The teens of the Institute gain a powerful new ally in the form of 10-year-old Avery (Viggo Hanvelt), an immensely powerful telepath unlike anything anyone there has ever seen. With Avery firmly on the side of the other recruits, Nicky (Fionn Laird) and Luke (Joe Freeman) begin trying to piece together an escape plan. But Ms. Sigsby (Mary-Louise Parker) throws a wrench in their plans when she reveals that another of their number is set to graduate to the Back Half. Meanwhile, in Dennison, Tim (Ben Bares) makes a horrific discovery.
The third episode of The Institute is now available to stream on MGM+, or you can watch it tonight at 10 p.m. EST on the cable channel. Beware FULL SPOILERS for the episode below.
The Institute Episode 3 review: "Graduation"
"Graduation" very much feels like a set-up episode for the remainder of the season, both at the Institute and in the town of Dennison. Tim rubs up against the Institute's many mysteries, and by episode's end, you know he's about to fall headfirst into the deep end of this terrifying conspiracy. At the actual facility, testing continues, Avery learns the ropes, and Kalisha (Simone Miller) "graduates" to Back Half.
As the kids try devising an escape plan, Sigsby grows increasingly suspicious of Trevor Stackhouse (Julian Richings), his plans for Luke, and his ongoing secret conversations with Dr. Hendricks (Robert Joy).
The opening scene shows Luke undergoing one of his most brutal "testing" sessions yet. Hendricks forcibly injects him with some kind of sinister neon green concoction that causes him to become nauseated, followed by Tony (Jason Diaz) forcing Luke to watch and search for the mysterious dots. It's all very A Clockwork Orange.
As we've learned throughout these first three episodes, the higher-ups see a great deal of potential in Luke thanks to his genius-level intellect. These tests are designed to unlock his telepathic abilities. Although the kids are initially labeled as a TK (telekinetic ) or TP (telepath), having a proclivity for one generally means they can do the other, too. Unlocking their full potential is what gets a recruit sent to Back Half.
Obviously Luke doesn't want to move back there since no one really believes that they get to go home after they've completed Back Half testing, regardless of what they're told. For Luke especially, his friends are depending on him to help them escape. That means he has to do whatever he can to hide his budding telepathy, even if means getting repeatedly shocked by Tony's electric cattle prod (or something similar to one, anyway).
The escape plan hinges on Avery's extra-strong telepathy and finding a weak link in the staff they can flip. With assistance from Avery, Luke learns that the housekeeper Maureen (Jane Luk) hates the Institute almost as much as they do, but she's also Sigsby's eyes and ears. Maureen provides her with intel on what's happening amongst the recruits, so Avery isn't convinced they can trust her.
Luke also discovers that Avery is capable of planting ideas in peoples' minds when Avery tricks him into getting licorice (which he hates) from a vending machine. I'm sure that will come in handy. And speaking of Avery, he gives us a minor tease about the ominous nature of Back Half when he tunes into a pervasive humming sound loud enough that it resonates all the way to Dennison and to Annie (Mary Walsh); more on that soon.
Luke, Nicky, and Avery start tracking patrol routes and analyzing potential exit points. The fence surrounding the playground is too new to dig under, but Avery slips into the mind of one of the patrol dogs and sees an older, rustier playground on the other side of the building. That playground's fence could work, if they can figure out how to get over there.
Before any more scheming can happen, a sickly Kalisha spills out into the yard, revealing she saw the dots and will soon be moved to the Back Half. They're running out of time.
Episode 3 culminates in Kalisha's graduation party. When it comes time for her to say goodbye, Avery hitches a ride in her mind as long as he can, catching a glimpse of the grim hallways leading to the Back Half, but eventually he cannot go any further and they lose contact with Kalisha.
Thoughout "Graduation," we also begin to see fractures forming among the higher-ups. Sigsby is well aware that Stackhouse is going behind her back about something. She obsesses over security footage showing Stackhouse and Hendricks discussing putting Luke on the "PC" track, but she can't hear any of it because Stackhouse is smart enough to mute the microphones. Sigsby even goes so far as to call her supervisor and insinuate that Stackhouse could be a security risk, but without any proof, he doesn't care enough to hear it, revealing that Stackhouse has said similar things about her. If he's tactfully ignoring Stackhouse's complaints, why would he listen to hers?
Tim confides in the wrong person
Tim's storyline in this episode is really all about Annie. That and Wendy (Hannah Galway) trying to figure out why he's willing to let Drew (Dan Beirne) take all the credit for saving the store owner's life during the shootout in the last episode. I think the show has already established that Tim is the best, most morally-sound guy around, so we don't really need to have this conversation again, but I realize the writers are trying to build more romantic tension between Wendy and Tim.
The more interesting part of the Dennison storyline is when Tim chats with Annie during his evening Night Knocker routine. Annie starts babbling about all sorts of things that sound like conspiracies, but she also mentions the Institute and mind control. Considering what we know, she's pretty close to the truth. It's also important to note that during this conversation, Annie reveals that she never drinks or does drugs, since she doesn't want to dull her senses and make herself an easier target.
Well, not long after that conversation, Tim takes a break at the local bar and meets Kate (Jordan Alexander), the (fake?) journalist/secret Institute agent who murdered the girl from the snatch team in the first episode. The second you see Tim and Kate together, you know that something bad is going to happen.
For starters, Tim questions Kate about the Institute, wondering if, as a "journalist," she knows anything about what goes on there. Kate plies him with the typical rumors about Bigfoot and aliens, but then Tim lets it slip that Annie mentioned mind control.
That and Tim notices a news report on one of the televisions discussing a plane crash that killed a senator—something else Annie warned him about and claimed the Institute orchestrated. Kate is very interested in this and, as you might have guessed, the episode ends with Tim finding Annie's dead body in her tent, Kate being the likely culprit. Annie's death is staged to look like an overdose, but seeing as Tim just found out Annie doesn't drink, I'm guessing he's not going to let this go.
Verdict
Like I said above, "Graduation" is a little bit slower than the first two episodes, as it focuses more on setting things up for the rest of the season. Avery, Nicky, and Luke are deep in planning their grand escape, Kalisha has been separated from the rest of the recruits, Tim will now be increasingly suspicious of the Institute, and the Institute staff members are at odds with one another. We leave things in a far more interesting place than when the episode began, so while this one didn't wow me, it certainly made me excited to see what's coming next!
Episode grade: B-
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