‘Homecoming’ Recap: ‘Giant’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM. YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

What truly makes Amazon’s Homecoming such a fascinating television series, is the sheer fact that it is so unconventional in how it tells its story. Because normally TV shows stick to a theme or a concept in order to help their story unfold and to help their characters learn and grow. But this series, well it simply thrives within the wonder of chaos. For the story can and will go in any direction at any given time in order to keep things as interesting as possible and for proof of how dedicated the series is to this particular format, then look no further than the next chapter of this fascinating saga.
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For ‘Giant’ is filled to the brim with rich mystery, and unexpected world building and of course, big-time surprises and it manages to provide the audience with all of those elements in a seamless and organic fashion, and well, the best place to start in breaking down this glorious episode, is to talk about that mystery. Because that is indeed what draws us into this tale, since Jackie works hard in this story to uncover more information about the mysterious man named Alex. Who as it turns out, left his car at the motel, allowing for Jackie to figure out where the man lives and that prompts her to check out his place and she runs into quite the surprise upon her arrival.

Because Audrey Temple, the woman who took over for Colin at the end of season one, was waiting inside Alex’s home, and frantically calling him to see if some ominous job was complete. One that no doubt involved harming Jackie and well, upon hearing Audrey’s desperate pleas to Alex, it dawned on Jackie to try something daring in order to get some answers. Which prompted her to follow Audrey to Geist headquarters and that’s when the world building came into play. Because while poor Jackie was stuck sniffing citrus aromas in a testing group after ‘sneaking’ into Geist, Audrey made the time to talk with Leonard Geist, wherein the audience came to learn that things had gone badly for this conglomerate following the Homecoming Initiative incident.

In fact, another company was stepping in to handle the business, something that clearly pissed off Geist to no end and it motivated him to deliver an embarrassing speech at a ceremony designed to welcome Geist’s new overlords, in the hopes of stopping that transition, to no avail. And it was just fascinating to learn that consequences did indeed come out of season one’s mess, and that subtle world building is what led to the surprise in question. Because eventually Audrey and Jackie came face to face with one another during the ceremony, which should have meant trouble for Jackie. But instead, she was greeted with a passionate kiss, and expressions of worry and Audrey even referred to Jackie, as Alex, which brings up all kinds of questions when all is said and done.

Because it heavily implies that Jackie/Alex was the aggressor in this incident by the lake, and that the man on the shores was in fact, Walter Cruz, the man that Heidi Bergman gave a second chance to, by giving him a massive dose of the Geist drug. Something we were able to infer when Audrey inquired about his fate as well. Which means there is a strong chance that our protagonist is an agent for Geist, one that was tasked with making sure that Walter wouldn’t cause them any trouble going forward, and that is one hell of a twist. Either way, this was quite the fascinating tale, because it really did take us on a roller-coaster ride and it definitely leaves you hungry for more, since you’re dying to learn exactly what the heck is going on, and it should be fascinating to see what kinds of additional twists and turns this story is going to provide us with as season two rolls along. Until next time.    

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