Hello again, and welcome to the edition of Bridging the Gap in which I lay out a vaguely promising theory! The day had to come eventually, you guys. But seriously, this is another dense and surprising issue, and as always, there are all kinds of clues to Google madly think about. Get your typing fingers ready.
Phase Two
Early in the issue, this phone call makes it clear that the Jairus project is moving forward more or less as planned. That Jairus has phases, and that we’re about to enter a new one, isn’t a huge surprise; we’ve managed to piece together the projected arc of the process by deciphering Elle/Katie’s cryptic speech. But here we learn (from Min, as likely as not) that what’s in the Jairus case is a “fail-safe” that was put in Hammond’s hands when — and because — the subway incident occurred. And whatever it contains, it’s going to the Facility along with Elle in the near future as part of phase two.
In the mean time, Hammond had better watch his back; apparently the lapses in security that have occurred in regards to Elle (the business with Lonnie, I’m guessing?) are enough that Min might just have him iced. While I don’t think she would go quite so far in this case, Hammond is definitely not in her good books.
Constance
Constance is the one sent to collect the Jairus briefcase, taking it to the facility that will house phase two, and Eddie is none too happy about this. The thing I’m not sure of is how and why Constance plans to gain by being involved with the Jairus project. She must, or otherwise Eddie wouldn’t have much reason to be suspicious, and her demeanor here suggests as much. Eddie says that she has no connection to Elle, while Constance and Edward certainly do seem to have a longstanding relationship, so maybe this could be a (career related?) power struggle between the two.
Most importantly, and as the end of the issue reveals, Constance is acquainted with the Fifth, so she must be fairly important to the project. But without knowing too much about her character it’s hard to say what she’s bringing to the table.
Eddie and Elle
Eddie and Elle get a nice little moment in this issue, which is refreshing after seeing him play the villain for so long. I’m not sure I one hundred percent trust him yet (remember: everybody is suspect. No one is innocent!), but as he says on the next page, this is still probably the most normal thing to happen in the series so far.
In terms of clues, though, the fact that Eddie says he tried to stop Elle “before that day” at the subway means there must have been indications that Elle was going to set the Jairus project in motion prematurely even before then. What could these indications have been?
The Briefcase
I theorized a while back that the Jairus case contained propofol, and while clues later in the issue suggest it’s an altogether different sort of drug, this sequence show that it’s definitely something injectable, and presumably something Elle’s being injected with. And while the sperm joke that Eddie makes on the next page is probably a red herring, this emphasis on genetic material – something I’ve wondered about in regards to Edward Sr.’s culpability – does fit in with what I’ll be proposing in a sec.
Elle Remembers
Finally, finally, and very conveniently, Elle’s beginning to remember more about that day at the subway, and what she remembers (and what we see on the last page) does clear Eddie of some suspicion. What’s puzzling here is Elle’s “Tell him I know why he ran. About Mom. And I forgive him.” Did Eddie shrink from his role in the Jairus project in some way? Maybe the fact that Eddie didn’t do something he was supposed to do led Elle to take matters into her own hands at the subway. Either way, Eddie’s status as a double agent playing both sides seems to have begun after Elle was brought to the hospital.
Continued belowA Way Back To Then
It takes Jo and Dane bursting into song to get Elle’s ghost/consciousness/what-have-you back in one piece, and while I don’t think there any too many clues to be unearthed here, the dynamic here is interesting. As I’ve talked about before, “A Way Back to Then” from [title of show] seems to mean a lot to these three friends, and not only because Jo and Elle worked its run at the Vineyard. It’s enough to get a psychic bond of sorts running between them for a short time, and enough to show us that, despite whatever feud what going on at the time of the attack, there’s a certain solidity to this group.
What’s more, the theatricality of it all does seem to play into the fact that Elle feels like “a different person to everyone”. Is she referring to her literally split-up consciousness, or to the performative aspect of being involved in the Jairus conspiracy? Maybe both? In any case, she’s become a lot more accepting of her situation along the way; she now wants to “get back on track” and do “what’s [she’s] supposed to do.”
Betaine, Synthesized Gl…
It’s a little panel with an even littler speech bubble, but this utterance of Dr. Geller’s may well blow the series open. Frankie’s run some tests on the vial’s worth of liquid, and found betaine and synthesized [something]. A quick Googling of betaine reveals that it’s a drug administered as a treatment for homocystinuria, and what does homocystinuria entail? Take it away, Wikipedia:
Classical Homocystinuria, also known as cystathionine beta synthase deficiency or CBS deficiency, is an inherited disorder of the metabolism of the amino acid methionine, often involving cystathionine beta synthase. It is an inherited autosomal recessive trait, which means a child needs to inherit a copy of the defective gene from both parents to be affected.
***
It is known that before the age of 30, almost one fourth of patients die as a result of thrombotic complications (e.g. heart attack).
And guess what?
The signs and symptoms of homocystinuria typically develop within the first year of life, although some people with a mild form of the disease may not develop features until later in childhood or adulthood. [source]
Remember that photograph of Edward, taken when Elle was a baby, where Min was shown consulting with Hammond? Hell, even if there hadn’t been signs of a disorder at birth, the fact that homocystinuria needs to be inherited from two parents (who have the gene, but not the disorder) means that genetic counseling could have predicted that Elle would have it. So: could CBS deficiency be the medical complication that precipitated Jairus as a whole?
It’s quite possible, although it sounds like deaths from homocystinuria are hard to predict, being the result of heart attacks; and of course, the odds are against them. Maybe some signpost indicated that Elle was at increased risk for heart attack; maybe there were other complications. And even if it’s not homocystinuria specifically, a long-term and potentially deadly disorder really fits the bill when it comes to Elle’s involvement with Jairus. If it were reasonable likely that she was going to die in her 20s as a result of a health issue, that Elle’s family banded together in pursuing an experimental treatment isn’t all that hard to believe.
Elle’s resigned tone in that letter to Dane also makes sense under this model. She doesn’t want to die, but pursuing a treatment because you’ll die if you don’t doesn’t exactly qualify as “voluntary” either. She was stuck in a bad situation, and did what she did at the subway station because she wanted “off the wheel”. I’ll pick up that thread a little later.
That “sythesized gl…”, on the other hand, has me stumped. Google suggests “synthesized glycoproteins” or “synthesized glucose”, and with the official term for naturally-occuring betaine in plants being glycine betaine, maybe “synthesized glycine” could be a candidate. That said, extensive Googling will not make this columnist a doctor, or even a chem major, so if any of you labcoat-wearing folks want to weigh in, please do!
Continued belowAnyway, based on Dr. Geller’s reaction when she discovers what’s in the vial, it looks like she has encountered a sample like this one before. When she says “my work”, she could be referring to her investigations in regards to Elle – maybe she found traces of these chemicals in one of her tests. Or, “my work” could refer to studies she had done previously, her own independent research into treatments for homocystinuria, which Jairus may have been using as a guide all along. Again, betaine is a usual treatment for the disorder, but “synthesized gl…” could be the variable that makes Dr. Geller’s – or Jairus’s – approach special. If Dr. Geller’s research is especially important to Elle’s survival, the fact that Frankie is made to keep such a close eye on her makes a lot of sense.
And now for the most exciting part of this theory, which is actually pure speculation, but bear with me: what if whatever treatment the Jairus project is administering is meant to make Elle better able to transfer her consciousness into a new, healthy body, unafflicted by homocystinuria? Under this model, the ways she’s been inhabiting other bodies – and the fact that she is the only one in the Garden who can do so – may well be a sign that the treatment is working, and that her final transfer into a new body of her own will be a success.
The Fifth
I don’t have much to say about this one, except omg, the Fifth is Elle’s grandfather. (Or, you know, a priest. But he’s in the family cabin, so, Occam’s razor…) Apparently he, Edward, and Constance have “much work” ahead of them, and are expecting Elle soon, so this is definitely looking like the facility that’s going to be the venue for the second phase of Jairus. Getting out of the hospital for once in this comic is looking to be an exciting prospect, but you have to wonder just what kind of set-up they have in that cabin, if it’s going to support and treat a comatose patient. The Fifth must be a current or retired physician in order to spearhead something like this.
At the very least, we have the identity of our “old guy at the cabin” mentioned in issue 10.
Ominous Elle
We’ve been getting plenty of hints lately that Elle entered into Jairus knowingly, and that the incident in the subway just precipitated a course of events that was going to occur anyway, but this is still a surprise. What did Elle inject herself with – and why in the abdomen? And why did she do so in the subway, where nobody would know what happened to her, and it would probably be some time before she was taken to the hospital?
Right now, I want to say that Elle acted out what was going to be the first step of the Jairus project anyway, getting her hands on whatever she was supposed to be injected with and taking it on her own terms, out in public, as a kind of rebellious gesture. (He expression in this panel certainly gives that impression.) She didn’t want Jairus to occur under controlled circumstances, and/or she wanted it to start sooner rather than later. She was asserting control over what would happen to her, even if it was just a question of altering the time frame of Jairus. And maybe, for whatever reason, Elle did want her friends believing she had gotten into some random accident.
Recap
We’ve learned:
– That phase two of Jairus is starting;
– The Fifth is Elle’s grandfather (!!!);
– that Constance is part of Jairus, and wants something out of it;
– that the briefcase contains (in additions to something else) the drug betaine, and
– that Dr. Geller has worked with/researched betaine treatments before.
I suspect:
– that Elle suffers from homocystinuria, or another long-term, potentially deadly disorder, and
– that the aim of Jairus is to transfer Elle’s consciousness into a different body.
As usual, it’s a lot to think about, and a lot to mull over, but with the Fifth finally revealed, we’re getting a lot closer to understanding what the Jairus project is all about. Be sure to leave your thoughts below!
Previous annotations: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11.
