The Passage: I Want to Know What You Taste Like Show Only

February 19, 2019 7:46 PM - Season 1, Episode 6

Tensions are high with a viral on the loose outside Project NOAH, as Guilder and Richards hurry to mobilize a search party. Amy volunteers to help in an unexpected way, causing friction between her and Brad. Meanwhile, Lear tries to help a lucid Elizabeth understand the tough decisions he's made while at NOAH, and a surprising connection between Sykes and Babcock is revealed.

Den of Geek - Despite some character missteps, and pacing issues, this action-packed horror-filled episode of The Passage still works.

TV Fanatic recap - Project NOAH is not going to end well.

posted by oh yeah! (5 comments total)

One of the things I like about this show is that it makes it *very* clear the vampires have a legitimate gripe. Many of the NOAH workers are charismatic, sympathetic - and absolute monsters. There's a surprisingly deep message about the nature of evil here, especially from a pretty silly horror series. Honestly, if the *only* thing the vampires wanted to do was murder all the NOAH staff, I'd shrug and say "Fair enough, really."
posted by Mr. Excellent at 9:40 AM on February 20, 2019 [2 favorites]

So some virals just need a couple of bullets to finish them off, others need a fusillade. Sometimes exposure to light gets a viral smoking and blistering straightaway, other times not.
posted by unliteral at 6:45 PM on February 20, 2019

Some virals are higher level than others, with better hit points and saving throws against sunlight. (Some shows feel like someone's RPG campaign that got some kind of licensing deal. See also Supernatural and Dark Matter, IMO.)

I'm still liking this show, but there's no escaping that it's dumb. The main difference between this and The Strain for me is an important one though: I like a decent proportion of these characters, and am at least a little invested in what happens to them.

The main complaints I had about this one were:
* Amy's stuff really comes out of left field, IMO. Boundary-pushing behavior is normal for kids, but hers shows up and evaporates pretty flipping quickly.
* Having the vampires all be connected means they needed to sacrifice the rest of the people, not shut the lights off. I would've preferred Fanning have another gambit to escape that possibility, given that he knew it might be coming.

On the upside:
* The background stuff with Sykes and Babcock was pretty fun.
* I appreciate the vampires still having their own agendas and personalities.
posted by mordax at 8:52 AM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Having the vampires all be connected means they needed to sacrifice the rest of the people, not shut the lights off.

Couldn't they have slagged all the non-Fanning vampires and just kept him around? He's dangerous but he's way less dangerous by himself. He's the ur-vampire whose blood they used for Amy right? Or did they handwave some reason why the other vamps need to be kept around and I missed it?

The scientists are making the worst possible decisions at every turn. Making the vampires by experimenting on uninformed and coerced subjects was immoral and now keeping them alive because of Amy is immoral. They're risking all of humanity for that? In a gamble that we already know they lose?

I hope it was worth it when a couple billion people are dead?
posted by Justinian at 4:32 PM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Couldn't they have slagged all the non-Fanning vampires and just kept him around?

I guess it depends on how the connection works. If it's the classic Hollywood 'kill the head vampire' thing, then yes. If the infected are just sensing each others' pain, ('disturbance in the Force' style), maybe not.

They really should've checked.
posted by mordax at 1:48 AM on February 22, 2019