip Brodie), who is a powerful foe to Talon and Gwynn, and on the hit list of Garret and Gwynn’s father and their army of rebels. He ordered the remainder of Toru’s former team to head to the outpost to track down the individual noted in Toru’s final message. He does not like that idea that a Blackblood might have survived their attempted genocide. Dred was meditating or perhaps praying when he is seen at the start of the scene. He might look like the man in charge, but like any good bad guy, he probably works for an even bigger and nastier big bad. It is interesting that the writers aren’t sending Dred to the outpost just yet. When this current team inevitably fails he will surely venture out there himself and there is no telling what will happen when Dred and Talon come face-to-face.
This was another terrific episode that revealed a great portion of the show’s mythology. It was definitely the best episode that has aired thus far. The performers were all terrific, with each one of them delivering strong performances. Jessica Green is leading the charge. She is shouldering the weight of the series brilliantly. With each episode, she proves more and more why she was the perfect pick for Talon. She brings so much depth and strength to Talon and it is a pleasure to watch her beautifully deliver on the great material the writers give her. The only place the series struggles at times is in regards to CGI and green screens. Those are the two places where the show’s lower budget shows itself. But, like was noted in the prior review, those things can be forgiven when the stories being told are so rich and everything else is simply perfect.
The amazing thing is that the writers are only getting started. With the work of these writers in the hands of this cast the upcoming episodes carry with them so much promise for brilliance. They have woven together a complex mythology that gives them so much to play with and viewers so much to speculate about and try to piece together. Everyone wants to know what is going on and have all the answers, but it is just fun to sit back and let this wonderful story unfold each week. Prepare yourselves because it feels like show is about to hit turbo speed and take the audience on a wild adventure.
Tune in to the CW next
Tuesday, July 31st at 9/8c for the next episode and make sure to tell all of your friends to watch.
Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. Who will Talon end up with? Is Gwynn part of the overthrown royal family? What do you think about Janzo and his adorable crush on Talon? What will happen when Dred finds out for sure a Blackblood is still alive?
