And the Threads TOUCH At Last

Episode 111/112: “Gyre” (Two-Hour Season Finale)

Wow, where to begin. This was the two-hour season finale, so there was a ton of stuff going on here.

First, it becomes more evident that evil aunt Abigail is not so evil (apparently). She tells Martin everything she knows (apparently), including that the review board is fixed and that he’s going to lose custody of Jake no matter what, so he really should sign over custody to her to keep Jake safe. However, Martin points out that it sounds an awful lot like she just wants him to give her custody, not do what’s best for Jake.

Remember that crystal dodecahedron from previous episodes? Jake drops it off the balcony and through a cop car’s windshield. Yikes. This has them brought into the police station, which is just what Jake wanted. He slips into the back and pours soda on the floor, which causes a guy pushing a cart of records to slip, which dumps a box of files on the floor. When he goes to get towels to clean up the soda, Martin grabs file 2217 (one of the numbers of the week) which is… drumroll… Amelia Robbins’ file. That Amelia, of the Amelia Sequence.

The file says she’s been dead 3 years, but that the unrecognizable body was identified through dental records. However, all the photos are missing from the file. Curious.

Next, the traveling “Care Bear” phone (as Tim Kring calls it) is back, this time in Japan. This phone first appeared in the premiere/sneak peak episode where it was found by Martin on top of some luggage — our first nod to a connecting thread that’s been there from the beginning. The phone is being used to film a boy who is trying to break a world record for keeping a soccer ball in the air. We’ll see more of him and his family later.

Now some really shady and probably illegal stuff happens at the board and care facility. Sheri has gotten wind of the police car incident earlier in the day and has called in the aforementioned fixed review board without notifying Martin. Depending on the purpose of the “meeting” she’s called, the custodial parent may or may not be notified, but in this case, it crosses that line. Paperwork has been filed, and Jake is made a ward of the state. Completely illegal. Kring’s wife is a social worker, shouldn’t he know better?

Ah, but he does. Wait for it.

Meanwhile, Martin has gone to Teller’s old office and walks in on a pretty serious meeting of the Hasidic Jews in the diamond cutter’s part of the room. They leave, and Abraham (the diamond cutter, finally found out his name) explains that they had been discussing Martin.

The 36 (of which Jake is likely one) must not become self-aware, and for some reason he’s coming down on Martin for telling this to Jake, but Abraham himself was the one who let that slip a while back, so I’m not sure why he’s pointing the finger at Martin. In the end, Abraham explains that he was arguing with the others that maybe it’s time the 36 did become self-aware, for the sake of the world, and that things need to change and evolve. Abraham says that he believes in Martin and Jake, and trusts them to do the right thing with that knowledge.

While at Teller’s place, Martin sees a video of Amelia actually speaking for the first time. She sounds exactly like Jake, and she talks about an appendix scar. Still holding her file in his hand from earlier, Martin checks the autopsy report, and the body in question did still have its appendix intact. The corpse was not hers. Amelia may still be alive somewhere. Stunned by this news, Martin heads for the facility, where he’s knocked out in an alley and the evidence taken.

Another thread that’s been weaving in and out is that of two people on a Seattle beach. The man has been collecting Japanese tsunami debris, and a woman comes along and tears him a new one for selling it on eBay. Well, it turns out he’s not selling it on eBay, he’s trying to help people find their lost belongings. He relates how he was in the tsunami himself and tried to help a woman stranded with him, but as he was talking to her and trying to keep her focused, she slipped away in the water.

Speaking of Japan, the father of the boy with the soccer ball has just lost his job and, dispirited, walks into the house with his shoes on. It shocks the boy so much to see this anomaly that he loses focus and the ball drops to the ground.

I want to take a moment to point out how perfect and amazing the music for this scene was, courtesy of Wendy and Lisa, who also did the music for Heroes, remember.

The boy is so upset that he kicks the ball straight into a wooden rack on the wall, breaking it into pieces. The whole thing ends up on the Japanese news, and the tearful mother explains that they are descended from samurai and have lost so much because of the tsunami, including the ancient sword that used to be held by that very rack, with the family crest on it.

The man on the beach has the Japanese news streaming on his laptop in the hopes of making a connection, and they realize that not only does the scavenged sword he has match the crest, but that the woman on the news is the very one that he thought had drowned.

The beachcomber woman was only at that beach at that time because she was going to be meeting someone — her daughter Amelia. Yes, that Amelia. But Amelia doesn’t show up. She tearfully explains how she followed the numbers to that place and time because of the numbers and how they relate to the ocean currents in the Pacific, and the man, who has detailed current maps to track the ocean debris , explains that the tsunami altered some currents. The one she has the numbers for now flows south to Los Angeles.

Elsewhere, after a narrow escape from being run over by a subway train, Martin stumbles into Abigail, who is on her way to Jake’s facility. He tells her what happened and together they try to determine how to rescue him. Clea just keeps saying “I did what’s best for Jake,” but she seems strangely distant. Something isn’t right.

As part two begins, we see the lottery winner guy from the very first episode in the church he was fixing up. Today, it’s finally finished, and he’s not sure what to do with himself now that it’s done. He does know that he has a message he has to deliver, but he’s not sure how.

Clea’s helping Jake pack his things for him to be moved to another facility when Jake pulls out the box of cell phones from under his bed. Clea says “I forgot those were there,” helping viewers who may not have seen the first couple of episodes know that these, too, tie into everything. He takes one of the phones, pulls the hood of his jacket up over his head, and walks out of the room.

Abigail visits Martin at his home and offers to get a good family law lawyer to resolve the probably illegal custody issue that Sheri pulled, but Martin refuses. He’s not waiting for a lawyer, and not waiting for Jake’s death to be faked like Amelia’s was. He’s on a mission and says he’ll do “whatever it takes” to get Jake to safety.

Martin goes to the school to confront them, but Sheri assumes he’s there to say goodbye, and rather than cause a fight, he goes into the playroom where a boy in a hooded jacket sits on the floor. But it’s not Jake! Clea’s switched him for another boy! She tells Martin that she put him in a cab with Martin’s address, so Martin takes off for home. Clea tells Sheri she’ll check for Jake by certain doors, since, “he’s escaped from here before.”

Jake’s walking the streets alone and needs to get to the subway, but it’s blocked by two cops. Enter the Invisible Prince! I love this guy, and I wish there were a way he could be in the next season. He realizes that Jake is like him and distracts the cops so that Jake can get away to safety.

Back at the church, the boy who’s been helping Randall (lottery guy) fix the place up is really into maritime history and receives a sextant, which he starts playing with. He starts asking Randall for numbers to put in, and, since Randall happens to be looking at blueprints of the church at the time, starts throwing out numbers from there. But after a minute, he realizes that the numbers on the blueprints are his lottery numbers, and when he circles them in order, then connects them with a line. they make a perfect Golden Spiral (look that one up, kids). Serious chill-inducing stuff.

Together, Randall and the kid realize that the numbers lead to the coordinates of a specific geographic location, and that he needs to go there.

Martin finds Jake at the cemetery, looking at his mother’s grave. There’s an Amber Alert for them now, and he sees that goons in suits are now looking for them. Together, they take off for Teller’s office to ask Abraham for help to get out of town. When they get there, all of Teller’s stuff is gone. The office is completely wiped clean, even the chalkboard’s erased. And they weren’t interested in Abraham’s diamonds.

Abraham arranges safe passage for Martin and Jake to a bus station, where tickets have already been purchased for Minneapolis. So, in an unmarked white van ferried by the Hasidic order, they escape. For now.

Back at the facility, Sheri starts to put the pressure on Clea, but Clea turns the tables.

“You look scared, Sheri. You’re a criminal. I know everything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then you don’t have anything to worry about,” says Clea with a little knowing smile. Then she walks out, probably for the last time.

Once at the bus station, they’re in a rush to get on the one for Minneapolis that’s about to depart, but Jake stands and stares at the wall. Martin realizes that the latest number in the sequence is the number of the bus that’s going to Los Angeles, and changes the tickets. However, that gives the suited goons enough time to catch up to them.

Randall, following the coordinates they found on the blueprints, arrives nearby but it’s just a vacant lot, so he drives off, confused and angry—right into where Martin’s just escaped from the goons. They recognize each other and Randall lets them in, then starts driving. Immediately it becomes clear how Randall and Martin are connected, and Randall pulls the car over to the curb.

This is the moment he’s waited all this time for. He can now deliver his message to the Bohms, about how he was the one who tried to rescue Sarah, how brave she was, and how her final message to her family was how much she loved them. Closure for all of them at last.

He gives away his car to Martin. It’s new, purchased with cash from his lottery winnings, and doesn’t even have plates or a registration yet. Safe passage to where they need to go. They continue on to Los Angeles, following where the bus number was going to take them had the facility thugs not tried to stop them. Martin calls Clea, saying they’ll be in contact soon.

At last the pair arrives at the Santa Monica Pier. “This is about as far west as you can go,” says Martin, which is true in one respect, because it’s the terminus of the famous Route 66. They look out at the ocean together when a map blows out of a woman’s hand and into Jake’s. It’s a map of the ocean currents, just like one Martin saw in Teller’s office, and he and the woman talk. It’s Amelia’s mother.

As the three of them stand together on the pier and look out at the waves, Jake takes Martin’s hand.

Cue a lot of tears.

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