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Synopsis
This episode makes very little sense. The closer one looks, the more problems one finds.
Whilst handing off Adam’s Wowie Zowie Gene Sequencer to Neal the long-haul trucker (a mutant requiring only 30 minutes of sleep daily), Brennan, Jesse, and Neal are surprised to detect the actions of an invisible thief who steals the McGuffin of the Week, Adam’s W-Z Gene Sequencer.
The invisible thief leaves behind some visible blood. Upon analysis, Adam proclaims the sample indicates the mutant who left it has degenerating DNA, and that he can tell little more than that it belonged to a female.
Meanwhile, back at Genomex, mutant informant Aldous Berkeley tells Eckhart there is a female stealth on the loose. Eckhart looks stricken. [Did he perhaps forget to return the library books he promised he’d drop off for Danielle, and is suddenly recalling that they are on the coffee table where he left them in 1991?]
Adam stalks off Mysteriously, saying there is Something He Must Do Alone, which turns out to be an encounter with a former amour, Danielle Hartman, stealth mutant, who confirms that she swiped Adam’s Wowie Zowie Gene Sequencer. Unfortunately for Adam, the GSA is also looking for Danielle, and when they show up, Danielle scampers off, shouting cryptically to meet her “at 8 o’clock, you know the place.” Then she vanishes, leaving Adam to be beaten to a pulp by the GSA. Since she’s invisible, couldn’t Danielle have hung around and made the fight slightly more balanced, since the GSA cannot see her?
Adam is in a foul mood upon returning to Sanctuary.
Dinner with Danielle yields the revelation why Danielle took off 16 years before, without a word. She explains that Mason told her if she’d stayed at Genomex, she’d merely be a test subject for Adam. [Think about this warning. Would Adam have stopped working on Danielle? No.] Adam dismisses this as Mason’s jealousy.
Dinner is ruined by Danielle going in and out of stealthiness. You cannot have a good dinner with that going on. Adam hauls her back to Sanctuary.
Meanwhile…Emma and Shalimar are busy breaking into Danielle’s house, doing some checking up on Danielle. Their breaking and entering adventure is interrupted by the arrival of Catherine, Danielle’s daughter, and then further interrupted by Aldous and GSA. The girls whisk Catherine off to Sanctuary.
Meanwhile…Aldous has to report yet another failed attempt to capture Danielle to Eckhart, but shares Catherine’s school ID. Eckhart studies this for what seems a long while, then decides he needs to round up Catherine as well.
Adam treats Danielle with the very stuff Danielle said Eckhart believed promising [and which Adam dismissed with, “He doesn’t what he’s talking about.”] which sounds a lot like ethanol. Danielle is not only all better, but somewhat manic as well. Adam parks her in a corner of Sanctuary after telling her he won’t be giving her any more magic elixir. Left alone for a few minutes, Danielle slips her leash and exits Sanctuary.
We next see Danielle in a car. Did she leave her car parked outside of Sanctuary? Did she steal one of Adam’s unplated Audis? She calls Eckhart, and makes dinner arrangements, then hangs up on him. [Not the way to get people to do what you want, Danielle…]
In a tedious scene with Aldous, Emma makes the poor canine feral believe bad things while she swipes Adam’s Wowie Zowie Gene Sequencer from him.
Meanwhile, Danielle reveals her life since Genomex to Mason while they sip ginger ale from champagne glasses. The conversation goes downhill quickly, and Eckhart summons his lurking GSA, who seize Danielle. Aldous strolls in.
Just as Danielle is being dragged off, Adam and the kids arrive. They defeat the ever-defeatable GSA and Aldous, and haul Danielle off.
A curious scene follows, with Aldous seated at the table with Eckhart, who insists Aldous eats something. Aldous takes a few bites, then falls over dead. His poisoning serves no purpose other than the injection of black humor. We are left to wonder whom the poison was originally intended.
Meanwhile, back in Sanctuary, Adam and the kids are sending Danielle and Catherine far, far away [Can you blame Adam?]. Danielle reveals that Catherine is not Adam’s progeny. Adam makes a comment about wondering where her blue eyes came from, then off they go into the sunset with trucker Neal [who must have been camping out in his truck cab all this time], into the Underground from which no one returns.
And Adam never used his Wowie Zowie Gene Sequencer.
[On blue eyes. At some point, someone wrote on a website that Mason had blue eyes, implying this clears up Catherine’s paternity. Several other sites then copied this information, which took on a life of its own. The only problem is that every good look at Tom McCamus’s eyes clearly shows they are not blue.
Genetically, this does not exclude Eckhart as Catherine’s father. The inheritance of eye color can be complex, but in general, blue eyes are simple recessive traits. Two brown eyed parents carrying the recessive blue eyed trait can produce blue-eyed offspring.]
This could have been an interesting episode, but nearly every opportunity for that was wasted, and in the end, the episode raised more questions than it answered.
Themes
The impossibility of outrunning one’s past.
Plot Holes
Plot holes? Plot pits is a more apt description. No episode of Season 1 is more riddled with holes and plot problems than A Whiter Shade of Pale.
The problems begin with the first scene, and continue unrelented throughout.
Why did Danielle try to steal Adam’s Magic McGuffin Gene Sequencer, not knowing how to use it? Was she going to put it under her pillow and hope that the healing effects would drift up through the feathers and pillowcase?
Why didn’t she show up on either the Sanctuary or Genomex doorstep instead?
Adam says that Stealths emit an aura of invisibility. Why, then, when Adam spray paints Danielle yellow is the paint visible?
Danielle never says specifically what she has been doing for a living all these years, which would be interesting to know to explain her expensive house. She never mentions a skilled trade or profession. Perhaps the shipping company she worked for shipped drugs?
It’s hard to be sure just what magic potion Adam and Danielle discuss. Sometimes it sounds a lot like ethanol, which is what they are sipping.
If Danielle no longer believes Adam will help her, why does she trust him enough to leave Catherine with him?
How did Danielle get out of Sanctuary? The Zen Hole in the Ground does not have fire exits clearly marked, after all. And once outside, did she just happen to have left her car parked nearby so she could get back to civilization?
Why, if Danielle is trying to get something from Eckhart, does she hang up on him? This is not the way to win favor with people.
Why, if Eckhart is interested only in capturing Danielle, does he go to the bother of the dinner? Wouldn’t it have been far simpler to simply have her seized and thrown into one of the black Isuzus as soon as she walked through the door?
Why, if you are going to capture an individual with Stealth abilities, do agents grab hold of her—instead of doing the obvious thing, and using a net?
Why did Eckhart bring poison? [Does he wear a poison ring under those gloves???] Who was it for? If it was for Danielle [for hanging up on him earlier, perhaps?], why bother with poison?
Aldous Berkeley was a whiney, miserable character [which one tends not to notice much since Danielle is so annoying herself] but he did not fail miserably enough to justify killing. What purpose was served by killing him?
Did Danielle already know the GSA was after her when she ran off and told Adam to meet her and he knew where?
Did both Adam & Eckhart perhaps take Danielle to the same restaurant? What an insult! (to both men! especially if Danielle knew)
It's obvious Adam knew Danielle was involved with Eckhart (the mention of the blue eyes).
Has Danielle known all along about Mutant X? When Catherine showed up at Sanctuary with Emma & Shalimar, she asked if they were Mutant X along with Adam? We always thought Mutant X was supposed to be a secret?
Did Catherine suddenly become telepathic when she sensed someone else
was in the house with her? And where exactly was Catherine that she came home so late at night?
What did Brennan mean when Catherine went stealth and went to be with
Danielle, "Been here before,"?
Why wasn't Eckhart interested in Adam's invention since after all it was invented by Adam and it was meant to help mutants? Wouldn't Eckhart want it to help his own mutant employees? He just brushed it off.
When Catherine said she could go stealth, did this also mean she could make Emma & Shalimar go stealth as well as we see Lexa do now with Shalimar (Wages of Sin) & Brennan (Shadows of Darkness)?
Why wasn't Danielle curious about the way Eckhart looked and was dressed? Surely, this isn't how Eckhart looked the last time she saw him 16 years ago?
Creepy Moments of the Episode
The poisoning of Aldous Berkeley.
Best Character Award
Catherine. Catherine doesn’t waste time and she gets right down to what matters to her. Watching the young female incarnation of Mason Eckhart is great fun.
Was It Centric?
This episode was meant to showcase the personal lives of Adam & Eckhart and their friendship, but it failed to do so. There were many missed opportunities such as scenes between Eckhart & Catherine & between Adam, Eckhart & Danielle all in the same room instead of the "Let's rescue the damsel in distress" scene we were shown. This ep could have done without the kiddies (all but Catherine).
Unexplained Events/Things We Noticed
The really tacky set used for Gaetano’s, as if the budget was blown by the time this scene was filmed. It looks exactly like what it is, a collection of curtains and a folding table. This is probably the shoddiest looking set of S1.
Eckhart didn't seem to mind being corrected by Aldous Berkeley when he misspoke his name and Aldous corrected him.
Berkeley was a canine feral, but he showed no indication of being one.
Best Quotes:
Danielle: After what Mason told me, I didn't have much choice.
Adam: What did he tell you?
Danielle: That Genomex was everything to you. If I stayed, I'd spend my
life as your lab experiment.
Adam: You believed him? You didn't see that that was his jealousy talking?
Danielle: I trusted Mason. And so did you.
Adam: Once upon a time.
Danielle's note to Catherine: Catherine Having dinner with an old friend. Back before you know it.
Mason to Danielle: I'm torn, Danielle, between the feelings we once shared. The exigencies of the work that has been thrust upon me. Unfortunately, today's realities preclude yesterday's romances.
Mason to Berkeley: One thing you should know about me, I don't like to eat alone.
Mason: I don't know what's going to kill me first, nitrates in the bacon. Fat & cheese & cream. But we only live once, don't we?
Mason (after Berkeley has been poisoned): My compliments to the chef.
Adam (about Catherine): You know I have to ask, right?
Danielle: She's not your daughter. I can see how disappointed you are. I'm sorry for that.
Adam: I was wondering where she got those blue eyes anyway.
First Appearance of: Genetic Sequencer; red goggles; Genomex has a glitter ball? (the dinner scene bwteeen Eckhart & Danielle) What do they do, have disco nights at Genomex?; mutant ability non-sleep
Purist Reaction
This episode had the potential of being a very good to great episode, but all that potential was squandered in plot pits. Two and a half wadjets. WSoP could have been so much more.
 
PureRose & Dark Mirage
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