The July 4th weekend is over, episode 1.2 of The Rook was just on Starz, no more lazing around by me with leisurely reviews.
This new episode contained a bunch of important new details. The two most important were:
1. EVAs - people with Extreme Variant Abilities - are not limited to the British Checquy. EVAs are known worldwide (less than one-percent of the population) and at least two other top-secret government organizations have them. These would be American (from which presumably Monica hails) and Russian, at least thus far in the story. Each organization has a suitably recondite name, and (unsurprisingly) the Russian is at odds if not war with the British and likely the American. I said last week that The Rook was reminiscent of Counterpart, and it still is. But this international scope is something that Counterpart never got around to. Also, it's worth mentioning something that was just hinted at last week: EVAs have different super-talents. That's what makes Myfanwy (I keep wanting to spell that My Fanny) so important.
2. Apparently one of the talents is coming back from the dead, apropos the last scene of a guy in the morgue rising. Now that's a theme that runs all the way from Frankenstein to The Walking Dead. But in The Rook, it holds all kinds of new possibilities. In a sense, Myfanwy has come back from the dead, at least the dead zone of her memory. It was nice to see this metaphor turn into a reality with the guy on the table getting up and walking out. Presumably his memory is still intact. Is he always invulnerable to death, or just the way it was meted out in his case?
Lots of interesting questions and areas for exploration in this compelling new series. I'd like to learn more about the blond Gestalts. I'll see you here next week with reflections on what I learn from the next episode.
See also: The Rook 1.1: Dickian Pastiche
"As a genre-bending blend of police procedural and science fiction,
The Silk Code delivers on its promises." - The New York Times Book Review
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