‘The Peripheral’ Episode 6: Recap And Ending, Explained – Why Does Detective Ainsley Corner The Klept?

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Episode 5 of “The Peripheral” showed us exactly how Aelita found out about the process of breaking into the Research Institute’s (R.I.) building in the future London timeline and used Flynne to steal it. That was also where she learned that R.I. was essentially using stubs to practice behavioral modulation via the implants that everyone seems to have. In the Fishers timeline, we were introduced to the most badass character in the show, who is hilariously named Bob. He was recruited (and threatened with the death of his daughter) by R.I. to kill Flynne. His first (and probably only) attempt was thwarted by Billy Ann, thereby leading to his arrest by Constantine. But Bob’s imprisonment didn’t last very long, as he was rescued by someone in one of those invisible cars. Angered by Bob’s attacks and the fact that she doesn’t have any upper hand in this whole-time war, Flynne went to meet Cherise and understand why she had it out for her. Flynne only learned that she had unknowingly stolen something from her and has to pay for it now with her life.

Major Spoilers Ahead


What Goes Down At The Crown And Rose Chop Shop?

Episode 6 of “The Peripheral” opens all the way back in 2028 in the Texas Outback, where a group of Marine Corps is passing through a battlefield. Yes, it’s Burton and his boys, and the scenario they are in is the same one that Grace showed to Aelita in order to explain the behavioral modulation. Except this time, we are not seeing it from afar. We are seeing it from the perspective of these soldiers, who are characters that we know and not faceless men doing a random task. So, when we see a dog stuck in a barbed wire fence and hear the Corps discussing whether they should free it or shoot it and move on, we are aware of what’s going to happen. We can only hope that it’s going to play out differently. But as the scene goes on, the realization sets in that it’s going to end with Conner taking the full blast of the bomb that’s hidden underneath the dog, thereby leading to his triple amputations.

We are then introduced to Detective Ainsley and her assistant Beatrice as they start looking for the people behind Daniel’s death. Meanwhile, Constantine is not only told to take a leave of absence due to the injuries he has sustained in the car crash, but he also learns that his boss is the one who injured him and rescued Bob from the wreckage, which means that R.I. has paid him handsomely to make the Sheriff overlook his duties and do the needful. Talking about learning uncomfortable truths, Flynne finds out that all the people and buildings in futuristic London are illusions or virtually augmented (via the implants) so that the survivors don’t feel too alone or depressed by the notion that they’re living in a literal hellscape. After Flynne is done digesting this information, she and Wilf move to a chop shop that actually fabricates peripherals. Since they are the ones who made Aelita’s peripherals, it’s possible that they know where she is.

Before entering the shop and wreaking havoc, Wilf and Flynne double down on the theory that Aelita has downloaded the aforementioned “vital data” into a physical object in the Fisher timeline. And that can only mean one thing: the headset that Flynne uses to travel through time is an asset. Anyway, Wilf and Flynne get into a big fight with Abby and Reggie when Flynne asks about replacing a peripheral’s eye with a human eye (which is what they did to Burton’s peripheral). Of course, it’s horribly edited, like every other fight sequence in the show. But the sad part of this sequence is that it lasts longer than the others. Once it does come to an end, Wilf inquires about Aelita, and Reggie says that he can’t say too much because the Neoprims (Neoprimitives are people who believe new technology is bad and they try to imitate a lifestyle that existed before the overuse of technology) are going to kill him. On their way out of there, Wilf and Flynne share a slightly romantic moment as they discuss Aelita’s Neoprim status and whether Wilf ever trusted Aelita enough to tell her about what he did as a 12-year-old.


Is Bob On The Loose Again?

Macon helps out Conner with his motorcycle plus wheelchair, and Conner seizes that opportunity to ask him a little about the headset that Flynne uses and the peripherals. He asks Macon what the maximum amount of time one can spend in the peripheral is. And Macon essentially tells him that his physical body needs to perform in a healthy fashion in order to stay hooked to the peripheral. Conner says that while dealing with his injuries, he was on all kinds of life-support systems for eight months. So, there’s a good chance he’ll be able to do it again in the future while living in his peripheral. Macon still says that that’s not a possibility. Conner gives him the lowdown: he and Edward are two of the smartest people in the town, and they need to use their imaginations to feel what Conner feels every day when he wakes up in his body. Meanwhile, we see that Ash is busy making Burton and Conner’s peripheral, thereby proving that Flynne has successfully convinced them to do it after all the work she has done for the Klept.

Dee Dee informs Constantine (they are a couple, BTW) that he has a concussion and advises him to take a leave and lay low because if he goes after Sheriff Jackman, it’s going to backfire on him. But Constantine is adamant about getting to the bottom of the conspiracy because he has given his word to the Fishers to protect them. Next, we learn that the Sheriff hasn’t released Bob. He has just brought him to the Picketts, who have put an electric collar on his neck to prevent him from attacking them. Why? Well, Pickett gives some weird allegory about tenderizing meat with brine and that somebody is in his kitchen and messing with his brine. That can mean only one thing: Pickett isn’t aware that Bob has been hired by R.I.—the same people who hired him to kill the Fishers—and hence, he isn’t comfortable with the fact that Bob is wrecking his town to kill Burton and Flynne. Also, Pickett is on the Fishers’ payroll. So, he is holding up his end of the deal by keeping the Fishers alive.

Back at the Fisher household, Leon offers to use their Haptic connection to reduce Conner’s pain. And while that puts Conner to sleep, Leon undergoes a horrific seizure as he witnesses a mere teaser of the horrors Conner has faced. However, since Leon manages to handle it all pretty well, it establishes the lengths Burton, and his team are ready to go in order to help each other out. We get a little confirmation on the theory that Aelita has, in fact, downloaded something into Flynne’s stub as Ash and Ossian find out that Dee Dee has been looking for bacterial infections in the occipital lobe (the visual processing area of the brain). Now, that means Aelita hasn’t downloaded something into the headset Flynne uses but into Flynne herself. That said, it’s a theory, and Ash and Ossian can be wrong about it. Flynne’s seizures can still be because of the overuse of the headset, with the headset being the container for the stolen information. They are forced to table the discussion, though, as Det. Ainsley and Beatrice drop in to interrogate the Klept. Constantine reaches out to Burton to let him know that Bob is with Pickett at the moment. However, as Bob makes a gnarly escape by using his electric collar to electrocute Mary, it means he is on the loose again and will be coming after the Fishers again. It makes sense because his daughter’s life is on the line, and he can’t let Pickett mess that up without putting up a fight.


‘The Peripheral’ Episode 6: Ending Explained – What Does Detective Ainsley Want From The Klept?

Detective Ainsley ambushes Lev and his team to not just interrogate them about Daniel’s murder but also show off her skills at anticipating anything that Lev is going to do to make it seem that the Klept isn’t guilty of murder. She says that Wilf has been geo-located at the scene of Daniel’s murder, and she can put him on trial and get him executed. However, she knows that Wilf is merely the gun that is being wielded by someone else. So, she clearly requests Wilf direct her to that person. As Zubov goes silent, Ainsley picks on Ossian for a bit, regarding his encounters with the law, before coming back to Zubov and his family’s checkered criminal history. After that, she asks him to summon the three peripherals (that of Flynne, Conner, and Burton’s) running on A.I. in the premises as she wants a quick peek at them. Not just that, she also wants its operators to be in the peripherals during the examination. That’s why Burton’s trip to Conner’s house becomes a working visit as he takes him to enter his peripheral and meet Detective Ainsley.

Although Ainsley’s conversation with Zubov about the stubs is interrupted by Burton, Flynne, and Conner entering their respective peripherals, an important point is made about the term “stub.” So, the working theory is that every time someone from the future connects with the past, it creates a fork in the timeline, thereby causing it to deviate from the path it would’ve taken if it hadn’t been impacted by the future. Ainsley says that referring to them as “stubs” seems demeaning. Ash responds that the name gives the timeline “third world status,” thereby allowing Zubov and his kind to do whatever they want without any apprehensions. That’s why Ainsley even defines Zubov as some kind of time-traveling colonizer, which does sound appropriate because that’s the kind of unethical activity he’s partaking in. Also, Burton, Flynne, and Conner’s entry into that scene feel prophetic because they are the ones who can and probably will rebel against Zubov’s (and maybe even Cherise’s) activities and bring the practice of turning timelines into stubs to an end.


See More: ‘The Peripheral’ Episode 7: Recap And Ending, Explained – Did Tommy Kill Sheriff Jackson And Corbell Pickett?


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Pramit Chatterjee
Pramit Chatterjee
Pramit loves to write about movies, television shows, short films, and basically anything that emerges from the world of entertainment. He occasionally talks to people, and judges them on the basis of their love for Edgar Wright, Ryan Gosling, Keanu Reeves, and the best television series ever made, Dark.

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