Episode 207 – The Final Countdown
Xavier has unfinished business. Meanwhile, Sinatra meets with Link as Paradise prepares for a potential threat.
Alright friends, we’re down to the last two episodes! Let’s jump into episode 207, The Final Countdown! Six years ago, the engineer is explaining the infrastructure of the bunker to Sinatra and President Bradford, who thankfully asks him to dumb it down. We still don’t know what she’s using all that extra power for, but a I read a fan theory that it’s a time machine, and I am starting to get on board with that theory as the season goes on.
In present day at the railyard, Xavier finally reunites with Teri and speaks to the leader of the group she’s joined up with.
Sinatra is at home in her closet picking out her outfit for the day, engaging in some witty banter with her husband. Conversation turns to their son Dylan and the fact that he would be 26 years old today. Sinatra expresses how she doesn’t understand how her husband is okay after losing Dylan, but he says the same about her.
Gabriela wakes up from a dream where Jane fires a gun in her direction. Then, in the shower she is clearly still on edge. At her desk, she continues her investigation about “Alex” and wonders if Jane is somehow involved. As she leaves her home for a senior leadership council meeting, Jane is waiting outside and says, “If you need me, I know where to find you.” Gabriela, RUN.
Presley and Sinatra’s daughter begin to dig into the computer system to try and figure out what’s going on. Meanwhile, Robinson, Jeremy, and the engineer continue their quest below to open up the bunker. The leadership team is discussing logistics of the meeting with Link and his crew. Jane volunteers to be a part of the team, and Gabriela speaks up and advises against her. However, Sinatra pushes back and defends Jane.
After his chat with the leader of the group, Xavier has an emotional reunion with Teri and finally apologizes for the last few years, but Teri is just so happy to be back with him again. She shows Xavier a note from Gary that he has Bean and asks her to come back. Xavier agrees to return with her to pick up Bean before boarding the train to Colorado.
Gabriela confronts Sinatra in her office about Jane. She thinks she’s unstable. Understatement of the century. Gabriela expresses that she thinks Jane is coming for her next. She even presses her and asks her about Alex, but Sinatra tells her not to say that name again. But Gabriela refuses to drop it. Jane briefs the security team about Link and his crew outside the bunker, while tracking Gabriela’s location. Sinatra’s daughter and Presley manage to hack into the security camera footage, finding Jeremy’s location. She even gives their wristbands access to go down and investigate in person. Jeremy is still hesitant to have Robinson around, but she cared so much about Cal that she feels responsible for making sure he’s okay.
On their journey back to the post office, Xavier updates Teri on what the kids have been up to and that Cal Bradford is dead. Teri tells Xavier all about Bean and how they’ve survived up until now. She is well aware how dangerous Gary is but is also concerned about Xavier’s desire to be overprotective.
Sinatra and her security team approach the bunker doors to speak with Link (with the slice of apple pie, as promised). Once they meet, Link finds out that President Bradford is dead and gives him the slice of pie. They begin to examine the apple pie. He sees Air Force 1 and asks to have his meeting with Sinatra inside it.
Xavier finds a sniper location to hide from to protect Teri while she speaks to Gary. He tells Teri that the safest option would be to “eliminate the threat”, but Teri insists that she go in and speak to him because she knows how to talk to him.
Sinatra and Link sit down to chat aboard Air Force 1. Link mentions that he is 26 years old and tells her that he is leading a total of 10,000 people. He tells her that they can tell they’re running the bunker off of 3-5 nuclear reactors and that they want one to restart the world. Sinatra tells him that they don’t have one to spare. From the apple pie slice, he can tell that they have greenhouses, agriculture, refrigeration, etc. Then he drops “I’m here for Alex.” UMM WHAT.
Teri enters the post office to get Bean and talks to Gary. They send Bean to the greenhouse to wait so they can talk. All the while, Xavier has his rifle pointed at Gary from his hiding spot. Gary claims he would never hurt Bean, but ummm… I don’t believe that. I don’t trust Gary for one second anymore. He is unstable at best. Teri reveals that Xavier is out there, alive, and will take him out if he doesn’t stay calm.
Sinatra claims not to know what Link is talking about. But he asks where Alex is (WHO IS ALEX?!?!) Gabriela continues searching for any information she can find about Alex. She sees Jane’s name written in her notes and has some sort of idea. Of course, Jane is spying on her. Jeremy, the engineer, and Robinson arrive in some sort of control room. They plan to use the system’s safeguards to their advantage to open everything up.
Gary begins to get emotional and angry about how desperate he became when he realized Teri was going to leave him and take Bean with her. He begins to get suicidal and says he wants Xavier to take him out, but Teri hugs him, protecting him and tries to encourage him to keep going. Xavier never takes his eye off of them. She promises to tell Bean about Gary someday, and he allows her to walk away with Bean safely. As they head back towards the train, Xavier mentions that they have another stop to make. She still doesn’t know about Annie’s baby.
As Sinatra and her team walk Link back out of the bunker doors, she tells him that they need to just leave. But Link says, “I will find Alex, and we will end this.” WHO IS ALEX AND END WHAT?! Sinatra says, “Well, I will do everything in my power to protect her, and I won’t let you or anyone else destroy what I’ve built.” So, Alex is a woman? She turns to Link and says “Dylan?” ….Dylan? As in her dead son? She asks him when his birthday is and we learn that it’s May 16th, just like her son. Sinatra looks like she’s seen a ghost. They both have nosebleeds for some reason, but we have no explanation for them. They close the bunker doors.
Back at her house, Sinatra debriefs with her husband. She says she thinks it worked and begins to kiss him. She seems out of character, and he asks if she’s okay, and she says yes and that she can’t explain it but she thinks that Dylan is okay, too. (THIS is why I’m starting to buy that fan theory about the time machine. For the record, I have not seen episode 208, so I don’t know if this is correct or not, at the time I’m writing this review.) Her husband seems just as confused as we all are. Flashing back to showing Sinatra and Bradford the control room, the engineer explains more of the bunker’s infrastructure and safeguards.
The senior leadership group is panicking because they know Link’s team is getting ready to invade the bunker and no one can find Sinatra. She seems to be down below somewhere and boards some sort of train car that requires restricted access. The leadership team votes to initiate a full lockdown of the bunker. While all this is happening, Jeremy and Robinson start taking axes to the air tanks to try to open the bunker doors. Jane enters Gabriela’s home armed, but Gabriela was waiting and LITERALLY STABS JANE IN THE BACK! Now what will Sinatra do without her hitwoman?
The lockdown has been initiated, conflicting with the oxygen issue. There is a system failure happening and messages flash saying, “meltdown imminent.” Xavier, Teri, Bean, and Annie’s baby are on the train en route to Colorado. Sinatra walks through some tunnels and puts on some sort of blue coat. She smiles as she approaches something that is giving off an orange glow, and says, “hi, Alex.” End of episode.
WHAT?!?!?!? Who is Alex, is it time travel? Is the bunker about to self-destruct? I am DYING to get to watch episode 208, the season finale!!! In other news, Dan Fogelman just announced that the writing team has finished writing season 3, so we know that the story does not end here!!
