Director	Peter Burger
Writers	David Brechin-Smith, Peter Cox	Tweet
Starring	Renato Bartolomei, Latham Gaines, Gareth Reeves, Kate Elliott, Danielle Cormack, Scott Wills, Sara Wiseman, Rachel Nash, Andrew Grainger, William Wallace, Lisa Chappell, Laura Interval
Genre	Thriller
Tagline	None Listed
Country

Review

We learnt in the last episode that Daniel has been spying for Edward North and was also the first survivor of the near death incident that Edward contacted. In this episode we learn that Daniel has been a driving force behind the unfolding events at Two Gardens, though perhaps he has started to question Edward's taking it all too far.

Daniel further points out Sophie's treachery to Michael and indicates that the commencement cannot happen without both of them being involved. Michael agrees to go into Two Gardens with Daniel in order to rescue both the rest of the Liberators and their friends and family. Edward North decides the time is right to launch his final solution.

I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed in the penultimate episode. While there are all sorts of revelations and we almost get the full story of what went down, the actual developments were not nailed in any sort of a cohesive way. It almost felt like Rise Up was treading water as the season ending extravaganza headed our way. While things could have developed in a “what do you believe” fashion, there didn't appear to be any theme to the episode as the clock ticked down to Edward North's insane solution to the planet's woes. While the flashbacks certainly confirmed a number of ideas that Audience members might have been entertaining, Edward's use of Momentum for his own purposes, the Observers being far more involved than previously thought, they didn't overly bring anything new into play. There might even be a sort of plot hole going down. If Michael and others are so important to Edward's commencement ceremony, then why does he seem unconcerned by Anna having been spirited away in one flashback?

An episode that treads water and lets down the entire season. So much could have been done with it.

Daniel, remember the Liberator who disappeared in episode one, returns finally and we learn he was a Two Garden's plant, primarily required to keep an eye on developments in The Glen. During the episode we learn that Daniel has a far more important role in commencement than we first thought and that he is certainly Edward's equal if not the driving force behind a fairly complex conspiracy developed to bring a certain group of people together. In a twist that will have some fans smiling Daniel discloses Sophie's treachery to Michael, who finally realises I think that he can trust no one. At the end of the episode we are left unsure of Daniel's loyalties, as he is either playing Michael, or Daniel truly has lost any sort of faith he might have had in an Edward North who has gone Gaddafi on us.

The major revelation of the episode however, and something we all knew any-ways, was that Edward North needed certain people for the commencement, and those people were not necessarily the ones he enticed through various means to join the Two Gardens fake community. It's right here that the Writers ask how far are you willing to go to suspend believe. While Saul had no where else to go, it seems a bit contrived that both Andy and Ryan would join Two Gardens, thus bringing the people Edward requires into the orbit of his plans. It becomes even more convoluted, and hence begging belief when we considered others, looking at you Hannah, were aware of Edward's end game yet played along with his machinations. So the question becomes, how far are you willing to suspend your belief in order to get into the season? I'm there, overall this season has rocked so I'm willing to accept some liberties being taken by the Writers in getting us to the final episode. But if you are one of those irritating people who like to pick holes in things, then you might want to go elsewhere for your annally retentive requirements.

Interestingly, or not depending on where you hang your thoughts, there has been quite the debate around these parts about where Edward North and the rest went after dying, we're hoping for a final statement in episode thirteen. Currently thoughts range from a sort of purgatory, in the Catholic sense, to the gates of hell (each of the people who have died have a few skeletons in the closet). About the only common ground we have is that what ever the other place is, there isn't going to be the answers that either Edward or Daniel are seeking. We also got down on the yellow flower thing and whether or not it was symbolic of something else, a touch of life perhaps in a lifeless plain. Unfortunately endless debate is available on this aspect of The Cult with no real answers.

Director Peter Burger rolled the dice on this episode, he needed to get the final pieces into place and offer the final background details prior to the season finale. Unfortunately in the process he dropped the ball, to mix metaphors, on the actual episode with none of his usual razzmatazz behind the camera. The episode seems to stretch out without really going anywhere, and no I don't believe Michael is simply walking into a trap, there's that letter for the local Policeman to begin with. A disappointing episode overall that dropped the quality and intensity that had marked previous episodes. Fingers crossed the final episode delivers on the promise that Rise Up made.

ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ...