Hello! And let us not tarry, for there are gaps to be bridged! This issue isn’t as big an information dump as the last (I’m… not sure any issue could be, really), but there are plenty of points to discuss.
(As a side note, how awesome is Sami Basri’s fill-in work here?)
Bobby’s Accent
So the first thing that happens in this issue is Elle somehow being psychically “torn apart” by the other denizens of the Garden. They all, quite literally, want a piece of her, so that they can travel back to the land of the living in the same way Elle/Katie did. Only Bobby doesn’t take too kindly to any of this, and ramps up into lamppost-swinging Bobby Smash mode pretty fast.
Crenshaw’s remark here comes almost out of nowhere, and feels kind of inappropriate: so what if Bobby sounds more Cockney when he’s angry? But a detail that feels this out of place must mean something or other (or it could be a red herring, but bear with me here).
As usual for most mysteries in “Mind the Gap”, there’s a pedestrian and a not-so-pedestrian way to solve things. Pedestrian first: Bobby, in whatever “real” life he lived before the Garden, was at one point a Cockney, or somebody with kind of a rough accent, anyway, then purposely altered his accent. It’s not completely unknown for someone who habitually “puts on” an accent to lapse back into their original when they’re out of control, and so this could be what is happening here. The implication, then, is that Bobby’s past is kind of complex; he’s hiding a part of it (Gaius Baltar, anyone?) but it surfaced just there.
The second and slightly more interesting explanation makes Bobby’s accent lapse a side effect of Elle being somewhat, er, disorganized at the moment. After all, it’s not really clear as of yet whether Bobby is a real person or simply a guide that Elle’s mind has put together – he may, after all, be a little of both – and Elle being Elle and not a British person, her hold on Bobby’s accent might lapse in a moment like this. This explanation would also explain Crenshaw’s interest: he sees Bobby as a manifestation of Elle’s mind, and Elle’s mind seems very much to be his business.
Either way, it’s not exactly a detail that blows the issue wide open. But both explanations leave us a bit more distrustful of Bobby than we were before, whether it’s because he is a deceptive person or because Elle’s mind isn’t always to be trusted. And so, for the moment, we should definitely keep an eye on this fellow.
Killing Elle
…is apparently not the big deal that last issue’s cliffhanger made it out to be? Actually, this isn’t that big a surprise, and as I said last issue, it’s pretty much the most direct way to interfere with the Jairus project. If there’s a point where Elle has to die, then Eddie and Co. have to get there first and be in control of things.
Frankie the Inside Agent
Frankie offers a wee bit of insight into his role in untangling the mystery: he was tasked with “getting” Dr. Geller, but if that means getting her suspicious of what’s happening to Elle, she’s done a pretty good job of that herself. Frankie has definitely helped out with all the secret blood tests and the like, though, and his success in John Doe-ing Lonnie proves how good he is at negotiating that particular landscape. It may turn out that Frankie has had more influence on Dr. Geller’s investigations than we thought.
The Letter, and Jo’s Sister
Jo’s sister was mentioned a couple of issues back in the context of some kind of trauma, and it comes clear in this issue that she killed herself. She left a suicide letter, too, and it’s for this reason that Jo doesn’t think Elle’s note reads like one. On the level of character, this information might account for Jo’s protective tendencies: she’s seen somebody she loves destroy herself, and she can’t let it happen again. And on the level of plot, Eddie implies that the letter is a lot more than anybody thought at first. Does that apply to us as readers and hopeful mystery-solvers, too? Taking into account the fact that Eddie highlights the “resigned” tone of the letter, let’s look at it again.
Continued belowDane,
I wish I could explain everything in one letter, but I can’t. There’s so much I’ve kept from everyone, and you’d want to know more than I can explain. I need off the wheel, so I gotta do this before I wuss out. No matter what happens, know I love you and tell Jo I love her too and that I’m sorry. I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again, but everybody’s gotta die sometime, right? Hopefully, everything will come out before then, but if not, you still owe me a funnel cake.
Love, Elle x
The line that jumps out in the context of this issue is the one about everything “coming out” before Elle dies. That certainly sounds like what Eddie and Co. are trying to do: get everything figured out before the point in the Jairus Project where Elle is supposed to die. Does this mean that Elle was hoping that this group would band together and try to find out about her secret, her involvement with the Jairus Project? Was this the fact that she was “resigned” to?
I’d also like to take the opportunity to re-examine that phrase, “need off the wheel”. It could mean so many things. Did Elle want to stop being in control (let go of the steering wheel)? Or was she trying to get out of a cyclical situation? How about a tortuous one (a breaking wheel)? In any case, it feels like Elle did something sort of unexpected in going to the subway platform. Maybe not something large enough to throw off the course of the Jairus Project, but something significant enough to demonstrate her agency. She was resigned to being responsible for something dire, or resigned to repeating something unpleasant over and over, or resigned to her torture, but she rebelled in some way that led to the incident at the subway, and to the Jairus Project moving forward at something of an accelerated pace.
Eddie shows Min the letter later in the issue, and whatever the letter means to Min, she determines very quickly that there’s an obstacle out there that needs to be removed ASAP. Is the “obstacle” Elle’s will, her rebellion against the Jairus Project that seems to be hinted at in the letter? Or is it the possibility that the letter presents, that Elle’s friends may after all figure out what’s going on and interfere? At any rate, it’s big enough that Min wants Elle moved to the special “facility” immediately. She makes a phone call, then tells her maid, Carlotta – who is apparently in on some of this? – that she wants her husband and the Fifth notified.
Crenshaw Must Die
Now for the most interesting aspect of the issue: much in the same way she was furious when remembering Miles, the Elle that’s begun manifesting herself all over the hospital is so angry at Crenshaw that she wants this guy dead. We can account for this, somewhat, by looking at the events of last issue: Elle found out that she has been seeing Crenshaw and visiting the Garden for a long time now, and that this is by no means her first visit.
This said, if Elle’s participation in the Project was indeed voluntary – and that certainly is how this is looking – then being murderous-angry with Crenshaw could actually be, as he says, just a side effect of her not remembering everything yet. She knows she saw him many times, but can’t account for why – and that’s incredibly frustrating. On the other hand, we don’t really know what Elle does and does not remember. It’s quite possible that some detail has come to light which gives her very good reason to be angry with this guy, and with Miles. But what? We’ve got very few clues in this direction, unfortunately.
Whatever Elle’s beef with Crenshaw is, Dr. Geller’s getting pretty suspicious of the Crenshaw situation herself – enough for Hammond to feel threatened. Clearly, Crenshaw is an important piece of the puzzle.
Blood Not-So-Simple
Hmm: a text from a blocked number, reading what looks like “Need empty blood sample vial ASAP. Hammond’s office.” The blocked number means this is probably someone in the Jairus Project – Min or maybe even the Fifth. And if whatever is happening is occuring in Hammond’s office, it must be something quite secret , which would explain why Frankie needs to deliver the blood sample vial personally. Since it needs to be empty, as opposed to filled with a particularly important sample, they must be drawing somebody’s blood in the office. But whose and why? What would a blood sample tell anybody at this juncture?
Hammond and Eddie
Dr. Geller’s insinuations about Crenshaw seem to have gotten Dr. Hammond worried about the airtightness of the Jairus Project generally – and if Eddie really is the good-guy double-agent he’s been presenting himself as lately, this is bad news. That said, anybody else think this is going to be pinned on Miles, vaguely-implicated pawn that he seems to be?
Recap
We’ve learned:
-that Jo’s sister, Tina, killed herself;
-that Crenshaw is important, and possibly integral, to the Jairus Project;
-that Elle’s letter represents a serious problem for the Jairus Project, and consequently
-that Elle is being moved to the mysterious “facility” early.
I suspect:
-that Elle acted out against the Jairus Project in some way before her “attack”;
-that there’s reason to be suspicious of Bobby, and
-that Carlotta will become a main player.
As always, feel free to share your ruminations below!
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