Boone is returned to the world of the living by Sandoval, who hopes to use him to track down Renee on behalf of Howlyn. But when nanobots in Boone's blood are discovered, his sister is hybridized to become an Atavus spy.

I was looking forward to this episode, I really was. The return of Boone, who, as the 'previously on Earth: Final Conflict' section reminds us, was a great character with a lot of potential until he was unceremoniously killed off at the end of season one. In many ways, he was the producers' first great mistake. The problem here is that he doesn't seem to be the man he was. With everyone he knew gone, he has no-one to interact with that knows him except Sandoval, and his mission to make the former FBI man pay for destroying his life seems oddly out of character. These are issues that he got out of his system during season one. The fact that Boone has somewhere become a lover not a fighter is an even bigger surprise as he makes comments about how gorgeous Street is and snogs Renee.

This is a huge error. Firstly there's no chemistry between the pair at all, and two scenes later they're shouting each other down as if nothing's happened. Secondly, what is the point? Boone's back and the last thing the viewers want to see is him turned into a himbo love interest for Renee. It seems he's become a shadow of his former self, all intelligence robbed from him, and he's reduced to being a 'mighty warrior'. Sandoval's reasons for returning him to the world are spurious at best, not to mention the fact that his whereabouts for three years is utterly unexplained. Does this mean anyone who's ever been in one of those blue tanks could be brought back at any moment? And what's happened to Boone's CVI and skrill? More to the point, what's happened to Sandoval's after his efforts last season to keep? We've had no explanation of this at all.

The introduction of Boone's sister is purely so she can be hybridized and killed, something pretty obvious from the start. What's especially annoying, however, is the way that when the viewer knows exactly what's happened to her, she's still made out to be a goodie for most of the episode, showing little sign of wanting to kill Boone until the climax of the last act. Why? Who told her when was a good time to kill him? It also seems vindictive to kill off Boone's only other link to the real world rather than giving him a happy ending. Admittedly I'd still rather have him as the series' lead than Renee, but not in the form he appears here. Hugely disappointing.

***

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