Call Mads
Episode 4 of Chosen begins with Emma in her room holding that strange blue orb again. It seems to react to her touch. And more specifically her blood. Needing help in deciphering what this means, Emma heads back to see Mads and the gang. He believes the lights and touch are a pattern of sorts, deciphering that the orb sends a signal out. It appears it could well be connected to the old sawmill outside Middelbo. Excitedly, Emma suggests they all travel together. Wait, didn’t she literally just say last episode she didn’t want to get involved anymore? This girl’s motivations are all over the shop. Mads follows Emma as she meets Lukas, wanting his help. Mads takes her aside though and warns that he could be Astraeus looking to find out what she’s hiding. He implores her to be careful and suggests she leave with them before she messes something else up. Although she listens to Mads and turns away from the mysterious Lukas, she heads to work instead. As part of being a new employee, a medical is conducted. Her blood sample is taken and a strange questionnaire asking her to describe herself in a few words is another red flag. In the distance, she notices Thomas watching her suspiciously. When Emma heads home, her mum has made some calls. Emma’s earlier plea about wanting to leave and get out of town has struck a chord. In fact, Emma’s mum has gone out of her way to find an apartment in Copenhagen. If she wants, they can leave tomorrow. Emma is incredulous and tells her mother she’s changed her mind and doesn’t want to leave. Not now she has friends and a love triangle to develop. And who better to visit the sawmill together than Marie, Frederik and Emma. The thing is, Mads isn’t actually aware of them leaving together. Emma is quick to dissuade the others from telling him. When Frederik heads out to investigate the sawmill, Marie tells Emma she needs to let Frederik down gently given what they have together. As Marie leans over to kiss her, Emma rejects her and slips out the car, intending to find Frederik. Alone, Marie is approached by a strange woman who appears and tells her she needs to step out the car as she’s on private property. Frederik has already been captured by these strange people, while Emma manages to find where Hans is being kept, courtesy of some not-very-well-disguised purple lights outside. Heading into the barn alone, Emma notices a massive orb covered in a tarp. Removing it, this strange, shimmering object appears to be an organism of some sort. On the ground happens to be Hans’ deceased body, which seems to be hooked up to this thing. Now, we heard Lukas speak of a parasite that wants to destroy everything so perhaps this orb is the original form? Realizing Marie and Frederik have been captured, Emma sets off one of the car alarms outside to distract their captors. This gives the pair an opportunity to leave… but in doing so Emma is left behind. In her absence, the gang reconvene where the truth is revealed. Mads reveals that Emma has slept with both Frederik and Marie, sending the latter out that night with a broken heart. As Frederik tries to talk her around, Emma shows up and guilt-trips them all about leaving her alone. As she once again leaves on her own, Emma is soon punished for that foolish action by being chased by a strange man. She does manage to evade him, but only courtesy of Lukas showing up. As they drive off together, she shows him the orb. Emma has decided to trust Lukas after all, believing he’s the key to all of this.
The Episode Review
One of the most important parts of any story is a likable protagonist, or at least one with consistent motivations. Emma though, is outright awful. She’s slept with Frederik and Marie, then guilt trips them both about leaving her behind when they weren’t sure exactly where Emma was in the first place. And no one actually challenges her about this! That’s before mentioning her annoying flip-flopping attitude about getting involved in the conspiracy and then turning away from it. Her motivations are flaky, to say the least, and while I appreciate she has a lot going on with that orb, there’s just way too many loose ends to make this a consistent mystery series. Hopefully we get a bit more character development in the chapters to come but based on this showing, it seems unlikely. Either way, the ending does inject some much-needed action into this, and if the second half manages to ramp up the drama, it could just save this one from middling mediocrity.
