After three episodes that felt relatively similar in atmosphere and plot, Persons Unknown changes the pace with “Exit One.” Instead of watching the hostages come up with an escape plan, and be disappointed when it inevitably fails, some of the hostages are actually offered a chance to leave. But in this crazy deserted town, things are just never that easy…
As Janet sits in the center of town, she snatches a bee out of the air with her hand. While she holds it, she tells Joe that it should be in its winter cluster instead of flying around in the cold (something she learned from "The Bug Lady"). When she sets it down, Joe promptly steps on it, telling Janet that he’s allergic and one sting could kill him. The hostages gather in the hotel lobby, and the night manager tells them they’ve received a telegram, which says one of them will be checking out soon. Later in the day, a taxi enters the town, and the driver says he’s there for Janet Cooper and one other person of her choosing. She chooses Joe, and they leave the town together. Not long after they've been on the road the taxi blows out a tire. While they wait for the driver to change it, a semi-truck barrels down the road and runs into the taxi, killing the drive (although there are no signs of him after the crash).
Janet and Joe begin walking, and as it gets dark they stumble on a cabin in the middle of nowhere, which fortunately has lanterns and food. Before they go to bed, they sit out on the porch looking at the stars, and Janet determines they must be in the Northern Hemisphere, as some of the constellations she sees aren’t visible in the Southern Hemisphere. They wake up inside the cabin the next morning, and it is completely filled with bees - the winter swarm that Janet told Joe about the day before. Joe is obviously anxious, but Janet clams him down, tells him they need to leave the cabin slowly and quietly, and they make it out without a problem.
In San Francisco, Mark meets with a detective who tells him they have surveillance photos of him at the park the day Janet was kidnapped, and that they know Janet is his ex wife. When Mark returns to his office he sits down with his boss Kat and explains to her that a detective may be coming to talk to her about Janet Cooper and Mark is going to need her help. Bill has spent the last two days harassing Charlie about a business plan (FreshAirrr, private parks with Hooters and big screen TV’s), and blackmailing him to invest in it. But as Bill shows up on Charlie’s bed to talk to him about the plan yet again, Charlie has had enough. He smothers Bill with a pillow to scare him, and essentially tells him to shut the hell up about FreshAirrr.
Janet and Joe find the road they were on the day before, and after a brief encounter with the same semi-truck, they continue on their way. Night falls on them yet again, but as they reach the top of a hill and see lights, they realize they are back at the same deserted town they left the day before. They decide to head back into town, and once they make it back to the hotel and head upstairs, another taxi enters town and pulls up out front. Tori sees it and goes out to meet the driver, who asks her if she is Victoria Fairchild. She says yes, happily gets inside the taxi and heads out of town.
The next day, Joe wakes up (after spending the night with Janet) and heads to the Shanghai Palace. He heads into the kitchen and tells the manager he wants to order some food to go, and the manager takes him into a back room away from the other employees. Suddenly, the manager’s (Tom) Chinese accent is gone, and he and Joe begin to talk about breaches in protocol and the training manual. Joe tells Tom that he came to see him because he “needs to know the plans for Janet.” Joe tells him he doesn’t know if he can do this anymore, but after Tom repeatedly asks him if he’s threatening withdrawal, Joe says no. Tom asks him if he believes in the process, and tells him that he has to accept its results.
I thought “Exit One” was a good step forward from last week’s episode, with a lot of important events occurring. Tori was the first hostage to leave, and just at the right time as I believe she was on the verge of breaking down. We were given confirmation that Mark is Janet’s ex-husband (although that may have been proven last week I wasn’t entirely sure it was true), and I still think that part of the story is intriguing. Janet and Joe got even closer during their time away, and have now spent the night in the same bed twice. This could be exactly what the plan is though, as we find out in the biggest reveal of the series that Joe is actually not a hostage, but a mole. He wants to know what the plan is for Janet, and I’m hoping that whatever it is it won’t cause her any harm. Having said that, I do think Joe is actually starting to have feelings for her, and if something bad is planned for her we may see him step in and save her. What did everyone else think? Does anyone have any theories about why they’re being held hostage or what the “process” is? This episode definitely took it up a notch, and it should only get more interesting and exciting in the weeks to come.
Mike
