Sunday, April 7, 2013

XIII - Rampage


Following the bombing at Synequanon, whose 84 victims included Amos' (Greg Bryk) wife and daughter, President Carrington (Stephen McHattie) extends the powers of the Patriot Act to track down The Veil. Meanwhile mysterious double of XIII (Stuart Townsend), who is actually responsible for the bombing, returns to The Veil to accept responsibility and convince Vargas (Bruce Ramsay) and the other members of the activist organization to continue down the road he has started. Meanwhile the real XIII remains trapped in the brainwashing facility as his double continues to try to convince XIII that he is responsible for the terrorist attack, which is exactly what Jones (Aisha Tyler) believes when Carrington shows her security footage of the attack.

A disorientated XIII comes face-to-face with the darker version of himself who is after the letter in Betty's (Roxane Mesquida) possession and will do whatever it takes to get it including seducing XIII's new girlfriend and even attempting to kill her once he gets what he wants. He later assassinates the President's leading scientific mind (Terrence Bryant) on reducing carbon emissions before releasing a drugged and confused XIII into the world to pay for his crimes. Avoiding arrest and on the run, XIII calls on an old friend (Rob Ramsay) to make a secure call into the White House and arrange a meeting with Jones but when his doppelganger kills XIII's last remaining friend the amnesiac former spy finds himself with nowhere to turn.

The main story works well enough, as the shadow version of our protagonist continues to burn every bridge XIII might take for help. The episode's B-story involving Amos' relationship with presidential hopeful Harriet Traymore (Ingrid Kavelaars) the the various politics surrounding Carrington's environmental initiative is far less interesting and feels too much like unnecessary filler. With Jones dead, Betty believing XIII tried to murder her, and both Amos and the U.S. Government hunting him, we'll have to wait and see what XIII's next move might be.

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