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Let’s Talk About ‘Don’t Push It’:
- Alfred and Daveboy arrive at the Hebrides to find the secret prison where Zahra Khin’s father is being held.
- Alfie is confronted with a vision from his past.
- An anonymous caller tips off Martha that John Salt is dead but his experiments continue.
- Alfred finds the ‘prison without walls’ but it’s quite a bit more than he bargained for.
- Martha and Mary both seem to suspect Thomas did something bad while in Gotham City.
- Lucius makes a surprise visit to the Hebrides with some very shocking information.
- Alfie locates Zeya Khin but the ‘invisible walls’ are closing in on them.
On this week’s episode of Pennyworth, the bulk of the story is focused on Alfred’s attempts to locate and free Zeya Khin from the government’s secret prison facility, but in doing so he’s confronted with a traumatic event from his past. In a side story, Martha gets some information that makes her question not only her relationship with Thomas but her relationship with the Prime Minister. Let’s look at Martha’s dilemma first.
Martha get an anonymous call, complete with voice distortion, with a message that John Salt is dead, he’d been creating super soldiers, and people are continuing his work. There is a file at her door that contains proof of everything the caller has told her. Martha doesn’t know what to think at first because Aziz, nor anyone else, has kept her in the loop on this. The files mention something called Level 7, but she has no idea what it is. Mrs. P arrives to take care of Sam, and she and Martha chat briefly about the mysterious death of Patrick Wayne. Martha has no idea what Thomas is going through because he won’t answer the phone or return her calls, so maybe she should just take Sam and go to Gotham … except he didn’t ask them to come. Mary tells Martha that men will never tell you what they want and she should consider going. Martha, however, has a feeling that Thomas did something … and it’s obvious that Mrs. P does as well.
But first, Martha has to pay Aziz a visit, and he is clearly trying to avoid her, asking her to schedule an appointment. She tells him she knows Salt is dead, but Aziz plasy dumb and says they don’t know much information. Martha asks about Salt’s lab, Level 7. Aziz presses her as to how she knows this. Martha says she should have been briefed. She tells him she got an anonymous call and the file on Salt and his work and she wants to know what the government doing. Aziz deflects again and says he wants the file dusted and analyzed so the leak within his office can be found. Later that night Martha tries to call Thomas again, but she just gets the answering machine at Wayne Manor. We don’t see him, but Thomas is obviously there (a fresh cocktail sits on a table) listening as Martha says she’s worried and the please call her. She hangs up and starts crying but Sam interrupts her because Martha didn’t come and tuck her in. Martha said she thought she was already asleep. Sam says she misses her daddy. So does Martha.
The rest of the episode was consumed by Alfred and his quest to find Zeya Khin, even though neither he nor Daveboy can see any signs of a prison on the island. Daveboy tells Alfie he’s living in a fairy tale if he thinks Zarha will forgive him if he brings her father back. Daveboy also can’t take a piss without sheep following him. There’s no sign of a prison but did Alfie see a ghost standing by two large rocks? Alfie tells Daveboy he saw a boy on the moors and he vanished, but Alfie knew him. A man in the pub says it wasn’t a ghost, it was the ‘prison without walls’. He knows they are searching for the prison, but he says they want to stay away from that place. He’s never seen it but it’s somewhere up the bluffs. He knows Alfie saw something, but what’s the boy got to do with anything? ‘Follow the boy to finds the prison,’ the man tells him. Daveboy says they are off to London tomorrow. He’s not spending any more time here with sheep and ghosts.
We’re then shown a flashback to Alfie’s time as a soldier. He sneaks up on a man and kills him, then he hears a gun cock and turns to see a boy. Alfie wakes up in his room, it was just a dream of a memory past, but why is he suddenly remembering this incident? He goes back out onto the moors where he saw the boy and … there is a hatch in the ground (shades of Lost). Opening it, there is a spiral staircase. He goes in. Alfie has found the prison below ground. Shellshocked prisoners roam the hallway. While Alfie roams around looking for the cell of Khin, the warden is told the hatch has been sealed, it was probably just an islander. She tells the guard to ‘trust the technology’, they have an intruder, and the intruder has accomplices in the village. Find them and bring them to her. She will increase power to the fence and the intruder will be very uncomfortable, making him easy to find. Alfie is hit with a sudden headache and nearly collapses in the corridor. He flashes back again to the boy. He tries to get the boy to drop his gun but he manages to take it from him to prevent getting shot. He says he can’t take the boy back to base because it’s too far, but he can’t leave him there in the middle of a war zone either. He wants to take the boy to the nearby village … and he’s back to the present where a guard has him but Alfie snatches his gun. The guard says the ‘Psychic Fence’ knows him now, but what does that mean? Alfie tells the guard to take him to Khin. He complies and opens the cell door. Alfie knocks out the guard, and he tells Khin he wants to take him out of the prison. Khin, however, knows the warden knows Alfred’s there because of the increased power to ‘the fence’. Khin asks a lot of questions Alfie says he’ll answer when they’re out, but he says he has no plan in place to shut down the psychic fence because he didn’t know about the psychic fence. Khin does not trust Alfred and says he has no chance at success. The invisible fence zaps Alfred again and he’s back with the boy again, giving him a coin, a coin his father carried during WWII and it never took a scratch. He gives it to the boy and tells him to look after it for him. He tells the boy his name … and he’s back in Khin’s cell. Khin tells him the fence can seek out his most painful memories and force him to relive them over and over again. Khin says to deny a a memory makes it more painful, you just have to accept the pain. Alfie finally tells Khin he’s there because of Zahra.
Meanwhile, Daveboy enters the pub because he can’t find Alfred. Everyone is staring at a man on the sofa. It’s Lucius. He’s there to tell them to stop searching for Khin. Daveboy says he’ll get no argument from him. Lucius has learned very troubling things and they need to leave now. He asks if they’ve been seeing ghosts? Daveboy mentions Alfred’s vision of a boy and Lucius say that’s very bad. Lucius knows about the psychic fence, saying it could have lured Alfie to the prison. Lucius had previously only known rumors about the prison, but he did the research and he knows about the psychic fence will make people hallucinate their past, eventually making them go mad. And then the police arrive.
Back at the prison, an officer tells the warden he’s sent a team to the village, but no sign of the intruder inside the prison. Prisoner 47 (Khin) is also missing. The warden wonders if they made a mistake shielding the guard and his man from the fence, but she says finding the intruder is only a matter of time, and then she will have a session with him which will be very productive. Alfie, however, is lost in the corridors because of the effects of the psychic fence. Khin wants to know about his daughter. Alfred tells him she’s a leader, people believe in her. Alfie explains how he knows Zahra, and Khin asks for a weapon, but then points it at Alfie. He has to convince Khin he can trust him, but Khin tells him he knows a handful of memories that are true … including the voice of the man who took him away. Yes, he knows Mr. Pennyworth’s voice. Is Khin now supposed to believe Alfie is doing all this for the love of his daughter? Alfred doesn’t know himself if he’s doing this for love but when he saw Zahra’s face when she learned the truth, he didn’t want to be that man, that mercenary, any longer. Khin seems to feel that Alfred is being truthful and remorseful and agrees to go with him. But Khin lets Alfrd know that saving him does not make him a good man. Alfie then sees the boy in the hallway but he walks away. Khin tells him he can’t believe anything he sees, but Alfred is distracted long enough for the guard and warden show up. They return Khni to his cell. Alfie is taken to the warden’s office.
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Alfie is in the past again with the boy, watching soldiers pass. They go in the opposite direction toward the village … and Alfred flashes back to the present, connected to a device in the warden’s office. The warden wants to know more about him. He says she goes first, she’ the governor of this place? She says she thinks of herself as a friend to the tortured souls under here care. And who’s doing the torturing, Alfred asks. She used to be a doctor trying to help people but it never worked. Alfie says maybe she was just rubbish at her job. Then she comes here to this facility where there is no hiding, and she can finally help, and she’s going to help Alfred. She tells him she did not create the fence but she saw it’s potential. It’s clear he was drawn there because he carries a lot of pain, many ghosts, ghosts that hold him back. Doesn’t he want to live his life to its fullest? Alfie says she should be asking him why he’s there, who he’s working with. All in good time, she says. First she wants to know his name, his hopes, his fears. Alfred assures her that people know he’s there and the Prime Minister would be very concerned if he goes missing. She tells him she can call the PM any time but she doubts Aziz knows Alfred is there and she’s not going to bother him with a call. Well, Alfie counters with his friends know his whereabouts. Yes,of course they do, she sent her men to get them and they’ll be there soon. Now, she asks, what is it that frightens him so? Shall we find out? The officer throws the switch that powers the device and Alfred is back in the war zone with the boy walking to the village. He has to let the boy go on his own now, telling him the villagers will take care of him. Alfie says he won’t forget him even is he doesn’t know his name. But the boy won’t go. He gives Alfred the coin back but Alfred says that is for him to remember by. The boy finally speaks, saying his name is Levan. Alfie is happy to finally know the boy’s name but he sends the boy off to the village for his safety. Alfred turns and walks in the other direction but stops when he sees a red flag, the marker of a land mine.
He flashes back to the warden who says this is not going to end well. She can’t feel it like he can, but she can empathize, and it’s clear why he was brought there. She can feel his pain, she says he wanted him there, he needed him there. Alfred asks ‘he’ who but she says, ‘Unimportant’. They zap Alfie again. Soldier Alfred turns and yells at the boy to stop, but he’s already stepped on a mine trigger. He lifts his foot and it explodes. Alfred is shocked back into the present. He tells the warden he’s going to rip her eyes out, but it’s not the warden he’s seeing, it’s Daveboy in a guard uniform. Lucius is also in uniform, holding a gun on the restrained warden. Alfred doesn’t want to talk about what happened but they need to get Khin and leave. The warden says the fence has imprinted on them now, and if they try to leave their brains will turn to porridge. Alfie rips some wires out of a machine but she says that won’t do anything. Lucius shakes his head, confirming that won’t help. At its core the fence isn’t a machine, it’s a human being, an enhanced individual who could call up people’s darkest memories. His family deserted him, Lucius took him in, he built a helmet to dampen his powers but it made things worse, his powers grew, he needed more and more pain. The warden says he’s downstairs waiting for them. Alfred is going to find him. Alone. Alfred said the prison without walls is actually them, trapped inside themselves until they’re ready to decide to leave.
Lucius warned him that it would be painful since he already has a connection. Alfie needs to sever that connection. Alfred says that sounds like it will kill the man and Lucius says he believes that’s why he brought Alfred there. Alfred descends into the bowels of the prison and he finds the man with a large device connected to his head. Alfred’s memories of the boy flood back quickly, but he pulls a cable and the power on the device goes out. The man says thank you and dies. Wait … that was all it took? Seriously?!
Back in London, Alfred meets Zahra again and she apologizes for the things she said, but she has to get her father out of the country. Mr. Khin says he was wrong about Alfred, he s a good man. Alfie says Khin was right about having to face his ghosts, and he’s working on it. Zahra kisses Alfie goodbye. As they drive away, Alfred reaches into his pocket and pulls out that coin he’s carried all these years.
And, I suppose, this ends the Zahra Khin storyline. With three episodes left, I hope the remainder of the season stays focused on the Lullaby drug, Francis Faukes, Dr. Glubb, the enchanced humans and whatever Thomas is going through. Will the season end with the Waynes, and possibly Alfred, returning to Gotham City? Will there be a fourth season? We can only hope at this point.
What did you think of this episode? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
New episodes of Pennyworth stream Thursdays on HBO Max.
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