More Patterns and Secrets Emerge on TOUCH
Episode 110: “Tessellations”
On Monday the 14th, Fox announced that Touch is going to see a second season, moving to Fridays at 8:00 PM. A lot of people think that’s the “death spot” for shows, but Supernatural has successfully rocked it for over seven years and counting, so as long as they don’t change their mind about the time, it should do fine. The word was that they had so much confidence in Touch that they wanted to use it to bolster the time slot. Either way, I’ll be watching the ratings closely.
This episode’s writing credit goes to Zach Craley, who has worked with Tim Kring for years, including on Heroes.
The international story this week is closely tied to our usual trio of Martin, Jake and Clea. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not, but it seems like with each episode, the formerly “random” global stories of connections made are coming closer and closer to home. This time, a young man in Israel wants a promise ring for the Palestinian girl he loves, obviously not an easy or simple relationship. His cousin in the United States promises him a good price, but his contact in Israel does not approve of the couple and refuses. The Israeli man calls his cousin… the Hasidic Jew diamond cutter who shared the office space with Arthur Teller.
I find myself torn, because while I miss the more complex and seemingly unrelated storylines that weave together at the end with a surprising gasp, it’s almost a relief to have more simplicity as well, so that we can focus more on Jake’s purpose.
We’re finding out more and more about what that is as time goes on, too. A line that was cut out of a previous episode, when his aunt Abigail visited him at the board and care facility, was that Jake is “more important than you know.” I’m glad it was cut, because it lengthened the mystery and didn’t play the hand too soon.
So far, we’ve heard in passing that Arthur Teller “pushed Amelia hard” at the board and care facility, but didn’t get any further information. Now we know what happened. Sheri, the head of Jake’s facility, has a number of numbered dodecahedron blocks that she’s having Jake place in certain patterns. He’s getting more and more worked up as he’s made to change their position them over and over for a shadowy figure that’s watching via Sheri’s laptop computer.
At Teller’s office, Clea has found a box of the same blocks and is asking the diamond cutter (who I wish I could name, but I keep missing it, and he’s not showing up in IMDb) what they’re for, having seen what Sheri was doing to Jake over the security camera feed. He says that shape represents Ether, essentially the fifth element, and that Sheri is probably testing Jake to see if he’s one of the 36.
But who is the shadowy figure communicating with Sheri over her computer link?
Later in the day. Sheri has a number of the kids outside to play a game with tablets, where they have to follow a visible line on the tablet that tells them which way to go. So the kids are wandering around, following the instructions on their tablets and Jakes’s just standing there, so Clea talks to him quietly and lets him know that she knows something’s up with Sheri. He taps a few things on his tablet and, hey presto, the kids end up going off in all directions into the bushes, following the lines on their tablets. Sheri chases them, and he and Clea are alone.
Jake gives a tiny little smile, and a lot of other viewers caught it too. It’s just a hint, almost not there, but it speaks volumes. He’s far more intelligent and keyed in than we suspected, and he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Clea grabs Sheri’s laptop and quickly determines the origin of where the shadowy figure was from. Turns out, it’s the same company that aunt Abigail works for. Ah, the ramifications of handing that business card to Clea, way back when. At the very end, Clea’s confronting Abigail, who knows about a few things regarding Jake, Amelia and the school, but apparently not about everything. What’s nice is that she’s not the evil scheming person we thought she might be, she seems to be almost caught in the middle. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, in this case.
One thing I don’t like is how often Martin is forced into dangerous and illegal situations every episode. Some viewers have complained about how he always seems out of breath and thrown into situations, and while that’s part of the path of following what Jake needs, and he’s really the only one who can, I’m hoping that next season other people can be the ones to follow the numbers or clues. Maybe Jake can do less reacting to the patterns, and more manipulation of them in a proactive way.
That little smile indicates that maybe it’s possible, and that he’s learning how.
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[Official Show Site at Fox] [Previous Episode: “Music of the Spheres”]
