‘Homecoming’ Recap: ‘Protocol’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​You know that a particular television series is doing a great job in telling its story, when you simply cannot get enough of it. When you’re dying to know where its headed next, and your mind is swimming with the possibilities of where the story is going to go, the show simply has you and well, that’s basically where I’m at with Homecoming at this point. Because as ‘Test’ came to a close, I didn’t even hesitate to hit the play button to start the next episode, ‘Protocol’, because I needed to know what was going to happen next, for this was it, Heidi was about to return to the facility that haunted her and who knew what kind of surprises she would find in this place.
 
As it turns out, Heidi would only find heartbreak and sorrow in this facility, but not in the way that would one expect. There wasn’t a skeleton of a building waiting for her, one that seemingly carried all kinds of ghosts within its walls. Instead, when she and Colin finally arrived at Homecoming’s doorstep, they found…the unexpected. In its stead was the Mirror Pond Wellness Clinic, a place bustling with life and activity and well…confusion for Heidi. After all, this shiny and beautiful place was not at all what she was hoping to find and rather than accept what she was seeing at face value, she felt the need to dig further and look for some kind of clues.
 
Yet what made this search for knowledge so compelling, is that Thomas arrived right behind Colin and Heidi and while they went in the wrong direction, and deeper into a world of pastels, Thomas found that chilling skeleton, and all the echoes of Homecoming surrounded him as Thomas finally came into his own in this story, since he stood up to his boss, and broke into the facility, to get the answers he had been searching for. Oddly enough however, his best chance at understanding and getting the truth wouldn’t come from the remnants of this failed experiment, it would come from Heidi, because despite Colin’s best efforts to prove to her that her mind was playing tricks on her, a steady squawk from an old pelican friend allowed for something important to happen.
 
Because shortly after hearing that big bird honk, something clicked in Heidi’s mind, and every moment in this place, and every bad memory came washing back over her, along with a complete understanding of who Colin is and, this was heartbreaking to watch. Because despite a grand showdown in the front of the building, wherein Colin’s ego took a bruising, he still got away since Thomas could not arrest him and all of those memories and emotions took hold in Heidi’s heart, breaking her at last and leaving her in tears and well, that’s where we leave her in this tale, with sorrow in her soul…
 
Yet, what surprised me the most about this twist, is that we still have two episodes to go and everything is in essence out in the open with all that story left to tell, which leaves me wondering what kinds of surprises are waiting for us down the line. But in the here and the now, this was…an intense and satisfying episode, because at long last, Heidi now has the truth in her hands, and she can do some good with it hopefully since Thomas is by her side and well, at this point, you’ll have to excuse me. Because once again, I need to know where this powerful tale is headed, and it’s time to hit play on my Amazon app and start the end of this wild journey. Until next time.

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