Directed by Thomas J. Wright. Written by Michael Duggan.

EPISODE RATING: (1 to 4) **1/2

Five months following the virus outbreak and the death of his wife, Frank is living in Washington D.C., and back working for the FBI. Still trying to deal with his grief, and Jordan, he reluctantly becomes involved with an investigation surrounding a shocking plane crash that resulted in the deaths of everyone onboard, including 23 children. Arriving on the crash site, Frank meets agents Barry Baldwin, in charge of the investigation, and Emma Hollis, who wants to work alongside Black. Frank and Emma soon find their investigation moving in other directions, following an explosion that destroys a house and kills a little girl inside. In the basement of the house is a pair of sealed caskets, with chemical warning labels on them. Frank believes that the incidents are linked to the outbreak of the virus months earlier, and children seem to be destined to suffer because of it.

The second season concluded with the death of Catherine Black, the possible murder of Peter Watts, Lara Means going insane and what looked to be the end of the world. Season three's first episode had a lot of ground to cover, and you'd expect it to be a thrilling continuation of 'The Time Is Now', right? Yeah, well, expectations aren't always vindicated.    

To be fair, 'The Innocents' is a pretty decent show, but it's just not the show we're expecting, or what the series needs. The plaque that started wiping out damn everyone in last season is pretty much shrugged off here. We're left with the feeling that it was ultimately a very minor event, with a small body count and no lasting effect on the world. This completely undoes the overpowering sense of doom and chaos that 'Time Is Now' (directed by Wright himself) perfectly conveyed. This feels like a major cop out. Sure, we didn't expect that the world would actually end, but we at least deserve a chance to pick up where we left off.

What's more, things covered in 'The Innocents' go against what we heard in '...Now'. For example, here it seems as if small sections of America were the only locations effected by the plaque, but in the previous episode, we hear how it had broken out in other countries. This show also asks us to believe that several people may have been responsible for unleashing it on the states. How does that explain the aforementioned outbreaks abroad?

Despite these frustrations, the show we do get is actually pretty good. The pre-credits sequence involving the final moments of the doomed flight is pretty damn impressive...although The X-Files had already cornered the market of TV plane scares. The show also ends on a pretty disturbing and tragic note. Another highly effective piece of action is the exploding house. The story moves along at a fair clip as well.

The introduction of Emma, Baldwin and Andy McClaren is a mixed bag. Emma comes off as properly sympathetic and rather green, and Klea Scott's performance isn't half bad. Thankfully, Baldwin isn't given the full on asshole treatment, although he has a few moments of potential jerk-ness. McClaren's first scene is surprisingly warm and likable, and offers the only funny moment of the show, demanding that Frank smile. However, before long, he's yelling at Frank for following his own instincts. He went downhill real quickly.

One thing that's rather unsettling is the way children keep dying horribly throughout the show. It's not gratuitous, but it sure ain't pleasant. 

When it's all said and done, 'The Innocents' may be a pretty good show, but as the followup to 'The Time Is Now', it's a massive disappointment.