Fuck You and Eat Shit
Episode 6 of The Peripheral begins in the year 2028, in the Texas Outback, where Burton and his team were positioned while on duty. In front of them, a dog is stuck in a wired fence, howling for help. They discuss whether or not to help it. Burton wants to shoot it due to the intel they received about the enemy using injured animals. The others aren’t convinced. Conner disagrees and runs out to help the dog anyway. As he cuts the wires, he sees that the dog is armed with a bomb. As it blows up, Conner screams awake in the present. A woman is walking in the countryside with a dog when another woman, Beatrice, appears. Beatrice tells her that the interruption is regarding the murder of a man named Daniel, whose throat was cut by a koid. The surroundings fade away to show the two women on the roof of a building in central London. In Clanton, Tommy tries to find out more about what caused his accident but is unable to without permission. As he cleans up in the washroom, Sheriff Jackson arrives and tells Tommy to take paid leave and get some rest. He advises him to control the fire in his belly. After he leaves, Tommy sees a pair of feet in one of the bathroom stalls. The shoes are similar to the ones he saw at the site of the accident. In London, Wilf and Flynne talk about her confrontation with Cherise. They are on a busy street surrounded by people. When Flynne wonders why the people seem to stay away from them, Wilf tells her it is an augmentation made by the R.I. Flynne moves her fingers the way Wilf shows her and all the people disappear. He says it is meant to be a mood enhancer. She does the same with the rest of her surroundings and sees several tall buildings vanish away while others lose their sleek appearance to show broken exteriors. If the R.I. can do this, FLynne wonders, what else are they hiding? Wilf and Flynne head to meet the fabricators who made Aelita’s peripherals. Wilf found out about them through the chips he took from the peris. Flynne says Cherise claims she stole something. They wonder if Aelita found a way to download the stolen data in Flynne’s stub. They reach a butcher shop where Wilf asks the man behind the counter for a toad-in-the-hole. He refuses at first. Flynne makes up a story about how she challenged the maker of her peripheral that she could find a better fabricator. The man rises to the challenge. He inspects Flynne’s peripheral and says he can do it, offering her retractable titanium nails. She asks if he can replace an eye with a human eye. The question sparks a fight between them. Flynne, impressively, takes down both him and his colleague. They ask him about Aelita. He claims the Neoprims are behind it. Alone, Flynne asks Wilf if he knew Aelita was a Neoprim. He doesn’t answer. Flynne says she’s sorry. In Clanton, Conner’s automobile stops working and he has trouble fixing it. Someone calls Macon who comes and helps him, although Conner isn’t happy about it. He asks Macon about the technology the Fishers are using. He asks if he can permanently live in the future with his body kept alive by tubes. Macon says his physical body wouldn’t take too kindly to that. In Lev Zubov’s house, Ash builds peripherals for Conner and Burton. Dee Dee runs some tests on Tommy and tells him he’s concussed and needs to rest. They argue when Tommy insists on going out and doing something. He tells her he can’t run away from this. Corbell and his wife Mary are setting up dinner, while an unconscious Bob sits across the table. He then wakes up to find a metal collar around his neck. When he tries to attack Corbell, Mary uses a remote to activate the collar and give him an electric shock. Since Conner has been suffering from nightmares, Leon persuades Conner to let him drain some off. They use the haptic technology to connect to each other and Leon takes on some of Conner’s pain. He experiences the flashbacks and doubles up from the pain, but it’s over in a few seconds and Conner seems peacefully asleep. In London, Ash sees that Dee Dee has been researching the bacteria she found in Flynne’s body. The police inspector from earlier, Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer, arrives at the Zubov residence. She wants to speak to Lev and Wilf. Lev can’t call his solicitors since the phones are down. They are forced to invite her in. Tommy tells Burton he was targeted and Bob is probably with Corbell Pickett. Burton gets angry and tells him to stay out of the way. At the police station in Clanton, Sheriff Jackson shows Corbell the video from Tommy’s car. At their house, Mary tries to get Bob to talk since Corbell has promised her a car in return. Bob asks her about the water in a large fish tank nearby, which she says is fresh water. Bob sneaks a heavy paperweight behind his back and makes his way to the tank as they continue talking. He smashes the tank with the paperweight and water floods the room, knocking them down. When Mary tries to shock him, Bob grabs her leg and she gets hit by the electric shock too. A few seconds later, Bob’s eyes open. When Zubov talks about calling his solicitors, Inspector Lowbeer tells him that she will simply arrest Wilf for his presence at Daniel’s murder sight. She claims he can be executed in the next seven minutes. Instead, she propositions that they simply answer a few questions. She tells them to summon their peripherals and their operators. Burton visits Conner and gives him a box with a set of mechanical legs, made by the people from the future. He says Flynne has made him a few as well but he thinks it’s more for the comfort of others rather than him. They talk about Conner’s thoughts of suicide a few days after his accident, how he wanted Burton to help him but Burton couldn’t. Burton says he will think about giving Conner a permanent life in the future. London calls them. Conner, Burton and Flynne log into the peripherals that are now standing in front of Inspector Lowbeer. They’ve told her about the connection to the past. She introduces herself to Flynne. The episode comes to a close as they shake hands.
The Episode Review
Episode 6 of The Peripheral continues to… not impress. The cat and mouse game goes on, except we have Inspector Lowbeer playing cat instead of Cherise. The plot seems to be winding around in circles instead of moving ahead. By the time the episode ends, it doesn’t feel like we’ve taken any steps forward. Despite that, this episode has a few poignant moments. Watching Leon take on Conner’s pain and flashbacks to make it easier for him throws new light on the haptic technology. On how it could be used to help and foster connection rather than invade boundaries and twist a person’s autonomy. Another moment was when Flynne was able to remove the RI’s augmentation and see London — the actual city in a state of disrepair — for what it really is. It says a lot about that world and how its polished veneer is just that, a façade. These are some intriguing questions about reality that the show is bringing up. But unfortunately, the plot isn’t able to complement them. Nearing the end of the season, the Peripheral feels dragged. Still, today’s fight scene with Flynne against the two fabricators was a sight for sore eyes. It was gorgeously choreographed and Flynne really held her own throughout. In the end, I was smiling the same way that Wilf was.
