Zoo: Emotional Contagion Recap

Synopsis for 1×10: The team needs to get to Africa, but the law stands in their way. Abraham and Jackson enlist the help of an old “friend” whose assistance comes at a steep price.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

People in masks, stealing animals, oh my! It turned out it was the team we know and love wearing animal masks, stealing animals for no real discernible reason. Of course when an episode begins with something insane, we can expect to see the events that led up to it and Zoo did not disappoint. With the team in a tricky situation, the episode jumped back to just twenty hours earlier to explore the circumstances which brought them to their masked conundrum.

With the FBI hot on their tails, the team needed to think fast about how they were going to get to Africa. Making fake passports again wouldn’t do them much good, not with the amount of heat they’re currently facing. To top it all off, it wasn’t just Jamie the FBI was after anymore. It was the entire team, as they’d been able to connect them all. Now part of the “Most Wanted” list, they had to decide how they’d get out of the country and get to Africa. Jackson, as he often does, came up with the solution, even though Abraham was not a fan. They’d go to Florida, meet up with an old companion of their’s named Ray, and see if they couldn’t convince him to help.

It turned out Abraham didn’t like the idea, or Ray, for good reason. As they turned up in Florida and tracked Ray down, they found the guy getting the crap beaten out of him by some fisherman. It was revealed that Ray was letting their shrimp catches go, and had done it one too many times. The team appearing rescued him from further beat down, at least for the moment, but even though Ray was happy to see them his assistance came with a request. They would help him and his crew from an animal right’s group free some animals from a local zoo.

Even with all of their reservations, the team eventually agreed. Jackson managed to convince them that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to get Ray’s help and free the animals. At least they’d be able to get out of dodge for a while. They set in to help plan, though there were still tensions as Mitch and Ray (and Ray’s crew) debated rather heatedly about the purpose of zoos. They finally put the debate behind them though and focused on the task at hand.

Jamie stepped up with an idea, though nervously. She expressed a lot of doubt in her abilities and her plan, even after she called up and was able to get the zoo’s CCTV access so that she could keep an eye on the team from the base and warn them about security guards. Even though she was nervous, Mitch assured her and the rest of the people they were working with that she’d be able to do her job and that her plan was solid. With that set up, the team headed to the zoo with their masks on and began to free the animals.

While at the zoo, not only did they need to free the animals but Mitch had to locate and steal a certain piece of equipment that would be necessary to help them find a cure. Broken up into teams, they set out to complete their tasks with Jamie at the watch. All in all, it seemed successful, until Jamie managed to get two of the feeds crossed. With security closing in, the situation immediately became dangerous and she urged them all to get out of there.

Unfortunately, security was too quick and the team was cornered, thus bringing viewers back to the beginning of the episode. Even though they were supposed to be unarmed, some of Ray’s people drew weapons and opened fire, leading to Ray and another member of his team both getting shot. With the distraction of gun fire, they were able to get to the truck and get the animals out of the zoo before they got caught. They only left one person behind. Though their little demonstration quickly reached the FBI who was once again at the ready to track them down.

They managed to get back to the base, though not without some tension. While Mitch tried to get the bullet out of Ray’s shoulder, Jackson and Abraham had a little chat about Jackson’s poor choices. Harshly, Abraham compared Jackson’s decision to something his father would have made toward the end of his life, which seemed to hit Jackson right where it hurts. The two parted, as Jackson remained behind to help care for the animals while Abraham left with one of Ray’s team to go check out the plane he would have to fly.

On the drive over to see the plane, Ray’s team mate tried to figure out why Abraham didn’t like Ray. He tried to explain about their history, and how trouble always seemed to follow him where ever he went. Yet the girl brought up a good point: Jackson was also in all of the trouble making stories. How was he sure it wasn’t Jackson who was actually the trouble magnet? They eventually made it to the plane after their long discussion, that ended with an offer for Abraham to join the activist group. He declined.

Jackson, no doubt brooding about what Abraham said to him, tended to the animals only to find that they had become extremely aggressive. They’d mutated, and it reminded him of something his father said about the mutation being a “spark,” and that it would jump from animal to animal. It gave them something new to focus on, and something else to add to the puzzle of the mother cell.

The FBI easily gained ground, as the team tried to figure out what they could do. Ray was passed out, and they had to leave. They decided to leave without him and almost made it to the vehicle, except Ray appeared last minute and held them at gunpoint. He insisted that it was his plane, and there was no way they were leaving the animals. Even if they’d become aggressive, he was going to save them, and with that ultimatum in place the team headed out with Chloe and Jackson stuck in the back with the animals.

What had been building all season between them finally came to a peak as Jackson wallowed in his guilt about everything that had come from working with Ray and Chloe insisted that it wasn’t his fault. Most of the decisions that had gotten them as far as they were had been Jackson’s and she was grateful. They kissed, and the animals became extremely angry to the point they were able to actually move the truck and crash it. Naturally, as that happened, the team had to get out of there on foot because the police and FBI were quickly approaching and they had to get to the plane.

They barely made it, leaping into the plane as it was preparing to take off. Only, as the FBI agent took his stance and aimed to fire, so did the female member of Ray’s team. In a heroic act, Chloe tackled her to keep her from shooting, only to have them both tumble out of the plane. The rest of the team took off while Chloe and the other woman were left for the police and FBI to catch.