It's over. Cade and Eddie are alone again, with no Raven Nation and no Jordan. Eddie is on the verge of giving up when things get worse: Foster is captured and taken to Mabus while Eddie is tortured for information. Will either of them survive?

It's the one thing you thought the show's creator's would never do: destroy the playing field. Left with nothing, Cade is taken to a place Mabus will undoubtedly kill him and things look bleak. When William B Davis turns up, you know Eddie is in for some trouble as well.

It's a powerful visual episode with some simple but effective special effects. The device used to enlist Eddie's co-operation is a simple prop but looks agonizing to have boring into you. Davis plays the calm and sadistic torturer with his usual style and, although we've seen Eddie tortured before and come through, this time he's out of his element and gives up everything.

The wild card we're all waiting for is Joshua, who turns up in the nick of time to save Eddie and beat his torturer, then to get Foster out of Mabus's lair. After the earlier effort to reach Mabus in The Plan, you'd think it would be tricky, but Joshua makes it look a little too simple, merely by bringing Eddie's torturer to Mabus. During all this, Traci Lords does a superb bit of evil acting as Mabus taunts Foster with his failures in an attempt to break him before he dies. It's only at the end with a clever twist that we realize the Gua leader had another plan up his sleeve, and Cade is forced to leave Jordan behind again in order to live and fight another day.

What's particularly impressive is that none of the story seems contrived (bar Joshua's arrival), which is odd considering how much it relies on coincidence. The other interesting revelations are the possibility that Nostradamus may have been an alien and that the book of prophecy contains four final quatrains that will hopefully halt the invasion. At last it seems things are heading for a final battle, which is good news bearing in mind that the show seems to have been cancelled now. My only hope now is for a high quality wrap-up to take the series out on a high. It's certainly looking to have some intriguing possibilities at the moment...

****

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