Alphas 1x04 Review

Episode Title: Rosetta
Overall Season Rating: A-
Episode Rating: A-

This week on Alphas we get to explore Gary a lot more. Up until now he's mainly been comic relief. He listens to his signals, tells them what he knows and makes a joke about being annoying. This episode though he finally finds someone like him. I love how it forces him to realize that he can take care of himself, and that he wants to be more independent. I like his character a lot. He complains, but in a different way than the others. He clearly has a mental disorder to go along with his power, where as the others are just mentally unstable at times. At the end of the episode we see a major change in the way he sees himself, and Dr. Rosen. I really hope they build on this, and keep allowing him to expand his role.

The villains this week brings back Red Flag. The evil Alpha organization that tried to kill Rosen in the premiere. We learn a lot more about them, and the show smartly shows us that they aren't just crazy killers. They have something they stand for, and maybe they have a right to be a little upset. They go too far of course, but even Rosen can see their point of view by the end. Got to love a show that shows both point of views, and accepts that the villains' cause isn't one dimensional.

Read on for the episode recap.


The episode starts with Gary at home. He demands his mom bring him water that is not too hot, nor too cold. When told he can get it himself, he says that she's the one that gets his water. Then suddenly, Gary sees something in his waves. This leads them to a house with three Alphas. One of them is Milosh Cosar, the man responsible for trying to kill Rosen. The Alpha team storms the house, but Cosar and the other Alpha escape by shutting off the power. In the house they find lots of evidence, and tech. The also find a young woman named Anna.

Anna appears to be autistic, although Rosen believes all her senses work. Gary is going to stay, and try to figure out more information, and Rosen asks Nina to remain. She is very put off by this. I guess she doesn't like having to babysit, but I also think it's because she can't "push" Gary. I'm sure that makes her a little uncomfortable.

We are shown a Red Flag propaganda video that talks about people who are different are usually cast out, and they must not let that happen to them. Rosen seems like he doesn't want his team to hear it. I was interested by this, because it's almost like he agrees with a lot of what Red Flag says, just not with their methods. This may cause him to fear that his team will leave him to join Red Flag since a few of them are pretty unstable mentally and emotionally as it is.

Gary finds out that Anna is making a bunch of noises with random objects. This is her own personal language. Turns out that Anna understands every language, but she can't speak or use sign language. The only way she can communicate is this these noises. However, it's very late and Rosen gets a call from Gary's mother. He brings him home, but she's less mad when he tells her that Gary met a girl. I thought this was pretty cool.
It's clear that Rosen cares about his team a great deal, but revealing this to the mom shows that he does want them to have as normal a life as is possible.

The next day, they are back at the house. Anna shows that she can use the computer to speak. She then tells Gary the number of a fuel truck that has a bomb attacked to it. The Alpha team rushes off to stop it, but it's the wrong one. We get a nice scene where Gary and Anna discuss independence. She says that she's his friend, and that he can do things on his own if he wants to. Gary likes her quite a bit, and it's very nice to see him open up to someone. Then he sees the date on an e-mail in the computer and it's wrong. He figures out that she changed the number on the truck to fool the team. Anna says that she doesn't work for Red Flag, they work for her. Turns out she writes all these codes, and is very high up in the Red Flag hierarchy.

Then, Anna reveals to Gary that there is a drug out there that would stop brain defects in newborns. This would effectively eliminate Alphas from being born. Gary is pretty disturbed by this, and doesn't understand why someone who do this. Gary though is still on the good side, and he sends the right information to the team. Bill and Hicks are sent to get the truck and stop Cosar, and the rest rush to the house to save Gary from Anna. Anna sends a massive amount of information to the tablet causing Gary great amount of pain, and he falls to the floor. This was pretty intense, and I have to hand it to Gary. A very intense, and dangerous situation he did something that saved hundreds of lives, but risked his own. The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of few!

They find out that the target is the plant that's producing this drug. bill and Hicks attempt to stop them, and almost do. Cosar manages to set off the bomb destroying part of the factory, but killing himself in the process. They said that the other dude died too, but I didn't see it happen.  When RosenRosen "You're not one of us", and tells him that he sent him an E-mail. His ordeal with Anna has seriously changed the way he sees Rosen I think. While Rosen doesn't believe in this drug, he certainly wouldn't have ever told them about it, and it's true, he is not an Alpha. Gary probably thinks that Rosen just doesn't understand a few things about them.

At the end of the episode Gary tells his mom he will get his own water if it's too cold, and he gets a message from Anna hoping that they are still friends. Gary is a little too pleased to hear from her. She did almost indirectly kill a few members of the Alpha team. The E-mail Gary was talking about contains a massive amount of information about Red Flag. Their organization is far larger than they ever thought.

Very cool episode, and if the trend continues, next week will be the Bill episode. We shall see.