Wreckers – As episode two of Beacon 23 begins, Bart (Wade Bogert-O’Brien) warns the intruders that their entry to the beacon is unauthorized. One man begins messing with the electronic wires. Kaneddy (Marnie McPhail) reminds her partner that the deal was the stay in the debris feel. Her contact was very specific about staying away from the beacon. Aster (Lena Headey) asks Bart if he has any ideas. Bart recommends shutting off life support below the well. Aster doesn’t want to do that because it would kill Halan. Harmony (Natasha Mumba) tries to identify the invaders. She says one of them is named Madanchi Tritujuma. Based on her mass and bone density, Harmony suspects she is from the mining camps in the outer arms.

If they break the upper leaves, Aster is likely dead. Chick (Jaeden Noel) is reminded to pick up after himself. Bart is ordered to tell them to back off. Halan (Stephan James) watches as one of the men says he is in. Battle (Paulino Nunes) and the others manage to access the surveillance system. Tech Wrecker (Cyrus Faird) tells him that they have a warm body up there. He tells Harmony that he’ll be taking over now. Chick notices there is someone in the airlock so he tells the others. Once the door is open, Halan is hit and apprehended. They quickly realize that Halan is not the beacon keeper. Halan is asked why he was locked up. He tells them to wait until ISA arrives to find out. Halan tells them they have a safe full of Qubits at the other end of the beacon.

He argues it’ll take them hours to get there and the ISA will be there by then, but he can get there much quicker. In exchange for his help, Halan wants to escape in the bubble. He also asks for two minutes with Aster so he can express his feelings. Aster asks Harmony to take over. Tech Wrecker turns off the cameras to make Aster blind. Battle agrees to Halan’s deal although Chick is sent with him. Aster asks Harmony if she can do anything. Harmony points out that one of the invaders has a biomimetic interface and has contained Bart. They still have control of the internal hatches and the autonomic functions are firewalled. Aster is instructed to arm herself. Halan pushes Chick to the ground and escapes. Harmony tells Aster that another invader is Timur Ondi who was dishonorably discharged.

Battle attacks Chick and belittles him. Aster finds out that he has a long list of violent offenses although she argues it doesn’t help her at all. Tech and the others watch as Halan attacks Aster. In reality, Aster isn’t attacking her and is only trying to get her to calm down. He asks Harmony to scramble the feeds when he gets up from the living quarters. Once Harmony does that, Halan tells Aster she is alive because he is trying to save himself. Then, Aster is told about Dr. Rojan Kaneddy who was the Minister of Equity. They learn about the situation on Elau and how the population faced starvation, looting, and widespread civil unrest. Aster wants to get in touch with Kaneddy. Halan wants to open the hatch so he can retrieve some weapons from one level down.

Aster realizes she is going to have to trust him. Kaneddy and Battle argue about Halan being ex-military. Battle reminds her that he is as well. Aster goes with Halan to get the weapons. She soon understands that he is the weapon. He tells her that the implants start when you enlist. Kaneddy warns the others that they’re looking at a life sentence if they’re caught breaking into a beacon. Battle insists no one cares anymore. Kaneddy is worried they’re being set up. He knocks her to the ground before telling her to shut up. Aster tells Halan she always wanted a nano-blade. Halan says they should open the hatches to split them up. Aster agrees and orders Harmony to do it. Battle sends Chick first because he can’t do the other thing. Aster tells Halan that they’re coming. Harmony closes the hatches to separate the invaders.

Kaneddy tells Chick to help her find what they’re looking for. She suspects there must be something on board worth the effort. She doesn’t let Chick respond to Battle who is separate from them. Instead, she orders him to look for something valuable. Harmony tries to calm Bart who seems to be malfunctioning. Tech and Battle begin heading to the mainframe room. Halan confirms he is almost done charging. Kaneddy hopes they’ll find something valuable so they don’t have to do this anymore although Chick thinks she is dreaming. She doesn’t believe that because those people are not family. Kaneddy asks if he thinks killing someone is going to get him anything. Chick says she’d know before asking how many she has killed. She slaps him. Chick begins yelling at Battle to let him know they’re coming.

Once Tech gets through, he is told to lock off all access to the dock to ensure no one takes their ship. Battle is going to flush him out. Kaneddy picks up the stone before Aster gets in touch with her. Aster asks her to tell her people she works for the QTA and will pay whatever she wants. Kaneddy says that won’t work because QTA hired them. Aster admits that doesn’t make any sense before the call is interrupted. Kaneddy and Chick find the stones. Halan asks Aster if she works for QTA. He suspects she is there to steal whatever Solomon found. They argue about whether the QTA will let Halan go before he finishes charging. They move. Battle arrives and checks the room they just fled from. Harmony lets Aster know they’ve gained control of the hatches.

Seconds later, Halan kills Tech and attacks Bigface. Battle gets involved. Aster kicks Battle from behind and knocks him down the hole. Harmony tells Aster the wreckers will have control of the beacon. Aster rushes to the mainframe room while the fight continues for Halan. Aster removed the cord from Tech. Then, she approaches Kaneddy to tell her she doesn’t want those rocks. Aster says she has seen what people do when they’re starving. Halan kills Bigface only to be attacked from behind by Battle. Aster and Kaneddy talk about the rocks. Aster insists they’re worth nothing unless she has the means to blackmail the QTA. Kaneddy sends Chick back to the ship. They make him leave the rocks. Chick runs into Battle who tells him to get more weapons and more charge.

Kaneddy talks to Aster about Menelaus. She admits she didn’t realize what they’d have to do to stay alive. Kaneddy notices the Quantum Tunneler they have on the beacon. Aster gives her enough Qubits to get her two tickets to anywhere. She suspects Kaneddy won’t like what she has to do in return. Battle sees Aster so he yells for her not to run. He follows her and says she is just making things worse. Halan begins getting up. He goes after Chick who points a gun at him. Kaneddy interrupts and tells Chick they need him. She explains to Halan that Aster cut a deal for them to take him. Halan asks Kaneddy to take them both, but Aster won’t go because she only cares about the rocks. Halan refuses to leave. Kaneddy pleads with Chick to get on board while Battle yells for him to bring the charges.

He accuses her of letting dad, the girls, and everyone else die. Chick ends up shooting and killing her. Halan has flashbacks when he sees the rocks. Battle soon learns he has been following Harmony. Aster shows up behind him and stabs him multiple times in the stomach. Chick throws his ammunition down into the hole with Battle’s gun and says he spilled red. Then, he leaves on the ship alone. Harmony tries to get Bart to wake up. Halan gets up and apologizes for not being there for Aster. He admits he never wanted to leave. Halan says he can’t be alone anymore.

 

Beacon 23 Review

The second episode of Beacon 23 failed to build on the successful ending of the opening episode. At the very least, the first episode ended with a good cliffhanger. The second episode quickly turned into a mess by adding characters without really explaining who they were or their motives. Then, those characters were removed from the story before the episode concluded.

The series needs to do more to make viewers care about Aster and Halan before it throws them into life-or-death situations. That’s the main reason this episode wasn’t effective because any of the characters could’ve died without anyone genuinely caring. To make matters worse, the fight scenes are pretty bad.

Truthfully, Beacon 23 lacks charisma and just coasts through the story without building a rapport with viewers. Even though this episode was full of action scenes, it was bland because there is no reason to care for Halan and Aster. This episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Beacon 23 are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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