CBS Aired Two Salvation Episodes and Really Put the Show Into Orbit!

Salvation, “Keeping The Faith” – The Recap

Here are the highlights of what happened in the second of the two Salvation episodes – and why these events make this a much better show.

Dr. Malcolm Croft was the mole and a traitor working for the Russians!

Darius was convinced that his right-hand man Lazlo was murdered and framed for being responsible for the hack.  As such he sent the newly invented EM drive away with its creators: his new protégé  – MIT grad student Liam Cole (Charlie Rowe) – and Liam’s former professor Dr. Malcolm Croft (Dennis Boutsikaris).  Unfortunately he didn’t know that Croft was the one that hijacked the IO probe and killed Lazlo.  By the time he and Grace do it’s too late.

Poor Liam figures it out when he, the EM drive and the professor are taken and Liam recognizes their captor as one of the men who chased him in episode one.  That causes him to remember that he’d seen the professor’s unique antique glasses at the scene of the professor’s trashed apartment.  Yet the professor was still wearing them!

In the end Liam is forced to shoot the professor – and seemingly kills him.

https://youtu.be/o_vTiOz21DQ

Up until now Liam has come off like James Bond in training.  With this shooting, there’s been a fundamental switch.  Liam is now shown to be a young man in shock over what he’s done and has been doing.   Doing this allows viewers to see him as a smart, but regular guy.  His reactions have been those of a person who’s in survival mode – not from pre-knowledge of how to handle the various circumstances he’s been in.  This shift makes a huge – and positive – difference in buying Liam’s character.

Also, it’s important to note that the professor was not pronounced dead on camera.  His body was dragged onto the plane – along with the EM drive.  While he certainly looked dead, there’s a good chance he’s not.  This is television.

There’s Atlas – and then there’s the Anti-Atlas – aka Resist

Remember the reporter who was hit by a car to send her the message to stop digging into the Darius, the government and Atlas mystery?  Well Amanda Neel (Shazi Raja) survived.  This certainly looked improbable – yet it wasn’t a surprise.  Her character is there to  advance the plot – as opposed to being a three-dimensional character.  She’s not going anywhere – at least for a while.

You would think TV writers would have more insight into their non-fiction cousins.  Unfortunately, the cliché of an ambitious reporter of questionable ethics who works for a low-level publication has become a laughable standard in pop culture.  Amanda is why – despite so many other positive moves by the show – I can’t rate Salvation higher than four stars.

However, at least the plots Amanda is advancing are intriguing.   She’s been contacted by a shadowy group called “Resist” – a global hacker group along the lines of Anonymous.   Once upon a time the idea of such a group was considered fringe or over-the-top.   Today the existence of groups like this are a fact of life.

[A quick aside: Salvation has been in various phases of development since 2013 (Deadline).  Even though in today’s political climate the name “Resist” has a lot of meaning,  it’s more likely a coincidence than any political statement.  Nevertheless, it’s hard not to think about that connection!]

The Million Dollar Question

Anyway, Resist slipped Amanda a burner phone while she was in the hospital.  When they contact her on it they tell her they are interested in Atlas.  Then they send her a photo.  It’s a picture of two young boys who have found a rock with Taniz technologist fused within it.

Despite having to deal with two-dimensional Amanda and all the fun dialogue with the disguised voice, this photo does pose a good million-dollar question.  Is this a piece of a meteoroid or a part of a failed earthly experiment?  What, if anything, does it have to do with Atlas?  If it’s not connected to Atlas then we’ve just added a whole new secret!

Resist wants Amanda to find out what Darius and the government are up to.  They’ve contacted her because she got that sitdown with Darius in his headquarters.  She’s all for it, but she’s going to have do this on the sly.  Her boss, Ed (Greg Calderone) took her off the story as soon as she told him being hit by a car hadn’t been an accident.  He tells her that, “No story is worth dying for.”

Did anyone else wonder if he’s somehow involved?  Maybe that’s wishful thinking.  Him being involved at least would make him more than a young Perry White to Amanda’s intrepid reporter shenanigans.

Also, why doesn’t Amanda question how Resist knew she knows about Altas?  After all,  she hasn’t spoken of it publicly.  It’s only been to her boss, Grace, and Darius.  Somehow though, this question doesn’t occur to the investigative journalist.  What she does do is take advantage of the connection she made with Liam’s girlfriend Gillian (Jacqueline Byers).

Amanda takes Gillian out for drinks in hopes of getting more info on what going on at Darius’s company.  Her gambit is about how hard it is to make friends in a new city.  Luckily, Jillian’s been kept out of loop of what Liam’s been up to.  All she has to offer is her frustration that Liam’s not around more.  This is true especially that day as he hasn’t answered his phone all day.  Plus she had to be searched before being allowed into work that day.  It tells Amanda something’s up, but not what.

Next up: the relationship dramas….