The Edge - Recap

A new day starts in the town, and the automatic shutters on the hotel windows open. Meanwhile, Moira slowly and painfully removes the biometric implants from herself and the other prisoners. Joe then fastens a rope around his waist and slowly proceeds out of town, using ash trays to mark his progress. Janet looks at the fortune cookie slip telling her to kill her neighbor to win her freedom, and then runs past Joe. McNair and Joe follow her as she hits some kind of invisible barrier. Screaming in pain as burns appear across her face, Janet collapses with the two men.



After recovering consciousness, Janet goes back to her hotel room and examines the burns on her face. She then pleads with the observers to have them let her see her daughter Megan and know that she's all right. In return, she'll do whatever they say. Joe arrives at the door and notices that the damage they did to the door and the furniture when they woke up has been repaired and cleaned. She wonders if their captors want them going crazy trying to figure out the impossible. Joe briefly examines the burns on her face and asks if she's okay, and Janet insists that she is and goes to find the others.

The prisoners meet at the Shanghai Palace and Tom serves them a meal. McNair figures the barrier is an Active Denial System, which transmits high-intensity microwaves that induce pain. He figures the pain guns are positioned around the perimeter. Graham and Joe want to explore the perimeter and locate the guns. Charlie and Bill have their own theories about why they are there, but Victoria insists that her father, the U.S. Ambassador to Italy, is the reason she's there. Charlie realizes that her father is Franklin Fairchild, the former head of the CIA. She doesn't know why the rest of them are there. Bill wants to beat the answers out of the Night Manager and Charlie agrees, but the others don't think he knows anything. They decide to go with Graham's plan to explore the town and figure out who they're dealing with. He divides them up into search teams and has them look for any maps and other clues to the surrounding area.



In San Francisco, reporter Mark Renbe talks to his police contact, Lt. Robert Gomez. Gomez plans to list Janet's disappearance as child abandonment despite the surveillance tapes. Renbe asks him to investigate further, noting that Janet's mother Eleanor is acting strangely, and Gomez reluctantly agrees. Kat comes over and demands an update on Renbe's current story, and tells him to drop the investigation into Janet's disappearance. She wonders why he's suddenly interested in legitimate stories instead of shock crimes and tells him to get his story in by the end of the day.

While Graham explores the town, trying to determine the edges of the barrier, Charlie and Bill go to the hotel separately. They realize they've had the same idea, to interrogate the Night Manager anyway, and share a drink from a bottle of cognac.

Victoria and Moira go into a woman's clothing store and Victoria strips down and puts on a new dress, unconcerned about the cameras. Moira says that she's a psychologist, and Victoria offers to help find her a dress as well.



Joe and Janet go out on a balcony to survey the land, but see nothing but trees. They discuss God, and Joe reluctantly admits that he believes in God but he doesn't plan on waiting for divine intervention. Janet insists that she has to find her daughter.

Eleanor goes upstairs to find Megan and notes that she lost some pieces from a puzzle. She throws the puzzle in the garbage and tells Megan to report to her when she's done playing so they can talk about respecting other people's property.

Everyone meets back at the hotel to compare notes. Charlie and Bill insist that they interrogate the Night Manager. The Night Manager comes over to tell them that dinner will be served at the Shanghai palace in an hour. Victoria and Janet go to their rooms to freshen up.



Victoria emerges from her bath and finds a jar with a chrysalis inside. Her fortune cookie fortune is next to it, referring to how she will get a high prize or award. Moira comes in, wearing her new dress, and Victoria shows her the jar. Moira easily identifies it as belonging to the painted lady butterfly. Victoria accuses her of putting the jar there, but Moira denies it and Victoria accepts her claim. She figures that her father is torturing her with a metaphor and starts to throw it away, but Moira asks to take care of it and Victoria turns it over to her.



Bill and Charlie go into the Night Manager's officer, closing the door behind him.

Janet finds a gun in her room, and photos of Megan. There is a new note, telling her to kill Joe in return for her freedom. As she glares up at the camera, she hears the Night Manager yelling from the street. She runs down to where Charlie and Bill are pointing a gun at the beaten Night Manager and forcing him toward the ADS barrier. Graham and Joe arrive, and Joe notes that "They" would have intervened by now. Graham grabs the gun from Bill, and the Night Manager makes a break for it through the barrier. He's unharmed, but Charlie collapses when he goes after it. Janet tries to rescue him and is knocked out as well.

After they pull Charlie and Janet back, the prisoners go back to the hotel. Joe wonders to Graham if they should have tortured the Night Manager anyway. They both agree that torture wouldn't have worked. Graham notes that Joe isn't trying hard enough, and calls him "Sir."

Victoria is in her room remembering a drunken conversation at a party where she told her father that he'd pay for what he did. Moira comes in and suggests that Victoria is suffering from depression. She tries to cheer her up by showing her the painted lady, which has emerged from its chrysalis. Moira suggests they free it, and Victoria agrees.

Renbe meets Gomez in a bar and gives him a file on Janet's issues with her ex-husband, who left her while she was pregnant with Megan. As Renbe leaves, Edick attacks him and demands the file at gunpoint. The reporter turns it over and figures that Edick's client is Eleanor. Edick knocks him out and leaves him in the alleyway.



As a storm rolls in on the town, the prisoners gather at the Shanghai Palace. Moira talks about the chrysalis appearing in Victoria's room, along with the fortune she received. She asks the others if anything showed up in their rooms and everyone denies it, including Janet. Victoria insists that it's her father, messing with her, and it's all about her. Lightning strikes one of the ADR emitters and they realize they have a chance to escape. Charlie runs off, and Victoria spots the restaurant van. Bill volunteers to hotwire it and Moira goes into the restaurant to distract the kitchen staff by going berserk.



Bill gets the van going and prepares to drive off. Victoria insists on going back for Moira. They pick up Charlie on the way out of town and then drive past the ADS barrier and into the surrounding woods.

Renbe comes to see Kat, who admits she was worried about him. They kiss and he tells her that he's dropping the abduction story. Renbe dismisses his head injury as an accident and they go to the bedroom.

As the prisoners drive through the woods, they make their plans. Janet and Charlie both vow to make the people who abducted them pay, while Victoria congratulates Moira on her bravery. A bright light appears ahead of them, and Janet insists they keep going. They hit the light… and find themselves back in the town. As they drive to the hotel, the rain stops and the Night Manager greets them. They walk past him without a word and go to their rooms.



The next morning, Graham bows toward Mecca. Charlie reads the Bible and contemplates the burn on his face. Charlie brushes his teeth. Victoria and Moira release the butterfly, which flies into the barrier and is immediately killed. As Victoria walks away, unhappy that Moira's psychological suggestion didn't work, Moira admits that she is actually a psychiatric patient and apologizes. She promises to do better about telling the truth in the future and begs for a second chance, but Victoria walks away.

In her hotel room, Janet looks at the photos of Megan and contemplates the gun. The phone rings and Janet hears Megan on the other end. The line is filled with static, and Megan talks to her mother on Eleanor's house phone. Eleanor comes in and takes the phone, but when she can't identify Janet over the static, she hangs up.



Joe hears a knock at his door and finds Janet with the gun. She backs him into the room and demands an explanation. He promises to help her escape so she can find Megan, and Janet tells him to stop talking. She then calls up to the camera, asking if they want Joe dead so she can get her daughter back. Joe tries to get through to her, but she aims the gun and shoots.

The others hear the gunshots. In the room, Janet finishes shooting the surveillance camera. She insists that they're not rats in a maze, and promises their captors that if they do anything to Megan, they'll wish they killed Janet. As she leaves and Joe goes after her, a new camera drops from the ceiling to replace the broken one.



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