THE SWARM – Season 1 Episode 7 – SPOILERS

The research ship Thorvaldson, captained by Jasper Alban (Oliver Masucci), heads for the Molloy Deep where most of the Yrr‘s signals seem to originate. Aito MIfune (Takuya Kimura), who is financing the mission, has imposed a communications blackout lest news of the expedition’s discoveries disrupt the world’s stock markets. Riku Sato (Takehiro Hira) and Sara Thompson (Lydia Wilson) represent Mr. Mifune onboard. Sara thinks the Yrr need a more euphonious moniker, something people can pronounce. Mr. Sato does not say much, and, though seldom in evidence, seems enthusiastic.

An attempt is made to communicate with the phosphorescent Yrr cloud (which is not entirely dissimilar to the intelligent ocean in Stanislaw Lem’s novel Solaris) by beaming their own signals back at them with the cry of a human baby added in. Then Charlie (Leonie Benesch) and one of the crew make an exploratory descent in the submersible. They don’t see anything but do encounter radio interference.

When they return to the ship, elements of the Yrr return with them. This is only discovered after Alicia (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) is found unconscious in the launch bay. Dr. Roche (Cécile de France) establishes that the Yrr have entered Alicia’s body. (Earlier, Dr. Roche determined that the Yrr control other species by stimulating their NMDA receptors.)

Mifune allows a one-time break in radio silence to inform Alicia’s mother of what happened. We learn that crabs have invaded many places on the Adriatic coast, including Alicia’s hometown of Ravenna.

Charlie tells Leon (Joshua Odjick): “I spent a lot of time on research vessels when I was a child with my parents, mostly south of the equator [e.g.] New Zealand, Mauritius, Cape Verde.”

Leon asks if it’s her first time this far north. “This far north, yes. In the arctic, no,” she continues, probably referring to her time in the antarctic. “They woke me up one night. A storm. My mother told me everything was going to be okay. Put me on a lifeboat with some others, told me to wait for them there, but they never came. Everyone thinks I should hate the ocean; be afraid to go anywhere near it. But it makes me feel closer to them. Makes me feel like they’re there, keeping me safe.”

After broadcasting another message outlining how humans evolved from sea creatures. Samantha (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) receives a reply from the depths. The Yrr illustrate their own evolutionary past by mimicking the shapes of other species, including a hammerhead shark and a giant squid. They were never land dwellers, but a land-dwelling species might create such a cloud of aquatic organisms to store consciousness as a hedge against death.

Though they manipulate their environment by chemical means, the Yrr are not a technological species. They might have been as surprised to receive an intelligible communication from humans as a human would be to hear a cat speak in fluent German. The activities of people in the oceans would not necessarily appear (to The Yrr) to be the work of sentient beings.

Dr. Johanson (Alexander Karim) is feeling perhaps overly responsible for Alicia’s condition, so Captain Alban offers him comforting maritime philosophy. “Everybody on board signed on for this mission knowing they might not return,” he says. “When I was in the Navy, every sailor had his list of superstitions. Always step onto the boat with your right foot; never start a voyage on a Friday or change a boat’s name; never say goodbye when departing. You know, we all think we can see the world clearly as it is, but we don’t. We see the world as we need to see it to make our lives livable. Never say goodbye, and there will be no goodbye. That’s what gets us through.”

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All 8 episodes of THE SWARM can be streamed on The CW website in the US, on ZDF in Germany, and on Hulu in Japan.

* Last Updated 4 weeks ago ago