Summary
The Boroughs clarifies most of its big mysteries in “Time to Go”, but there’s still plenty to play for in the final two episodes.
We have the vast majority of the answers that The Boroughs is going to give us. Most of them have been revealed gradually, with a lot slotting into place recently, but Episode 6 fills in virtually all the remaining blanks. We know what Blaine, Anneliese, and the rest of the Boroughs are up to; we know why; and we know what the Scooby gang needs to do in order to stop it. What we don’t know is whether or not they’ll be able to, especially since they don’t know who they can trust.
This trust equation has unavoidably shifted in light of recent revelations. Since the show has done a decent job of developing its character arcs, these lurches aren’t difficult to buy into, even if they’re still disappointing to see play out. Sam’s sidelining here shows just how effective the overall ensemble has become, though, and I sincerely hope that the show can stick the landing instead of doing the usual Netflix Original thing and panhandling for a second season. Time will tell.
In the meantime, let’s break down the latest.
The Deal
Through Wally, Blaine offers the Scooby gang a deal. If they agree never to talk about what they’ve seen, and never to leave the Boroughs, they’ll be allowed to return to their lives. Any lingering concerns about having their brain fluid drained will be assuaged by them being taken “out of the rotation”, and Wally will get a new job working on Blaine’s secret projects.
Nobody really wants this deal, but the fact that Wally has already accepted it kind of forces their hands. Sam, Judy, and Art end up on frustrated house arrest, babysat by Seraphim – I told you way back in the premiere that the AI would be a problem! – while Wally is gifted the lab in the Manor. They even throw him a party, including a nip of the life-giving elixir that’ll prevent him from aging and even cure his cancer.
After a bit of deliberation, he accepts. And you can kind of see why he would.
Mother Dearest
Through Wally, we get the final pieces of the puzzle, which he later lays out for Renee when she asks him how his first day went. It goes a little something like this:
Back in 1949, Marcus Shaw, better known as Blaine, discovered an egg. It hatched into a creature that he came to call “Mother”, since every mother has children, and this one’s children are the spindly spider creatures chittering around the Boroughs. As for the Boroughs, they were developed as a cover to allow Mother’s children an inexhaustible supply of brain fluid, which they harvest to keep her fed and alive.
Mother’s blood grants whoever drinks it immortality. In order to keep consuming it and extend their own lives, Blaine and Anneliese needed to keep Mother going. Wally doesn’t love the logic, but he sees the potential value of Mother. As a scientist, he can’t ignore the possibilities, so he agrees to keep working at the lab rather than escape. At the very end of “The Grey Rebellion”, we finally see Mother, and she looks, oddly, a lot like a human, nothing at all like her spidery children.
Paz Has A Plan
The rest of the gang is under a ton of round-the-clock surveillance, but that isn’t preventing anyone from conspiring. Paz has a plan to sneak everyone out using the Boroughs’ 75th anniversary celebrations as cover, but Renee has other ideas.
After learning about Mother through Wally, Renee wants to use the party as a pretext to sneak into the lab and kill Mother. Without her blood, Blaine crumbles, as does the Boroughs. If they run, they’ll be running forever. Paz gets on board, as does Judy, and eventually, so does Art. Even though he feels betrayed by Judy having fallen in love with another man, he can’t live with the potential consequences of his inaction.
Sam’s Escape Leads Him into the Lion’s Den
Sam gets comparatively little to do in The Boroughs Episode 6, but his role is nonetheless very important. Thanks to his engineering skills, he’s able to remove his ankle monitor. His plan is to walk out into the desert and contact Claire to pick him up, at which point he can return with reinforcements.
However, Blaine already planted the seed in Claire’s mind that Sam was losing it, and by all accounts, he is, since he still continues to see Lilly everywhere. This also means that when he finally does get in touch with Claire, she thinks he’s having some kind of episode and takes the first opportunity to ship him off to the Manor.
Sam takes this betrayal in stride. Perhaps he knows that outside, he has a whole team of friends ready to break in and save him.
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