‘The Terminal List’ Recap: ‘Disruption’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘The Terminal List’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular question that we will all ponder upon at some point or another in our lives… is how far we are willing to go to exact revenge upon someone that wronged us. Because there will come a day when someone goes the extra mile to harm us, and they will hurt us deeply in the process and we are so distraught and angry from that act… that we harbor some ugly thoughts for certain. But eventually, the anger fades and logic prevails, and we move on, without every committing to that kind of wanton darkness. But the potential of what that moment could entail always piques our curiosity, to the point where fiction is happy to explore what would happen if logic and time away from the situation didn’t prevail and that’s a scenario of note today, because it was explored in the next episode of The Terminal List.

For ‘Disruption’ is an episode that saw Lieutenant Commander James Reece swing by San Francisco to keep an eye on Capstone Industries. To figure out how Steven Horn was operating in his day and how easy it might be to get to him. Which as it turned out, would take a little work. For he always traveled in an armed convoy, and he was rarely out in the open where he could be attacked. Plus, the feds were swarming the building as well… giving Reece pause as he worked to figure out how to exact revenge upon ol’ Steve. However, while he pondered upon that, some fascinating dominos began to fall. For Steve was eager to lock up the deal that Saul initiated a few episodes ago, so Capstone could begin to mass produce with that company and well… the ugly nature of this deal and Kelly’s pressing, led to some truths at last.

In that, RD4895 was designed to be an anti-PTSD drug, where memories would be wiped, and which clearly wasn’t safe for use on humans. To the point where Horn and his company offered up mass payouts in order to cover its failure and they tried to wipe the failure's evidence away, so that Steve could just send it out into the field regardless, because… that's the kind of jackass he is, and well, this discovery and the discovery of those payouts and whom they went to… is what brought about the revenge exploration. Because once Reece found out all the details, he was basically at a crossroads. One where he could let Kelly publish this info and bring everyone down in the press and through the courts… or where he could handle his on his own and enjoy the personal satisfaction of righting this wrong himself. But sadly… after teaching one group of bad guys a lesson, and with nothing left to lose, Reece decided it was best to handle this personally.

Which brought forth, a stunning finale to this tale. Wherein Reece built a precision bomb and assembled an intricate plan to teach Steve Horn a final lesson. One that Reece could have showed some measure of mercy with, especially when Kelly got too close to Horn on his way to his convoy, since that put her at risk. But with no filters or barriers left in his mind, Reece wasn’t concerned about her safety or anyone else’s. He just wanted to feel the impure and unfulfilling/temporary satisfaction that revenge brings to the table… and he detonated that bomb. Sending Kelly flying and injuring her before taunting Steve Horn face to face before ending his life and heading off into the night. Making it clear that a true commitment to that level of revenge, will always end in gory and ugly disaster and what’s truly scary about this moment… is that Horn’s death, will not serve as the end of Reece’s revenge tour.

Because now he has so many other names of people that profited from this drug and the death of his family, and he is so broken and so distraught and eager to find peace through anger, that nothing is going to stop him from making all those people pay. Which makes James quite terrifying at the moment, and something of a fallen hero as well. For he really appears to be on a collision course with disaster and his legacy could be tarnished by way of his ugly actions and that might make this story… something of grand tragedy in this end. But while we wait to see how everything plays out beyond this point, we can bask in the majesty of another powerful tale. One that really hammered home the dangers of letting revenge consume us and it moved this plot forward in a dynamic manner, one so compelling… that we simply must continue the journey post haste, to see what surprises and other dark moments await us. Until next time.

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