As the 6th episode of Station Eleven begins, older Kirsten (Mackenzie Davis) searches for Alexandra (Philippine Velge) while screaming her name. We see flashbacks of a young Kirsten (Matilda Lawler) searching for her as well. Young Kirsten finds herself surrounded by golf equipment and Gil (David Cross) sitting at a table nearby. He still doesn’t know her name and wants to talk about the book that was started by a Red Bandana. She was only chased by them or killed them. He says it was a bloody rag that people would cough themselves to death into. Kirsten says she lost the baby, but she didn’t since she is sitting nearby. Gil explains that Alex likes to run away before telling her they’re going to perform the Tempest tonight. He also recommends changing Alex’s diaper. He discusses the possibility of settling here, creating art, and stop running.
Kirsten admits she was distracted because she was reading the book, but she’ll get rid of it to ensure it never happens again. Gil is surprised when Kirsten finally tells him her name. Sayid (Andy McQueen) catches up with adult Kirsten to find out what happened. She says they’re stealing the mines and the Prophet killed Gil. She tells Sayid how the Prophet did it although she says nothing about why. He notices something on her arm so she deals with it. She pulls it out before suggesting the Prophet might have Alex. Sayid believes they should go back because she might be in shock. She notices a fire in the distance and decides to see what is going on. Once they reach the fire, they find makeshift crosses stuck into the ground. Sayid says one of them is Dieter (Joe Pingue) and the other is S. Kirsten looks down and sees a rock with her name on it as well.
She immediately worries the Prophet is going to kill the Traveling Symphony. In the morning, the others at Pingtree deal with the aftermath of the explosion. Dieter explains the gas station that burned was the rally point for the musicians so it could be bad. He is worried about Kirsten and Sarah (Lori Petty). He gives her a pair of glasses while a local woman asks them to stay for a few days. A drunken Sarah says they’re going to find their people and move on. They believe Alex is missing, but she isn’t and was crying with Katrina all night. Alex went for a ride when she was thrown by Kirsten’s horse so she returned. Sarah shoots a handful of flares into the sky to ensure Kirsten and Sayid will know where to meet them. Once Sayid and Kirsten see the flares, they realize only two people are missing so Alex must be with the others. Kirsten believes she is to blame for the Prophet and he is different than the other Jesus people they’ve met over the years.
He argues the brainwashed kids are terrorists. Regardless, Kirsten blames herself for stabbing the Prophet and not killing him. When Kirsten tells him how the Prophet was in Alex’s head, Sayid reminds her that Alex is an adult and she shouldn’t spinout over it. She finds tracks on the ground and decides to follow them even though Sayid says they should stay to wait for the others. Kirsten continues as she notices the clouds getting dark above her. When she finds a makeshift tent, she decides to rest there and read the Station Eleven comic. As she reads the comic, she remembers screaming for Jeevan as a little girl. Meanwhile, Sarah, Dieter, August (Prince Amponsah), and the others reach the gas station. They look at the cemetery before Sayid yells for them and tells them to come to the boat to get out of the rain. As Alex approaches the boat, Sayid reveals Alex thought she had joined a cult although Alex says she is already in a cult.
Dieter gets angry when he learns that Sayid let Kirsten go kill the Prophet. Sarah takes shelter before suggesting the musicians will be joining them soon. Alex admits she was going to listen to the Prophet until Kirsten stabbed him. Sayid believes she should think Kirsten since the Prophet has been using child soldiers. Seconds later, Brian (Enrico Colantoni) arrives with a comrade who has a gun and invites Sarah and the Traveling Symphony to perform at the Museum of Civilization. Brian explains their friends have already accepted their offer. He tells them about the Museum being comfortable, safe, and warm. He says Vlad (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) complains a lot before handing Sarah the invitation. Sarah has a change of heart and agrees it is a great idea.
Sarah confesses she has had enough silly danger and is confident Kirsten will find them. She leaves her glasses and the invitation. Kirsten continues walking until she spots someone running in the distance. She keeps walking and notices some type of structure in front of her. Her horse, Luli, runs by but there is nothing she can do to stop her. She finds a wheelchair before one of the Undersea comes out from cover and says they pushed the Prophet back here. The little boy has a space helmet on and calls himself Dr. Eleven. Another boy pops up and says David has invited her to join the Undersea. If she knows the prophecy, they won’t use chloroform on her. He instructs her to say it as more kids show themselves. One kid walks up to her and begins sniffing of her. Kirsten recites the words from the Station Eleven comic before the space helmet kid shows her the invitation from the Museum of Civilization. Then, the kids guide her to the spot where the Prophet has been staying.
Kirsten doesn’t think David (Daniel Zovatto) knew she was coming. She also warns the kids that he is likely going to die from complications since the wound was so deep. That upsets a little girl who brushes past and runs off. Several kids go after her. The kid with the Love shirt asks her to take David the medical supplies and hands her the bag. He says they came down in a low-orbit drop. He says an old lady down by Pingtree makes Acremonium. He leans forward and whispers to Kirsten that they like it when things sound like they’re from the prophecy. Before she goes inside, he encourages her to convince David to eat. She goes inside and quickly holds a blade to David’s throat although he isn’t worried. He says it’ll change the story if he does. Haley told the kids a different story when he was sick that the mines erased the past and that caused the Pingtree incident. He warns her that her friends are in trouble because half of them are prisoners already.
He begins telling her about the Museum of Civilization where there is real evil. He goes on to explain that they collect things and he wants to go inside to get something that belongs to him. David believes Kirsten is the key to getting past the security. He’ll take her to the Symphony if she gets him in. As David talks to her, he treats the wound on his stomach. Kirsten steps outside and notices one of the boys wearing Sarah’s glasses so David explains the troupe will be inside by the time they catch up. He explains they have snipers, electric fences, and other security to keep them out, but Kirsten can pretend to be an actor to get them inside. They step back into the private room as David tries to find out why Kirsten was upset when she was performing on stage. He asks what or who she remembered. When she asks how she’ll know he is going to leave them alone if she gets him inside, he admits she can’t. She grabs his wound and says they’re her family. She only cares about them. David steps outside and addresses the crowd as the kids cheer.
He tells them Kirsten is a member of the Undersea now and one of them. As the other kids rush off, a little girl grabs Kirsten’s hand and reminds her she is in the Undersea now. Brian leads Sarah and the others through a dark passageway while Sarah gets sick and Dieter demands to know how far it is. Brian says they have everything they need including Sarah’s glasses although Dieter complains they don’t work. As they step into a bright room, Brian promises that quarantine won’t last too long. He welcomes them to the Museum of Civilization as Sarah spots the musicians through the window. Sarah gets dizzy and stumbles around before telling Dieter to go outside with the others. Brian tells Sarah it is a nice place. He left for a while and came back, but he can’t remember anything from before. She is shocked to see that the elevator works.
Dieter looks through the window in time to see Sarah crash to the ground. He rushes inside to be with her and screams for assistance. She tells Dieter his soul is so sweet and she is glad he fell in love because it made him stop going to work all the time. Sarah believes they work too much. Later, the Prophet reads to the kids while they camp out. He says they’ve asked him to light the torch before everyone looks up while pointing at the sky. When a light goes across the sky, he claims Eleven is working with Lonagan. Once the kids fall asleep, David joins Kirsten who believes they should be making up time and not babysitting. David admits he can’t leave them because the woods are scary at night. She asks when he first heard the story so David says someone gave him a comic book when he was a kid. He read it, lost it, and tried to forget it. It all came to him when he needed it the most. When he says the blue spaceman calmed him down, Kirsten believes it has something to do with Dr. Eleven being a kid.
She theorizes it is the Rebel Undersea Leader K in the suit and she is in a time loop. David has never thought about it like that although he can relate because he is a post-pan just born before. They agree that most pre-pans lost their minds. He tells her about his father’s first wife being an artist, but she wasn’t his mom. His dad spoke Spanish and thought she didn’t. He had many conversations about how selfish and crazy she was in Spanish. He didn’t understand her art and didn’t think she loved him. After she left him, she called to tell him she loved him and they had the whole conversation in Spanish. She reminded him that he had never asked her anything about herself. Kirsten doesn’t think that is fair. In Spanish, David says he was selfish, but it doesn’t matter because there is no before. There is only what is to come. Kirsten says she doesn’t speak Spanish before he says he doesn’t either. Before he goes, he tells her about the infection game the kids play that is similar to tag.
David says the only way everybody wins is everyone getting sick. In many cases, nobody wins because the kids just keep running. They find some town, claim their name is the Prophet, and ask kids to join the Undersea. He wonders if that is how Kirsten knows the prophecy, but she says no. Alex is shown looking concerned by the fence at the Museum of Civilization. The Prophet leads the group toward the Museum in the morning. Kirsten talks to the Love boy about the Internet before he claims that is what is in the museum. He says it is on a little black thing that is small and the Prophet claims data is like a weed. Kirsten isn’t sure about that although she admits she liked Instagram. When she asks what he wants, the boy says he wants David to survive so the Traveling Symphony can survive. He doesn’t believe they’ll survive if the prophet doesn’t because they’ll find them.
He has been building the Undersea for 10 years and they’ll come when David lights the torch. The group is attacked by Red Bandanas. David tries to get the kids to safety while Kirsten fights back. Something is shot into her wrist before she watches the boy in the Love shirt get killed. She kills his murderer, but it is too late for the boy who collapses to the ground. Then, she finds herself surrounded by Red Bandanas.
Station Eleven Review
At this point, you’ve either fallen head over heels in love with Station Eleven, its story, and the characters or you’re just hanging on to find out what happens in the end. The series simply isn’t for me although this was a slightly better episode than the previous five. Nevertheless, I’ll play along with the mystery that is finally being developed. It was good they cut back on the time jumps and focused more on Kirsten, the Prophet, and the Museum of Civilization.
I am sure it is clear for everyone watching that David and Tyler are one and the same. It is hard to believe anyone would miss this connection unless they’ve been using the show for background noise. One has to wonder how things are going to play out when Kirsten and David reach the Museum of Civilization. Ignoring the book and its outcome, several things could happen. First, the writers could transform Clark and people at the Museum of Civilization into the bad guys. If that happens, Kirsten may find herself on a rescue mission.
Otherwise, David will be the bad guy and he could send a whole army of kid soldiers to the Museum to kill the Symphony, Clark, and everyone else. I still don’t see the whole art connection. I’d be more inclined to believe the show is about religion and how two people can interpret the same things differently.
Finally, I wish they’d tone down the sound effects a bit since they’re over-the-top. We shouldn’t hear anything squishy when Kirsten is squeezing David’s stab wound. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. All recaps of Station Eleven will be available on Reel Mockery here.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
