On this week's episode, we finally get some answers about what caused the nuclear holocaust. Big answers. This is a good thing, I think, because the mystery of where the bombs came from hasn't really driven the plots. The show's more focused on how the people are dealing with their current situation--how they got there has become almost incidental. So doling out answers doesn't derail anything, and it makes for a satisfying episode.
After his clue-in on Hawkins' FBI ID from last week's episode, Jimmy voices his suspicions to Jake. They break into Hawkins' house. Hawkins has a whole drawer full of IDs. Okay, that looks a little suspicious, gotta admit. Hawkins returns, and Jake holds him at gunpoint through the first commercial break, during which time Hawkins apparently holds really still.
Jake demands information, and he gets it. Hawkins and Sarah were CIA, assigned to deep undercover assignments to track black market nuclear warheads that were stolen and converted into small, high yield devices and then given to anarchists, domestic militia, etc., by an unidentified leader who's acting as a single source point for these disparate cells. This leads to a lot of subterfuge--the FBI busting the CIA, the CIA turning in the FBI... It all gets very messy, with Hawkins finally having to kill the undercover FBI agent in his cell to keep from blowing his own cover. In the end, though, the plan failed, and someone tipped off the terrorists. Hawkins was sent out with orders to detonate the bomb from his cell. He tried to warn everyone, but it was too late. After relating this story, he shows Jake the bomb buried in his basement. It was intended for Columbus, OH. Jake backs up Hawkins' FBI story with Jimmy, thus cementing an uneasy truce between them. In the end, Hawkins finally makes some connections and works out who the coordinator of the terrorist cells was--it was his boss, the head of Homeland Security. I made this connection when I saw the cane in the flashback sections--what took Hawkins so long? I guess he's under a lot of stress, so maybe we should cut him some slack.
In Subplot land, Emily sets up a school. Unfortunately, learning US history takes a back seat to growing beets in the bathtub. Only Allison stays, saying she doesn't think she should be hanging around at home, certain her mom doesn't want her around. But Darcy comes to meet Allison at school and there is hugging.
Mimi discusses issues with the chickens. She's working up to killing one of them for dinner, with no success. Bonnie's boyfriend spends the night. Mimi, trying to mother Bonnie in Stanley's absence, bans the boyfriend from the house. Yeah, that always goes well. She finally manages to kill the chicken and have a heart-to-heart with Bonnie. There would be hugging except Mimi is covered in chicken blood. Eww.
Elsewhere, Gail and Johnston deal with their grief in their own ways.
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