[S1E7] The Last Guardian BEST
Episode seven started with a continuation of the previous episode, with Joel badly wounded by a gunshot, and Ellie has managed to drag her guardian into shelter. Needing to apply medical treatment, Ellie goes to look for supplies. Then, the episode shifts and we're back to an earlier time, with Ellie training at a FEDRA facility. At night her best friend Riley breaks in to her room and takes her out to a mall. The episode has a 7.8 user rating on IMDb, at the time of writing, with more than 20,000 votes, the worst so far for the series. And while nearly 37 percent of users gave it a 10/10 score, a surprising number has rated the episode just 1 out of 10.
[S1E7] The Last Guardian
Ellie is briefly reminded of the reality of their situation when she discovers explosives Riley prepared. Riley admits that the Fireflies are sending her away to the Atlanta quarantine zone, and she wanted to spend this one last night hanging out with Ellie before departing. Ellie isn't at all happy with this but ultimately decides to continue onto the final wonder.
This is when the romantic tension peaks and Ellie decides to make her move, giving Riley a brief but passionate kiss. With their emotional and sexual cards on the table at last, Riley agrees to stay and it seems like things are gonna be OK.
We also learn that I was wrong last week when I assumed the doctor tending to Laena in childbirth was from Dragonstone, as he was in the book. The show goes out of its way to point out that the tending physician was instead from Pentos. Make what you will of this scathing indictment of the state of Pentosi healthcare.
On the planet, the away team is momentarily separated due to effects of the energy field on the transporters. They regroup but are attacked and bound by the Ferengi, who believe the Enterprise crew was planning an ambush of their own. The away team break free, and begin to exchange weapon fire, but the energy expelled is absorbed by a nearby crystalline structure. Data investigates the tree and awakens an entity that displays itself as a humanoid and calls itself Portal 63 (Darryl Henriques), "a guardian of the Tkon Empire." Portal 63 asks the two groups if they seek to enter the Tkon Empire, and does not comprehend when it is told that the Tkon have long since disappeared.
"Goin' to the Chapel" largely feels rushed. After enduring a brutal end in last week's episode, Nadine reappears as a guardian angel for Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind). Her return is startling so shortly after her initial death, leaving little room for any struggle and payoff for Lexy's battle with her addiction and guilt. Like Lexy, Jake's guilt has slowly brewed all season. His odd trust in Good Chucky was proven a mistake, though there has still been little exploration of where he, Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), and Lexy stand given all they have endured. "Goin' to the Chapel" doesn't have the means to solve this issue on its own, but it still feels Chucky's second season ringing hollow.
Written by the great Harlan Ellison, and screenplayed by the author himself for this TWILIGHT ZONE episode (Season 1, Episode 7), PALADIN OF THE LOST HOUR features legendary Danny Kaye as the old man Gaspar (in his second last film role before his death in 1987, at 76). Glynn Turman is Billy, the young man who rescues Gaspar. A Viet Nam vet down on his luck, Billy yet offers Gaspar couch space in his tiny apartment for the remaining days of his life, which Gaspar assures Billy will not be many.
In its 32 minutes, PALADIN OF THE LOST HOUR contains almost all the dialogue from the short story (featured in the collection Angry Candy, 1988), and redeems both characters poignantly, one ending his life of guardianship, and one starting his life as an overactor.
Inside the operations locker, Alex finds a sealed tube, in which is a rolled plastic sheet. On the sheet are three code words that are used to send the Martian boarding skiff on its merry way. Respect the black ops! 041b061a72