Not An Ice Cream – As this episode begins, the kids and parents gather at the school where the kids sing. Soldiers are shown shooting a man while the kids sing about chopping someone’s head off. It is two years later and the kids have grown considerably. Cassie (Synnove Karlsen) helps Evie (Indica Watson) gets ready. Susannah (Keeley Hawes) runs into Carol (Caroline Ginty) who tells her they’re waiting with Mr. Westcott. Bernard (Samuel West) congratulates Susannah and the others on the speed of the children’s development. Although they’re only five, they look and behave like highly gifted ten-year-old kids. He suggests it might be time to try to understand them better. Bryony (Cherrelle Skeete) gives Susannah paperwork as Bernard says he’d like to take the kids for more advanced testing at one of their research centers.

Susannah doesn’t think the kids are going to like going to a military base. She explains that the kids feel safe here so they’re not going to leave although Bernard has heard they’ve been asking about what is beyond Midwich. Bryony says the kids came to them at Ward 300 since they might not have wanted to upset her. David (Dexter Sol Ansell) tells Joe (Jude Muir) that he doesn’t want to go to his dad’s this weekend. Joe understands even though he thinks his dad needs to see him. He wishes he wasn’t his dad and that he was like his brother. Zoe (Aisling Loftus) and Sam (Ukweli Roach) feed the new baby before Hannah (Georgia Thorne) interrupts to say they’re running late. Before Hannah can leave with Sam, she says goodbye to Ellie. Outside, Curtis (Lewis Reeves) yells for David to get into the blood van. Hannah watches them through the window.

Curtis gets mad at Joe when he tells David goodbye. Rachel (Hannah Tontion) tells Curtis not to touch him as Hannah’s eyes change color. Zoe instructs Hannah to ignore him and remember what Susannah said about Curtis not representing any of us. Jodie (Lara Rossi) teaches a painting class in which she encourages the kids to experiment a little. She tells Nathan (Adiel Magaji) to express himself. She notices something is wrong before learning that he has to do some tests at Ward 300 on Monday. She suggests it is okay that Paul (Max Beesley) is going to pick him up and take him there. As Susannah walks with Evie, she asks if she is okay with it. Evie says they trust her although Susannah reminds her that she didn’t plan this. Susannah goes on to say she wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t insisted. The kids read about war and threats before Sam enters and tells them to turn the computer off.

Susannah rides with Paul, Nathan, and Evie. Curtis searches for David outside an old trailer. Once he finds him, he reminds him that they’re already late for school. David asks why he doesn’t live at home with mommy and Joe anymore. Curtis believes he knows why. The class talks about why the Incas shouldn’t have trusted the Spanish. Sam says there is a school of thought that suggests history is the victory of the ruthless over the naïve. The Spanish decided not to coexist with the indigenous populations. Connor says he is choosing to coexist with the kids. Sam says that is the case because history changes and humans learn. They learned about each other and live happily together. Bernard is there to greet the others at Winthorpe.

He tells them that 200 soldiers are based here and it is kept out of the public eye as much as possible so it is perfect for their purposes. They go to the research station where Bernard says it won’t be anything scary. Paul and Susannah are not allowed to go inside. When David goes to the school, he can’t get into the gate. Susannah wonders what they’re doing in there, but Paul admits he has no idea. He heard half an hour before she did. When Sam tries to make more coffee at the school, the machine shorts out. He checks on the kids only to find that they’ve left the room where they were playing chess. At the research center, Hannah and Nathan seem to knock Bryony out. Sam tries to follow the kids downstairs only to get knocked out as well.

The gate at the school opens allowing David to enter. He finds Sam on the ground before walking down the stairs. David finds all the kids standing in a circle doing something together. He continues watching until one of them notices him and he runs away. David drops his toy as he runs up the stairs and Sam opens his eye in time to see him go. When Susannah and Paul wake up, they notice the soldiers carrying what appears to be a body bag. Curtis returns to the trailer only to find that David is missing. David shows up outside of Rachel’s house with his eyes damaged. Rachel (Hannah Tointon) begins screaming asking what happened to him. Curtis shows up at the hospital hoping to find out what happened, but guards won’t let him in. Paul orders another officer to take him to the station instead. Paul and Susannah are allowed to talk to David.

Susannah tells him that he went to the school and left. David remembers being circled and attacked by the special kids. He continues repeating school. When Rachel approaches him, David asks who she is. In the car, Susannah tells Paul that he remembers nothing of his parents or life. Paul suggests it could be Curtis since memory is sometimes suppressed, but Susannah doesn’t think it was Curtis. She is convinced something happened at Winthorpe and she believes Paul knows it too. Susannah only knows that the kids are lying to them. Paul recommends acting like she knows nothing and make them believe she is their friend to find out what they’re planning. She asks him not to say anything to Bryony because she doesn’t trust any of them. Paul catches up with Jodie at her new place to say he and Nathan weren’t at Ward 300 yesterday.

He tells her about the military base for tests. Although it was supposed to be a secret, Paul doesn’t want to lie to her anymore. He doesn’t believe them. Paul thought they had this under control, but now they don’t know anything. He asks whether she has noticed anything odd in Nathan’s behavior before the boy interrupts with a weapon behind his back. Nathan tells them he doesn’t want to leave them. Sam remembers seeing David running away from the school. He goes back to the school and walks down the stairs where he finds David’s toy on the ground. He takes it home to tell Zoe what he found and saw that day. She suggests he throw it away and not tell anyone because they have Ellie now. When Rachel goes for a glass of water, she hears Joe telling Bernard that she stayed here all night. Bernard warns him it is a risk to the project.

Joe assures him that the parents think it is the father and the kids know what they’re doing. Rachel grabs David and carries him out of the hospital. Susannah sends an email to Earth Monitor telling them about the trip on Monday and that David might’ve seen something. As Rachel runs out of the hospital, she calls Susannah to say it is them and she is coming to her now. Joe notices that David has left the hospital. Cassie begins calling Evie’s name as she walks outside. Hannah walks past her parents and straight outside. Rachel has to slam on the brakes when she spots Hannah, Evie, and another girl standing in the middle of the road. The girls cause the car to crash with a metal pipe immediately killing Rachel. Later, Bernard meets with the locals and explains he represents Her Majesty’s government.

They’d like to accept full responsibility for what happened here yesterday morning. Since they let this happen on their watch, the children no longer feel safe in Midwich. Mary-Ann and Cassie argue that the kids only defended themselves while Jane (Marianne Oldham) says they were assured this would never happen again. Hannah says Dr. Zellaby negotiated a truce and it wasn’t the kids that broke it. Susannah says a truce is an arrangement between enemies before asking if that is what they are. Mary-Ann and Cassie believe Rachel was out of her mind. Nora (India Amarteifio) tells Cassie to give it a break because Rachel didn’t deserve that. Cassie argues that they’re children, but Stewart (Mark Dexter) doesn’t think they’re children in a way that he can understand.

Jane doesn’t want her daughter anymore. She complains that she spent five years colluding with their will and convincing herself that they’re God’s creatures. Jane insists they’re nothing of the kind before telling Susannah that she enabled this. Once Jane leaves, Bernard suggests it would be a good idea to arrange a staggered departure from Midwich for the children. The children will stop going to school immediately and plans will be made for a smooth transition from their current homes to a governmental facility. Cassie doesn’t think the children want to leave. She yells at Evie to tell them she wants to stay, but her daughter says nothing. Susannah follows her when she leaves. She tells her daughter that they lied to her too and they deceived everyone. Once Cassie learns that her mother took them to the military base, she walks away.

Later, Paul tells Bernard that the judge threw out their application for Curtis’s detention. Although Bernard wants to let him go, he thinks David should stay in Ward 300 under their care with no visitors until the children leave. At home, Evie knows that her mom is upset. Susannah says everyone is and Cassie isn’t interested in talking to her at the moment. Evie claims they had no choice because Rachel tried to kill them. She doesn’t know why Rachel did that, but they have to leave now. Susannah thought she knew her. Evie says there is no Evie. She is sometimes Connor or Sunny. Susannah suggests otherwise because Evie is the only one who always has that flavor of ice cream. Susannah asks why she and Cassie can’t be special like that. Evie responds by saying she is not ice cream. Susannah thinks they should be a thousand times more than that since they’re flesh and blood.

She thought living here would allow Evie to enjoy the differences between them. Evie argues that differences cause problems, but Susannah claims it gives meaning. Evie doesn’t agree nor does she believe that Cassie or anyone else is going to miss them. Hannah approaches Sam who has the toy. She asks what he was talking to mommy about before she went out yesterday morning. He claims it was about Ellie’s new nursery. Paul reminds Curtis that the government has a care order against him that stops him from seeing David. He’ll seriously have to do what Paul says if he ever wants to live with his son again. Paul confesses there are things going on that neither of them understands. As Paul leaves, Curtis begins sobbing. Outside, Sam approaches Paul with the toy. Susannah tells her daughter there are things she needs to tell her about Evie. She also needs to leave for an emergency meeting.

She promises to tell Cassie everything when she gets home. Susannah meets with Sam and Paul who says he didn’t want Zoe to know anything. She learns where Sam found it. Although the outside cellar door is locked, Paul has the keys. Paul and Susannah go inside and down into the cellar. Susannah wonders if something happened down here since David kept saying school over and over. As the nights begin blinking, Paul asks her to wait down here. He runs into two little girls who ask him why he is there. Paul tells them about the toy that was found in the cellar. They claim they know nothing about it before telling him to give them the keys. Although he doesn’t want to give them the keys, they make him drop them on the ground. He pretends he is there alone as one girl grabs the keys. She locks the door leaving Susannah stuck inside.

The girls tell Paul that they like him and don’t want to hurt him. They want him to come with them. Evie and Joe get up and leave after telling Cassie they’re going out. Cassie screams at her to come back, but Evie ignores her. Paul drops the girls to meet with some of the others. He is told that Nathan will stay with him tonight, he shouldn’t leave the house, and he can’t tell anyone about this. He asks what they’re going to do when they leave Midwich, but Evie only says this will be over soon. He is told to stay out of it. Paul drives Nathan back to the school. Nathan says they can’t go back to the school because they’ll know he is helping him.

When Paul notices that Nathan is cutting his hand with a wire, he is told that he is doing it to prevent them from listening in. The pain stops them. Cassie has drugs at home and drinks while trying to call her mother. She calls and learns there wasn’t a meeting and her mother lied about that. She gets a call from Ryan who tells her that the shop is open. Bernard shows up at the cellar and looks around. He doesn’t see Susannah there.

 

The Midwich Cuckoos Review

As we get closer to the finale of The Midwich Cuckoos, we’re left with more questions than answers. Nothing has been explained about the kids, their originations, or what Bernard is doing with them. Some of the answers are probably obvious though. The shaky camera in the show is being overused and doesn’t add any real value, but this seems to be a trend in modern times.

The sound effects are good and actually make certain scenes a little creepier. Again, the biggest issue has been the show’s runtime. Another problem is the overall believability of the story. You have to overlook certain things considering the series is sci-fi, but some aspects of the show are difficult to ignore. A great finale could make this a worthwhile television series, but it’d have to be spectacular.

The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of The Midwich Cuckoos can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.