#Absentia Season 3 Episode 9 Review: Tenebris

Emily Byrne is a survivor, so enduring a strip search and a nail in her hand on Absentia Season 3 Episode 9 wasn’t a revelation, and neither was her reaction when she heard that Dawkins was at the farmhouse with Flynn.

It doesn’t take much incentive to get Emily to fight but threaten her son, and the woman takes the term “mama bear” to a whole new level. 

By the time she was done, no gun was left loaded, no Meridian guard was left alive, and Elliot ended up being the victim of his own deadly serum. 

The message here was clear; if you want to live, don’t mess with Emily’s kid. 

It turned out that Flynn had learned to take care of himself in his mother’s absence. 

I thought you’d be, you’d be more like your father. But oh no, you turn out to be more like your mother. I should have known. She’d be proud of you, boy. If only the outcome were different.


Dawkins

There was little doubt that the bow and arrow would come in handy at some point, my only issue was that I kept wishing Flynn would allow Dawkins to get closer so he could get a better shot. 

And it was inevitable that the old well would come into play at some point. Why else do you not fix a death trap like that unless it’s going to be used to take out a most dreaded villain?

But I was hoping that the wolf would make another appearance. Alas, two out of three isn’t bad, and we’ve got one more installment to go, so we may see that magnificent creature once again. 

Jack’s heroics gave Flynn just enough time to get to the barn, but I hope he survives his gunshot wound. Emily may have been furious with Jack for his affair with Alice, but she still needs her brother.

When Emily phoned Dawkins to call off the hit on her family, she was impressed to find that Flynn had it under control. Dawkins was dead, and an ambulance was on the way for Jack and Warren. 

I’m curious to see how this experience changes Flynn going forward. In the past, he was the child that needed comforting or rescuing. This time, he’s the one who took care of his family. It’s bound to change his outlook. 

Back in Europe, Nick singlehandedly freed the remaining refugees, including going back to find Rafiq’s mother, proving once again that he’s a brave man with a good heart. 

Cal hunted down Armstrong. Meridian’s head thug would have gleefully killed Cal if he could have, and for a while, it looked like he had the upper hand. 

Cal has been waiting for this opportunity for years. He took every ounce of his guilt and rage out on the unrepentant sadist until there was nothing left. Good riddance. 

However, it was Elliot’s final words that were the most alarming. 

You’re too late, Emily. She already has the bio-agent.
Elliot

What is the bio-agent Elliot spoke of, how does it spread, and what kind of havoc will it create?

Elliot felt no compassion for any of his victims; he only saw them as easy prey. Refugees were the perfect vulnerable population that could be used and thrown away. 

You know as well as I do that we live in a broken world. Millions displaced by war and conflict and disease. In this chaos, I see opportunity.


Elliot

Elliott said that the world didn’t care what happened to those people, and unfortunately, in some ways, he’s right. Displaced human beings have become the virtual hot potato in our society. No one wants to take on the responsibility or the expense of helping them. 

It’s so much easier to turn a blind eye and say it’s not our problem, which allows evil men like Elliot to treat defenseless human beings as though their existence means nothing. 

It’s a situation where apathy and callousness breed disdain and cruelty. 

Elliot said he had multiple facilities like this one. How many people have disappeared into them, and no one has noticed or cared enough to stop it? 

Elliot’s death was one small consolation in all of this. As he played with those prayer beads, I began to wonder if they might inspire a moment of Karma. When Elliot was injected with his own deadly serum, it felt like just that.

I had suspected this operation had to do with more than organ harvesting, as though that wasn’t savage enough, but the bio-agent is a new and unwelcome twist. 

As is the “she” Elliot refers to. 

There have been a limited number of females thus far on Absentia Season 3. The Nurse is dead, so what are the other options? 

Elliot could have infected Rafiq’s mother or one of the other refugees in the hopes of causing a contagious outbreak, but that seems too slow and not targeted enough for the mysterious Jericho.

Was the bio-agent somehow delivered to Julianne? She seemed broken up over Webb’s suicide, but could that have been a setup? 

Gunnarsen: Fifty thousand dollars wired into his sister’s account hours after Thompson’s murder from an unknown, offshore account. His sister died three years ago.

Crowne: Shady bastard.

Julianne’s the one who uncovered the payment in Webb’s deceased sister’s account. Julianne’s the one who kept Crowne at bay until they had more proof. Was it all a ploy to set Webb up and make him look like the traitor to cover her tracks?

The only other females that come to mind are Thompson’s partner or Julianne’s ex. Both seem like complete wild cards at this point. 

With only one more episode left, there are still so many unanswered questions!

How vast is Meridian’s operation, and who is the mysterious Jericho? Can the other facilities be found, and those refugees saved?

Does the bio-agent already have a cure, as Elliot made it sound like the goal of this nefarious plot was to profit from it by marketing a vaccine? 

Will Emily trust Cal again? Will Cal forgive Emily for turning on him just hours after they slept together? Do these two have a future as a couple?

When will Emily and Nick make it back home to their family?

And most importantly, will Emily Byrne ever find peace?

Hit the BIG, BLUE, SHOW COMMENTS BUTTON down below to share your theories and answer our questions, then let’s head on to Absentia Season 3 Episode 10 for what is sure to be a stunning conclusion. 

C. Orlando is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.