Courtesy of The CW
Episode three of The CW’s aliens invade and fall in love series brings murder, fake-out sex scenes, and some not so surprising twists.
Let’s bitch it out…
We open with a sex scene between Roman (Matt Lanter) and Chelsea Gilligan’s Teri, who was previously just scenery as one of the Atrian 7. Before we can simultaneously say “huh?” and “ohh, maybe this show is getting better!,” we find out that Teri put a magical leaf under Roman’s pillow that makes him have sex dreams. If only we could all be so lucky, it would be way more exciting than dreaming about tomorrow’s To-Do list…
We learn two “important” things from this: 1) Teri and Roman have a romantic past; and 2)Teri is heir to the Trags and her tribe apparently owns all the fancy magical plants.
Meanwhile, it’s Julia’s (Malese Jow) first day of high school since being cured of cancer. Yeesh, she chose that mess to wear as her return ensemble? To each her own I guess. Roman is still avoiding Emery (Aimee Teegarden) to keep her safe, but there’s a wrench in the plan: it’s the 10 year anniversary of Arrival Day. In a super contrived plot device, the human teens are invited to the Sector for the first time to see how Atrians live. Really? These teens would be the first non-security humans ever to enter the Sector? I’m a wee bit doubtful about the logistics of this. When Roman tells government official Gloria (Victoria Platt) that Emery shouldn’t go because some Atrians are out to kill her to avenge his father’s death, Gloria shrugs it off. Worst adult supervision EVER!
So Emery is off to the Atrian sector to pull together interviews about arrival day stories for the big anniversary. The maybe Red Hawk, Grayson (Grey Damon) is her cameraman. The field trip to the Sector is also a must for Julia. You see, since Roman saved her, she’s been slowly turning smurf, her entire stomach covered in blue veins. Once it spreads to her head, it’s permanent and everyone will know Roman saved her. The Atrians will turn against him, the humans will go nuts for Atrian blood and ciper, and Julia will be turned into a lab rat. Oh wait! Remember Teri?! She’s into magical plants and knows how to cure her. Thankfully, Teri saves Julia and Roman when they are caught by Teri’s mom Vega (Merle Dandridge), the leader of the Trags. By the end of the episode, Julia gets the cure and thanks Roman with a big hug (that Emery of course witnesses from afar). With Teri’s not so casual warning “there’s no telling what side effects it will have on humans,” expect to see Julia with some sort of super power within a few episodes…
Other Observations:
- Am I the only one who hopes that Roman gets with Julia because she’s way more interesting than Emery? Emery’s just so…what’s the word I’m looking for…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh yeah, boring.
- In the world’s least shocking twist, Drake (Greg Finley) becomes a Trag. After the obligatory bag over head initiation scene, Vega charges him with breaking into the arrival ship during the anniversary ceremony to “lay waste to the humans.” How does he achieve this you ask? By stealing a very large, rather good looking paperweight. This paperweight (also magical, obvs) turns ciper into “black ciper.” Unfortunately for Trag-traitor Beaumont (Tahmoh Penikett), black ciper basically eats your face off when it lands on you. RIP. At least we got a shirtless fight scene out of it before he departed this mortal coil. Thanks Star-Crossed!
- While Drake carries out his mission, the Anniversary Ceremony is ruined when the arrival day interviews are hacked by the Red Hawks with your basic hate/terrorism group declaration the Atrians are out to destroy humanity. Fortunately, Roman steps it up and gives what is supposed to be a rousing speech about the human girl that sheltered him (I found it lacking). So the ceremony is saved!
- Side question: Did Grayson’s Red Hawk parents ruin the video or did he do it himself? Do you care?
- In the world’s second least shocking twist, Gloria turns out to actually be an Atrian who removed her tattoos. Did anyone else see this coming from the first episode?!? And I cannot claim to be one who usually figures these things out…
Best Line:
- Julia: “I’ve been in a hospital half my life, and even I know the way to a boy’s heart is not through his dead father’s passion project”
What did you think of the episode? Were you happy to learn more about Drake and Teri? Do you think Teri will actually go to the dark side and join her mother to fight humanity? Can I get any support for my Team Jumon/Rulia initiative? Sound off below!
Star-Crossed airs Mondays at 8pm EST on The CW.