The Peripheral (Season 1), Episode 5: In its fifth episode, Amazon Prime’s “The Peripheral” has started to show some indiscernible signs of meandering and thus dwindling. This adaptation of the William Gibson novel has been able to keep us intrigued till the halfway mark of this season so far. However, it is slowly beginning to test the patience of the viewers in terms of the progression of the primary cyberpunk story. The metaphorical jump in this episode comes from a supposed subplot that admittedly makes the episode quite engaging in isolation. There is still time for “The Peripheral” to achieve what it has patiently set itself up for.
The Peripheral [Season 1] Episode 5 Recap:
The Aelita-Grace Meet
The episode starts a year before Aelita West (Charlotte Riley) disappears. Aelita meets Grace (Amber Rose Revah) at the Research Institute. Remember, both of them worked there before Aelita turned against the institute and Grace got killed by Cherise Nuland (T’Nia Miller). After a small trip to nostalgia, Aelita gets to work and flirts her way with Grace. Their obvious romantic history comes into play.
Aelita gets Grace to show her the place where the inverted pyramid (the weapon Aelita and Flynne came for in the first episode) is stored. Grace calls this the ‘God Font’. Grace elaborates that the God Font can branch out multiple stubs (timelines) from the current timeline. These stubs can later be used for various testing. Grace shows one such experiment from the Behavioral department. In that stub, the Behavioral Mod department gave haptic implants to the military and experimented on the behavioral patterns of individual marines.
Grace and Aelita eventually leave the place, only to be stopped momentarily by Mariel (the woman Flynne’s Burton Peripheral killed). Aelita remarked on the beautiful eyes of Mariel. A sly nod toward the first episode.
Eponymous Bob
Back in 2032, a retired Assassin by the name of Bob (Ned Dennehy) gets an unexpected gift. From the future. The sonic gun that Daniel (David Hoflin) used to use so much. Bob gets a call from Peripheral Daniel, with instructions to kill the Fishers family; namely Flynne (Chloe Grace Moretz), Burton (Jack Reynor), and their mother Ella (Melinda Page Hamilton). Bob does not get swayed by the ten million dollars offered to him. But he has to relent when Daniel threatens the life of his daughter.
Before embarking on the task, Bob reaches out to his old friend, Frank (Clive Russell), in a bowling alley. Frank and his sons have anticipated Bob’s arrival. Since Frank is the one who has rolled over to Daniel and given Bob’s daughter’s address to him. Frank says it was either that or death for him and his sons. Death comes anyway, as Bob single-handedly wipes all of them.
The Fight
Billy Ann (Adelind Horan) freaks out after finding the bundle of notes in her husband, Jasper’s (Chris Coy) pocket. Jasper lies that his uncle, Corbell Pickett, has given it to him as a reward; when the truth is Corbell has given it as a price for Jasper spying on Flynne and Burton through Billy Ann. Reassured, Billy Ann leaves for her job. But fate has alternate plans for her.
While driving, Billy Ann comes across none other than Bob. Who was waiting, under the pretense of his car breaking down, for Flynne and Burton to come after Flynne’s cerebral scan; which has revealed that she has bacteria in her brain, probably from traveling to the future through the Peripheral.
Bob could not shake the eager-to-help Billy Ann off in time. As a result, when the gunfight starts between Burton and Bob, Billy Ann also gets caught in it. It is however Billy Ann who, with a shotgun, helps the Fishers survive the onslaught from the veteran assassin. Burton calls Tommy (Alex Hernandez), the deputy sheriff, and Tommy takes Bob into custody.
Tommy once again asks Flynne to confide in him. But, Flynne reluctantly refuses.
The Peripheral [Season 1] Episode 5 Review
Created by Scott B. Smith, “The Peripheral” is in need of a pick-me-up when it comes to its main cyberpunk arc. Director Vincenzo Natali returns to direct an action-packed episode. It is the ‘Bob’ side arc that keeps the episode highly engaging. The compelling fight sequences are neat and elevate the story. The lack of progression gets thoroughly compensated via that.
This episode feels a little out of sync with the introduction of a new important character. Bob here is a conundrum. His introduction is too long for a passing character (the episode is named after him, so he, in all probability, is not a passer-by), and a little late for the main one. However, within a short time, Ned Dennehy and Jamie Chan (Writer of this episode) have made Bob quite intriguing.
The primary story, however, took a backseat here. But the ending definitely sets up major conflicts in upcoming episodes.
The Peripheral [Season 1] Episode 5 Ending Explained
Bob Escapes?
As Tommy takes Bob in custody, Bob tries to strike a deal with him from the back seat of the car. Bob tells that he is only doing this because his daughter’s life was threatened in the first place. Bob offers Tommy the entire ten million dollars if Tommy lets him go. Just when Tommy is about to retort, probably to ask him to shut up, their car gets tossed across the road. Seemingly by crashing into an invisible car.
Which indeed it is, as the outline of the invisible car starts to appear. Heavily injured Tommy watches a set of feet coming towards his car and dragging the unconscious Bob from the wreckage. As Tommy wriggles out of his upside-down car, he watches the invisible car leave. With Bob in it.
Cherise vs Flynne
Back at the Fishers’ place, Mama Fisher, Ella, asks Flynne and Burton not to rely a lot on outsiders. Outsiders being Wilf and others from the Peripheral. Flynne logs in to the Peripheral and tells Wilf (Gary Carr) about the latest attack on her family. She asks Wilf if she can trust him. Wilf assures her.
So, Flynne asks him to take her to the RI. Right towards Cherise Nuland. She finally comes face to face with Cherise. Or so she thought. Cherise reveals that it is her Peripheral. Peripheral Cherise attacks Peripheral Flynne anyway. Flynne, however, manages to best her. She leaves the atrium of the RI after twisting the neck of Peripheral Cherise. Message seemingly being delivered.
Haptic from Future
One important thing from Grace and Aelita’s conversation was the Behavioral Department’s experiment with the military in one of the stubs. As Grace showed, the experiment modified the brain functionalities of living marines via haptic implants. As one of the marines got bombed trying to save a dog, it seems that the experiment was done on Burton’s unit.
Burton’s unit is known for its haptic drift fighting. The marine that got amputated by the bomb has to be Conner (Eli Goree). So, it seems the Fishers’ lives are connected to the Peripheral even before the headset arrived.
