In Episode 4 of “The Peripheral,” Flynne finally understood the kind of toll the whole process of time travel was taking on her body and her mind. She had a full-blown meltdown while arguing with Burton about Constantine and suffered a frightening seizure. But, despite the doctor’s suggestion to stay away from any kind of VR technology, she dove back into future London to learn about what the people in her timeline were facing. That’s when she found out about “the jackpot,” i.e., the series of apocalyptic events that will bring mankind to its knees. Wilf had a pretty eye-opening conversation with Lev as he learned that he was using Aelita to create “stubs” of their own and conduct various experiments. And he was the one behind the deaths of every iteration of Lev Zubov and his family in every alternate timeline. Lev, too, had a tantalizing conversation with Cherise, in which he learned that the Research Institute has the ability to track anyone, no matter where they are, if they get their hands on their DNA. It concluded with the disappearance of Lev’s teacup, thereby indicating that his fate is in the R.I.’s hands now.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Bob Is The Newest Assassin To Go After The Fishers
Episode 5 of “The Peripheral” opens a year before Aelita’s disappearance as she meets up with her ex-lover, Grace. Aelita obviously pretends that she has just run into her randomly, while Grace sees through her and shoots down Aelita’s invitation to go for a drink because she’s married. Eventually, Grace succumbs and goes out for “one drink.” That gives Aelita the opportunity to bring down Grace’s walls and coax her into showing her the place where she works, which is, as you might have guessed, the place where Aelita took Flynne (in Burton’s peripheral) in the first episode. But here you get a little more information regarding the Research Institute, how they’ve got access to multiple stubs, and how they can manipulate them to conduct various kinds of studies. Grace says that the most exciting stuff, which is being kept under wraps, is the behavior modulation experiments that are being conducted on stubs and in association with the American military department. And one mention of haptics hints at the fact that she’s talking about Burton and his team.
Grace shows footage from a stub where a group of elite soldiers’ “compassion center” is manipulated to take the option of saving a wounded dog instead of shooting it and moving ahead with their mission, even though they know that it’s a trap. So that pretty much confirms that the Research Institute wants to manipulate the emotions of anyone they can get their hands on. But especially the military, because once you can control the most highly trained professionals in the art of warcraft and take advantage of their ability to discern between friend and foe, then they can be used to achieve any goal. When Grace and Aelita proceed to exit the building, they come across Mariel Raphael. Since she’s one of the few who has retinal clearance to the room with the inverted green pyramid and she’s very rude (and because Aelita probably didn’t have the heart to yank out Grace’s eye and put in Burton’s peripheral), it becomes evident why Aelita chooses to kill her. However, the scene is absolutely ruined by the corniest line: “I’d kill for eyes like that.”
In the Fisher timeline, a man named Bob gets a 3D-printed sonic cannon and a call from Daniel, which prompts him to go on the run. But Daniel dangles $10 million and threatens his daughter, and Bob admits that he’s the infamous assassin with uncountable kills on his resume and accepts the offer to kill the Fishers. However, he doesn’t go there directly. He pays a visit to Frank. Why? Because he’s the one who gave Daniel all the information on Bob and his daughter, thereby putting her in harm’s way. So, if it isn’t clear already, Bob is there to punish him and anyone who comes between him and Frank. This leads to probably the only good action sequence in the whole show, primarily because it’s so drawn out, slow, and methodical. It adds a sense of gravitas to Bob and shows how aware he is of what he’s doing. You also get a tinge of his devil-may-cry attitude as he ducks for cover only when it’s necessary. All in all, the fifth episode of the show provides a pretty good introduction to a brand-new character.
Ella Finally Gets To Know What Flynne And Burton Have Been Up To
Billy Ann finds out that Jasper has taken Corbell’s dirty money, even though she categorically told him not to, and he straight up lies to her, telling her that Corbell has given it to him as a “gesture of gratitude” for all his years of hard work. Jasper manages to diffuse the tension by saying that he can return the money if she wants him to. But given their financial condition (as proven by Billy Ann doing odd jobs), she tells him to keep it because they can put it to good use. While waiting for Flynne and Burton to come out of the spinal tap test, Bob informs his daughter (via code) that he has been compromised and that he is on the job again. Bob’s daughter lets him know that she’s pregnant, and Bob maintains the same covert tone to let her know that he wishes the best for her and her family. Now, Bob’s plan was to get Flynne and Burton to stop and help him with his car, kill Flynne, and get away. However, Billy Ann stops to help him instead and messes with Bob’s plan.
Bob tries his best to get Billy Ann out of the way. But when she keeps insisting on helping Bob out, he simply waits for Burton and Flynne. And as soon as they get there, he begins shooting. Billy Ann manages to gun Bob down (who doesn’t get his chest blown to pieces because of his bulletproof vest). Constantine appears to arrest him and tries to get some information on what Flynne, and Burton are up to in their residence. Flynne continues to feign ignorance, and Constantine notices that. So, he tells her a little story from their schooling days about how she freed a bunch of worms to prevent them from getting dissected by the science students. In doing so, he basically requests her to be that honest and humane person who resides in her. Since Flynne is aware of the stakes, she doesn’t spill anything and parts ways with Constantine for the time being. Billy Ann drops Flynne and Burton back at their house. Burton shows some animosity towards Billy Ann because of his proximity to Jasper. However, Flynne kind of forces him to keep his reservations about Billy Ann and the Picketts on the side.
Ella finally learns about the bodies in the backyard, thanks to Leon. That forces Flynne and Burton to come clean with her. After getting to know the medicine that’s helping her recover, Ella brings up some important points. Firstly, she isn’t okay with being dependent on anyone for anything, especially someone who doesn’t even exist in the same timeline. Secondly, she wonders about the repercussions of not taking the medicine. Because they are dependent on printing the medicine based on the money the Klept are paying them. If that money stops coming because Flynne and Burton don’t want to work for them anymore, they won’t be able to print the medicine, and they have no idea how that’s going to impact Ella. And thirdly, she asks Burton what’s going to happen once he stops paying Pickett to stay away from the Fishers. That’s when the siblings realize that they aren’t as free to function or as smart as they think they are. In fact, they are extremely stupid for not having any cards that they can play to their advantage. So, in order to rectify that, Flynne jumps back into the peripheral and talks to Wilf.
‘The Peripheral’ Episode 5: Ending Explained – What Does Flynne Learn About Wilf?
Flynne rightfully berates Wilf for not letting them know about the possibility of an attack by Bob. She also asks him if he has any ulterior motives for initiating the haptic drift. Wilf assures her that he has no such (romantic) intentions. Meanwhile, on the way to the police station, one of those invisible vehicles crashes into Constantine’s car. And the person who crashes it rescues Bob there and essentially leaves Constantine to bleed out there and die. Back in future London, Wilf brings Flynne to the Research Institute’s headquarters so that she can give Cherise a taste of her own medicine. While waiting for her, Wilf gives Flynne a little moral lesson about the difference between being a defender and an assailant. He talks about how he slashed the leader of a group of Neoprims and shot down four of his companions when he was only 12 years old and how he still bears the weight of killing people in cold-blooded “self-defense.” But, despite Wilf’s advice, Flynne confronts Cherise.
To be fair, Flynne asks Cherise to come clean about why she’s coming after him. Cherise says that she has some kind of vital information on her that belongs to the Research Institute. And she promises Flynne that if she hands it back, it’s all going to be over. Which we know for sure is a lie. There’s no way that Cherise is going to leave anyone alone, even if they give her what she wants. We’ve seen how ruthless she can be. But Flynne points out the main problem: She doesn’t know anything about the data that Cherise is accusing her of stealing. She says that she was playing a game and died in it. Cherise doesn’t buy it. They get into yet another badly edited, choreographed, and performed action sequence, which thankfully ends quickly when Flynne snaps Cherise’s peripheral’s head. But Cherise’s use of a peripheral fuels two theories. One is, how underground is Cherise? Given the number of enemies she has made, she has to be really well protected, and it’s possible she has never stepped outside of her own physical body. And two, the data stolen from the overturned green pyramid is probably in Flynne’s peripheral or in the VR unit that Flynne wears. My guess is that it’s in the VR unit because a simple scan of the peripheral can reveal what it holds. It’s only a matter of time before Flynne figures it out and uses it as leverage against everyone.
