Badlands begins with the Berserkers, Ben (Connor Jessup) and Matt (Maxim Knight) standing guard for an alien attack. What they didn’t expect was a sniper attack from what’s left of the United States Army. Unfortunately, Crazy Lee (Luciano Carro) is fatally wounded during the attack and never recovers.

So long Crazy Lee!

Anne (Moon Bloodgood) is running tests on baby Alexis to try and figure out what’s wrong with her. Before she can take blood, Alexis cries out “Don’t!” then Anne turns around to see her standing up in her crib. Definitely creepy. Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel) catches Anne testing Alexis and clues Tom in to what’s been happening. Anne comes to the realization that Alexis may not be completely human.

Hal (Drew Roy) seems to be recovering his ability to walk, but realizes that something needs to be done about his alien implantation. He wants to run away and leave Charleston because he thinks that he is the mole. Maggie (Sarah Carter) convinces him to stay and keep the secret to himself.

One of the outcomes of the battle is that they capture Catherine Fisher (Luvia Peterson). This gives Tom (Noah Wyle) an opportunity to explain to her what has been happening and that the Volm are their allies. We also learn that the real president, Benjamin Hathaway, is still alive and leading his own forces against the Espheni.

Catherine Fisher

Pope (Colin Cunningham) is distraught over Crazy Lee’s death and questions Tom’s motives. His distrust has been a running theme for Season 3 and I anticipate that it will come to a head at some point.

Captain Weaver’s (Will Patton) daughter Jeanne (Laci Mailey) builds a “Liberty Tree” that the citizens dedicate at the end of the episode. This is a way for everyone to remember what they have lost and what they are still fighting for.

Liberty Tree

Tom uses this dedication to address the citizens of Charleston and let the people know that “Every single day matters and every single one of us matters.” He also reminds them that “the cost of freedom is high.”

Before they can finish the dedication, Charleston is attacked by the Espheni. This is how the episode ends and we are left hanging until next week.

Most of the episode focuses on the second anniversary of the alien attacks. The writers do this with the loss of Crazy Lee and spend most of the episode focusing on the character’s reactions to her death. I thought this was a nice balance from last week because they packed a lot of new information into the first two episodes. This one moved slower and it gave the viewers some time to process and catch up.

What do you think of Season 3 so far?

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If you missed this episode you can still watch it online here.