Containment - Episode 11: Nothing Gold Can Stay
Previously on Containment: A Time To Be Born
“Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
~ Robert Frost
Day 16
“There are no monsters under the bed.”
With two episodes to go in The CW’s LIMITED EVENT SERIES (quote/unquote), the writers decided it was high time to hit us with feels. And a major surprise, too, while they were at it. Katie collapses and dies (apparently) in Jake’s hazmat suit-clothed arms, hallucinating better times when they could kiss without the disadvantage of having a shower curtain between them. After an emotional goodbye to her son Quentin; after a kind of date night under the stars with Jake, whom she finally admitted to loving; after the newly-framed Dr Cannerts does his level best to quell his conscience and demons, Katie bid farewell to her men, and ultimately the show. It wasn’t pretty, but damn was it effective. I’ll go on record by saying that if this turns out to be a false ending for Katie, if she makes a miraculous recovery next week, all of my emotional involvement with the show will cease. A show about a contagion needs some sort of high profile victim in order to keep the tension going and raise the stakes for the rest of the survivors. I’m all too wary of a cop-out.
The rest of the episode kept up, too, even if there weren’t any big surprises to match what happened to Katie. Sabine Lommers didn’t resign, instead laying the blame on Rogue Scientist of the Year, Dr Cannerts. Lex soon found out he was out of options, with Leo saying that the story was done no matter what angle they pursued, and advising Lex to quit while the going was good. When Lex visits Leo’s apartment, he finds it cleared out. A call to the blogger’s cell reveals that the number has been disconnected. Lex smells a rat. Papa Roy offers to get his Lieutenant Governor “friend” to help out, but freshly promoted Chief Besser nixes that particular avenue. Then an unexpected opening arrives in the form of a pizza delivery. It’s a key from Leo. The ghost hasn’t been given up yet.
Other members of the cast fare better, however. Bert, broken ankle and all, fashions a splint from an old crate, recovers as much of his wife’s meds as he can, and – with the help of a passing Jana – carts his way back to his worried wife. Jana, meanwhile, on a mission to collect much needed supplies for the newborn, meets up with Bad Cop Meese at the store. He offers her a way out of the cordon for the princely tune of $5,000. As it turns out, Sam has an envelope of cash back at Bitscan (I’m still suspicious of this dude), and between the two of them, they have enough to get them both out. So much for Jana’s co-workers, Suzy especially, but this is a time of love and cholera.
So, eleven down, two to go. It’s anyone’s guess who from the rest of the survivors will make it out alive, but I hope Katie – for better or worse – remains on dead-list. It’ll be a heart-breaking moment if Jake has to cremate her body next week, but the show needs to show us that dead means dead.
