Brief refresher before I launch into this week’s recap … each world is marked by the name of the person who is alive in that world. So, Hannah means Britten’s wife is alive, and Rex means the son is alive. Also: I don’t know if I can watch Jason Isaacs in anything without seeing him as Lucius Malfoy, but then that’s me. Mind you, I do think he’s a brilliant actor.
Rex: Detective Britten is getting ready for work when Rex comments on his laundry smelling weird. Dr. Green then talks about the differences they notice after a change in the world. Including in laundry, apparently.
Hannah: Britten watches Hannah put fabric softener in with the laundry. Yup, that can change the smell of your clothes.
Rex: Dr. Evans chuckles that Britten has unparalleled access to the subconscious mind. The Greeks believed insight came to them in dreams, and she thinks it’s brilliant. It’s pretty darn cool from my angle too.
Britten and Bird talk to a coroner who’s discovered poison in the body of a dead fertility doctor, Bernard MacKenzie. At dinner that night, Rex comments they don’t have to force themselves to eat dinner together every night. Hannah apparently used to cook actual food to convince them to eat together.
Hannah: Britten comes in with a whole bunch of Rex’s mail. Apparently he’d been having it shipped to a friend’s house, and Britten wants to open it. Hannah on the other hand isn’t interested. She describes how hard it is for her to find something of Rex’s.
Dr. Lee confronts Britten about his “fantasy” of holding on to Rex being alive. He theorizes that maintaining the fantasy means Britten might not be able to hold onto his wife.
Britten at the station, sees Bernard MacKenzie’s name on the board and asks Vega for the file. Vega is confused at why he wants to see the file on some homeless guy, but he goes to get it.
Rex: Dr. Evans talks about the connection between the worlds being a helpful thing. It’s something that can only be helpful.
Hannah: Dr. Lee believes the two worlds are the result of a deeply fractured psyche. He wants to “fix” Britten immediately, but Britten maintains living in two worlds like this means he can help in a unique way.
Hannah heads over to the home of Cole, Rex’s friend, who explains a package Rex had delivered there was a cam shaft. This confuses Hannah, until Cole shows her a motorcycle that he and Rex have been rebuilding. Cole and Rex bought the bike without their parents’ knowledge and since Rex died, Cole hadn’t felt like working on it. She tells him to finish it … Rex would’ve wanted that.
Britten and Vega head to the crime scene where MacKenzie was killed. Vega doesn’t want to work the case, since it’s just some homeless junkie. However Britten lectures him that he doesn’t need an explanation. So far as Vega’s concerned, MacKenzie’s death is the Kennedy assassination.
They canvas the neighborhood, until at last an old black man tells Britten and Vega about a “little guy” who shot the homeless man. Of course then he goes off about strange antennas that broadcast information. So Vega now thinks he’s just a crackpot.
Rex: Britten and Bird watch a really tall man get brought in to be interviewed for the MacKenzie murder. Doctor Taylor says he didn’t mean a death threat, despite the altercation they had. And the only people who could corroborate the alibi were conveniently out.
The lawyer arrives and orders Taylor’s release, which is immaterial, because Britten starts a line of questioning about what Taylor was watching on Sunday night. He asks about the commentary on the football game, and then he and Bird watch the third quarter to confirm indeed that Taylor was watching it.
Bird can hardly believe the catch. If Britten didn’t figure out Taylor wasn’t the guy, then that doctor would’ve sat in a jail cell waiting for a bail hearing. Britten suggests they look at the death threats Taylor and MacKenzie received for the next set of motives. You’re a good cop, Lucius. I like your work.
Bird tells Britten someone installed a back door into the clinic’s computers. There’s a lot of threatening emails, but a bunch of files have been deleted. They go to the home of a paralegal’s son, Sam, who wanted to only get into his file at the clinic. He wanted to find out who his dad was, since the poor guy died from cancer before he was born. And his mom wouldn’t answer.
Britten asks where the kid was on Sunday around 9 pm, and Sam shows him the ticket stub from the movie he went to that day. Britten asks how tall Sam is, and now I’m sure Bird thinks this is weird. He asks Britten about it, and we find out a theory revolves around this window that the insurance company says is too small for anyone to fit through. Except Sam could.
Bird berates Britten for looking for evidence to fit the theory revolving around this clinic window. Britten doesn’t have any further answers yet, but he’s sure something will come up soon enough. And I’m inclined to believe him.
At home that night, Britten finishes cooking up fajitas … but Rex wants to hang out with Cole instead. Britten invites Cole to stay, however the pair of them head out to work on the bike instead. The pair of them plan to head out to a 3-day concert, but Cole is sure Britten will find out about where they go.
Emma shows up and takes Rex for a walk, which is when Cole figures out the girl is heading to the exact concert Rex wants to go to.
Hannah: Britten is on his way out the door. Hannah comes downstairs and tells him she opened Rex’s mail, as well as how he and Cole worked on the bike every time they said they were going to the beach. The fact Rex found a way to get what he wanted reminds her of Britten. And she plans to take Cole down to the store for a few more parts.
At the station, Britten is looking at pictures of short people. Vega comes in with a stabbing victim, and gets angry that Britten brings the crazy black man in to talk about the homeless man. The captain calls Britten into her office and brings up her “offer” again to move him somewhere he can rebuild. She pulls him off the MacKenzie murder and puts him on the stabbing victim.
Rex: Britten brings materials from the fertility clinic to the coroner. After looking at the sheets, he realizes that all the kids from the clinic are related. MacKenzie substituted his own sperm for all the donors. Huh … looks like Sam has a motive anyway, doesn’t it? Especially since he hacked the clinic’s computers.
Bird and Britten bring Sam in for the murder. The “movie ticket” was bought but never scanned, and Britten reveals they know about the induced heart attack. Sam breaks out crying and asks if it will come out what MacKenzie did. He discovered the truth during AP Anatomy when he did an advanced genetic panel and found out his blood type was incompatible with his parents.
Sam hacked into the clinic and realized the truth then. Britten asks why he didn’t come to the police, and Sam flips out. The last few doctors who got caught at this only received a slap on the wrist, whereas the families had their lives ruined. He offers to plead guilty, but he just doesn’t want the other families to know what happened.
Hannah: Dr. Lee can hardly believe Britten allowed a dream to direct his investigation. This is a dangerous move, according to him.
Rex: Dr. Evans is highly impressed that Britten noticed something in his dream which allowed him to see the case in a way no one else could.
Hannah: Britten offers Vega the chance to lead on the interrogation of their stabbing victim. He jumps at the opportunity, and then Britten follows him. The captain walks over to Britten’s desk after he leaves and finds he’s still looking at pictures of short men.
Rex: Dr. Evans says maybe his subconscious didn’t require a solution to the other case, and that’s why he hasn’t solved it the same way. Rex comes downstairs and says he’s going to the beach, to which Britten responds by telling him to wear a helmet. And then Rex offers his dad the chance to see it.
Hannah: Cole sits outside the Britten house on the motorcycle. He asks Hannah if she wants to take it for a spin, and we’re treated to a flip between the worlds with both Hannah and Rex riding the bike.
The Captain talks to a strange man, who she assures that Britten is fine. There wasn’t any need to take out his whole family … which makes me wonder if Hannah and Rex are both dead. Once the stranger, who says “we” are protecting the Captain, gets up to leave, the Captain asks if the man they used was a little guy. Britten doesn’t appear to remember anything though. Or so we think …
If you missed the previous episode, be sure to read ‘Awake: Pilot’ recap.
