With next week’s big finale pending, everything is swiftly falling into place. Plotlines that began even in the first episode are slowly coming to light, and characters all around are starting to realize the extent of the mistakes they’ve made.
But first: “Filibuster” takes place three weeks after the events of “Palace Intrigue.” We first see that Sterling has been thrown in jail, along with the Calderons (who are apparently swingers now).
They were all thrown in jail by the new dictator of San Marcos… Cyril. It looks like he didn’t bring in the tank for nothing. Him rising to his position of power is very un-Cyril-like, but given the abuse he’s suffered over the years, it’s no wonder he’s finally indulging in a little power fantasy.
As the situation slowly reveals itself, we see that while Sterling and Lana want to leave the war-torn nation, Cherlene, Malory, Pam and Ray seem completely content to stay. It’s at this point, as Pam is consuming a “coca smoothie” that the episode’s first big realization happens — Pam finally acknowledges not only that she’s addicted to cocaine, but that it’s actually doing her real harm.
What follows this is one of the most hysterical exchanges of the season, when Malory says that San Marcos could be their Zion. Lana makes a Star Wars analogy, and suddenly the world of the Bible and a galaxy far, far away are intertwined.
Returning to the action, Cherlene is thrown in jail and helps Gustavo and Sterling escape with the key she has, though she can’t remember why she has it. Sterling vows to join the resistance army, but not before the three take a detour to a zoo, where Sterling finally gets to see a tiger. Too bad the tiger also slaughters Gustavo.
Meanwhile, Krieger is shown to be increasingly uncomfortable with the activity of his clones (or maybe he’s a clone of them, it’s still unclear). As it turns out, the Doppelkriegers (as Pam so elegantly puts it later) plan to launch a missile filled with nerve gas that will hit an unknown target within a 2,000-mile radius. Krieger attempts to stop them, and ends up killing them all, but not before the missile prepares to launch in a mere three hours.
When Krieger finally rejoins his friends (who apparently didn’t notice he was gone for three weeks), he informs them of the plan, and ends Cyril’s power fantasy as they scramble to stop it. It’s then that the second major realization happens — Lana realizes that despite how much she hates herself for admitting it, the group needs Sterling’s help (“It’s Archer time,” she says unenthusiastically, and makes everyone swear not to tell Sterlling she said that).
Sterling and Cherlene arrive at the airport, where they find out that the leaders of the resistance are none other than FBI Agent Holly as well as Slater, who are revealed to not be who they say they are — they’re actually of the CIA.
Lana gets to the airport trying to get Sterling’s help. but the reveal of Slater and Holly being CIA is pushed aside by a far more pressing matter — Lana’s water breaks.
The pressure is now on. Will the former secret agents save the day? More than likely. Will they go back to being secret agents next season? Possibly. Will their relationships be changed after this season’s turmoil? Absolutely.
Lines that made the episode
“You’re pregnant again?”
“Ugh, second-worst wedding ever.”
“Thank you, George Borewell.”
“They should have sent a poet.”
“I’m not really comfortable with the Clone Bone.”
“He’s probably not used to leading.”
“Can’t or won’t?” // “Can’t!”
