I'm well aware that I'm late. Circumstances kept me away from the computer for long enough until this point. I did see the episode when it initially aired, though, so I can write my usual review. I made notes.

Part 2 began with the inevitable "impossible choice" offered by the series main villain. It's been done a million times, but it's true. The bad guys know what they want and are willing to go to amazingly evil lengths to get it. They know the heroes can't make a choice like that and they think they have them cornered. They're almost always wrong. Helen kept her scary attitude, even going so far as to toss the phone away. Hey, if it were a member of my family in danger, I'd be prone to doing that, too.

We also had a one-on-one conversation between, in my opinion and my father's, two of the greatest characters in this series: Henry Foss and Nikola Tesla (if Henry still has a last name in this incarnation of Sanctuary). Several conversations, actually, since they collaborated on that anti-supersoldier weapon. Watching them test it on that little Nubbin was not very fun, but they were trapped in that situation (and is it just me, or did they name the test subject Damian? That's the first name of the series creator). In the first conversation the tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but all it took to break it was Henry's phone going off. Nice ringtone comic relief, writers. That's about all I can say.

The Tokyo helicopter shot was, I hear, actually filmed over Tokyo. That was not CGI, people (my only question is whether or not the Japanese official in the Tokyo sanctuary was a native speaker or not. His speech sounded strained). I think that was the only such shot filmed on location where it was supposed to be set. Everything else, even London, looked TV-made to me. The CGI level in this episode was pretty huge, but very nice overall. I liked how the Medusa-woman's serpent hair followed every move she made (and she shifted her head around a lot). I'll also give them credit for invisible Clara this week, nomatter how awkward that scene was to watch (Will was so much cooler in the web series! Why is he written like this now?). Also for the ogre, the metal creature (otherwise known as "Operation Exxon-Valdez" ), the electrical trap that Tesla set (which was just a cool scene by default since it involved Tesla using his vampiric electrical control abilities) and the fire elemental (plus the charred supersoldiers still banging on the hatch). The only CGI complaint I have is over a design flaw. Why was there a ponytail in the vital sign monitor? Hair is not alive! The whole world knows that!

We also had many dramatic scenes this past week, which were to be expected with such an angsty storyline. We had John's knife show (we all knew he was skilled with knives. There was no need to over-dramatize the scene's opening), the return of Bigfoot after a one-sided conversation with Helen (yay, for more Bigfoot, but Helen's words oddly didn't hold my attention too well. Great acting, but for some reason her actual words have since slipped my mind), Clara's death (which I thought would merit more of a reaction out of Will than we saw), an echo of episode 1's scene on the rooftop (still awkwardly done, I'm sorry to say), and finally the ending scene. Kudos for the memory-jogging things Helen got to say. I love it when those words get through. They almost did right away, but when they seemed to have failed, aid came in the form of Free Agent Woman (well, "free" is something of a misnomer). I'll admit, her character started to grate on me the moment she started talking about selling Bigfoot on the black market, but she has partially redeemed herself. I wonder if this one will be a recurring character. She makes a very fun Chaotic Neutral.

If you saw the end of this episode and the subsequent preview for next time, I'm sure they're right and we can all relax. If not...well then why on Earth are you reading this? Cheer up, distraught Sanctuarians. I think I see a deus ex machina ending on the way for Ashley.