Zoo season 3 episode 8 review: Does Abigail know Jackson’s secret?
Well, we saw a certain variation of that tonight in “Stakes on a Plane” (including that title), and there is one person to blame in this: Abigail Westbrook — otherwise known as the person to blame for pretty much every evil event happening this season. She captured Jackson Oz on this past episode, and it didn’t take much time in order to figure out precisely what was going on here: She wanted to learn the truth about his ability. He can communicate with animals, and wanted to understand why. She tortured him, and when this tactic didn’t work, she upped the ante and threatened the plane holding the rest of the team. She caused the plane to go into what was essentially safe mode, where it was floating around in circles without many of its facilities. The life of the entire team was in jeopardy, and of course with that it also meant Clementine and the possible cure for sterility.
While on the plane, the entire team was in jeopardy and the stakes were never higher — of course, in true Zoo fashion, there was still a little bit of comedy thrown in here. Right in the middle of the Zoo Crew trying to figure out how to get the plane operational and Clementine and her unborn child safe, we learned that Jamie had previously recorded Logan as the voice of the plane, the Gideon or the Kit to use some references to other shows.
The biggest problem that the team ultimately faced — at least other than the team crashing and burning in the plane — was hybrid (sure, it wasn’t technically a snake, but close enough). That was before another enemy came out to play.
Here’s the other problem…
Remember the whole Mr. Duncan reveal at the end of this past episode? Well, Mitch needed to have a heart-to-heart with Jamie all about it. For much of the episode he debated with Max about how to handle it, but when he was ready to tell her the truth, other priorities got in the way. That included Abigail flipping the switch on Mitch and forcing him to become Mr. Duncan in the midst of the crisis. She told Jackson about the bio-drive, but there wasn’t much that he could do in the moment. Duncan was loose, knocking Max out and overall being a malcontent. Luckily, eventually the team figured things out … but Jamie learned the truth at the worst possible moment when he was blocking the switch that could save the entire team.
Unfortunately for Jamie, Mitch/Duncan wasn’t helpful in getting out of the way, which basically left these two, Dariela and Abe (who spent some time fighting the super-freaky hybrid), and everyone else careening to the ground. Here’s your cliffhanger: The plane could crash! Well, you have to assume that Zoo isn’t going to kill off the majority of their cast … right? Seems a little cruel, especially with this show that has always had a hopeful message.
Let’s get back to Jackson now. Abigail’s main test was getting him to wake up a tiger, and eventually she did rile him up enough for that to happen. The moment that he commanded the tiger to attack, she got what she wanted — the secret to controlling the animals. This is apparently what she needs in order to kick-start her next phase of the plans: The beacons. We don’t know what these are yet (neither does Jackson), but they could be trouble if she wants to use her hybrids to destroy much of the world.
Logan and the hybrid wall
This whole sub-story about his new job, which revolved in part around a hybrid “wall” and a search for some nests/spores, was probably the most disconnected part of the episode. The stakes were still important, given that this team realized that unless they destroyed the nests they located in the east, the whole idea of a wall would be useless.
Our overall take
One of the biggest critiques that we’ve had about Zoo over the past month or so is that the show’s become too complicated for its own good — and this is meant to be a fun, breezy popcorn show with characters we root for. Luckily, the writers unified the stories more this week and gave us a pretty action-packed thrill ride with limited settings and plenty of character interactions. This was one of the best episodes this season. Grade: A-.
What did you think on Zoo season 3 episode 8, and where do you think the story for some of these characters will go from here? Share in the comments!
Meanwhile, click here in the event that you do want to get some more information on Zoo and what’s coming up next! (Photo: CBS.)