Episode 9 focuses on how to keep the real location of the ancient wisdom away from Mal’akh and the CIA. The plan that Langdon comes up with creates a dynamic setting in the episode. The transition between time periods gives the audience a broader scope to understand the inner plot and the predictable closing scene.
An example is the particular information about the portal presented in the present and flashback sequences. In the present sequence, Peter, Katherine, and Langdon are in Katherine’s lab, gazing at a capstone heated in a small glass container. They discover a hidden phrase on it that looks like an address. While Langdon continues to stare at the heated capstone, Peter and Katherine go look up the location. Moving closer to it, he elevates it up with a long hook and uncovers another clue that gives him a plan to end what Mal’akh has been searching for.
It then cuts to the following scenes that disclose enough information to inform the credibility of the situation and to stir the imagination that the episode is over. The CIA operatives have Mal’akh while Blake finds out that he has been tricked. However, it’s far from over. It cuts to a flashback to retell the story that reveals another layer of depth to the character and the situation. For example, the flashback begins when Langdon lifts up the heated capstone and says that he knows how to end it. He discovers a grid symbol at the bottom of the heated capstone and tells Katherine and Peter about it. Katherine takes it out of the container and scans it to get a clear picture of the grid symbol. They begin to examine the meaning of the allegory, followed by a series of actions aimed at figuring out Franklin’s 8 x 8 magic square. By the time they solve the grid symbol, Langdon visits Sato and asks her if she can arrange a meeting with the CIA.
The following scenes are the shorter-lived versions of the same scenes in the first part of the episode. It just shows the key moments in each scene with new information as a way to avoid redundancy. An example is when Langdon switches the light switch several times as a signal. It cuts to a scene that wasn’t presented in the first part of the episode. Nuñez gets out of the car and goes into the building where Peter, Katherine, Langdon, and a CIA agent are. He exchanges a conversation with the CIA agent before snatching his gun and directing it at him. He then tells Katherine, Peter, and Langdon to go ahead without him. Other new scenes include the capture of Mal’akh’s decoy and the concealment of the real location of the hidden portal from the CIA.
The capture of Mal’akh’s decoy is somewhat predictable. It’s already expected that Mal’akh isn’t that easy to be captured by the CIA. The ongoing pattern of him always staying ahead of the game in previous episodes predicts that he outplays other characters in any situation. If the CIA captures him, it’s his intention to get caught, like when he lets the Leviathan group capture him in the past. Thus, it’s not a surprise whether the CIA operatives capture him or his decoy.
Episode 9 is all right. The first and the middle parts that lead to the closing scene give two perspectives on the story. The first part provides insight into how the CIA captures Mal’akh and gets tricked on. The middle part provides insight into Langdon’s plan and Mal’akh’s deception.
Rating: 5/10
