The Darwin Incident

Episode 11

After all the *gestures* everything that happened in last week's episode of The Darwin Incident, it's only fair that this follow-up episode is a bit more mechanically minded in getting all its gene-spliced ducks back in a row. Can you believe it's only been ten days since the school shooting in this setting? I gotta wonder how much attention the news cycle has to continuously keep up with this developing story in this parallel universe. It's a big, realistic world, there are probably other local and international sociopolitical incidents unfolding.

The straightforward simplicity of this episode of The Darwin Incident makes it a fair, fun enough one for me to review, too. With the plot and storytelling still so at the forefront, there isn't a ton of time for the show's trademark sociological stumblings. It's not oblivious to them, but they're mostly naturalistic checks alongside all the nuts and bolts of the story continuing to turn. Representative Linares returns, making clear that while she nominally wants to help the on-the-lam Charlie, it's less out of altruism and more about that political maneuvering she's espoused before. It's a point that rings familiar to so many real-world marginalized groups who have had allegedly progressive politicians pledge support to them while campaigning, only to back away from those promises once they were elected. Linares is a useful supporter in this moment, which Phil notes and supposes that Charlie's parents were aware of as well, but she can't be counted on any further than the humanzee might help her career.

It sucks, because as an unpersoned person of a one-manzee minority, Charlie still basically has no rights. I feel like The Darwin Incident's invocation of "possession is nine-tenths of the law" is flattening things a bit compared to the complex real-world legalities it otherwise often navigates. But it keeps things understandable and the plot around Charlie's status mobile and easy enough to follow as the show stays set in sociopolitical thriller mode. It's all about getting Charlie into a place where he'll be under the custody of someone who halfway gives a shit about him, and if that means simply smuggling him into Phil's house, it leads to a tense situation where the characters have to finesse a police checkpoint, so I'll take it. Anything to keep Charlie from becoming the legal property of the state of Missouri—now there's a fate worse than death.

The show also has Phil make his way past said checkpoint by abusing his cop privileges and admit "I don't know much about the law beyond what I need to do to do my job." See? Commentary! These are engaging enough touches as the characters circle around figuring out what's next. Charlie's not gone for long, having guessed that the authorities would spread out into the surrounding mountains to look for him, so he instead stayed close to home where he could get in contact with Lucy and bum food off of her. He gets to affirm the love he had for his slain parents in his usual dry, detached way—but it feels authentic to the character, so it's honestly a nice touch before all the plotting keeps happening.

Meanwhile other plot nuggets are dropped. Charlie's biological chimpanzee mom Eva is apparently not doing great in terms of age and health. I'm wondering if there'll be any payoff with her mysterious arrangement of flash cards from way back at the beginning of the season before this one ends. The Darwin Incident loads a lot of elements like that, also including Lucy's burning past secret, some extra ALA members skulking around, and the exact situation with Dr. Grossman (which honestly feels like it'll be an end-of-series fulfillment). It keeps audiences guessing in a very thriller-appropriate way, with inclusions like a conspicuous amount of time this episode spent on Phil picking up Ghirardelli chocolate squares. What exactly is the plan there?

Not that The Darwin Incident is above little deflationary asides. Charlie needs moments like that after all the drama and tragedy that's befallen him. So he gets to meet Phil's wife, Grace. After an effectively directed tense fake-out, she treats audiences to unconditional cooing over Charlie and the technicalities of in-house toilet-use rules. It's structured and humanizing in a way that the show hasn't really afforded Phil's one-note "prejudiced cop who gets turned around" arc through the rest of the story. It's necessary, since it seems these people will be Charlie's new caretakers for the time being, but as was previously made clear, this isn't the kind of place to get comfortable with a status quo.

I continue to crack wise about The Darwin Incident, but it also continues to be on much better footing as a story to be told compared to its flailing from previous weeks. I'd even go so far as to say I'm unironically engaged, even rather enjoying it, at this point! I won't let my guard down, as I've been zinged by the whiplash in this show before. But for the time being, it's nice to be able to actually settle in and engage with it on its own terms.

Rating:

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The Darwin Incident is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Chris's favorite ape is probably Optimus Primal. He can be found posting about anime, transforming robots, and the occasional hopefully more salient political commentary over on his BlueSky.