Several story lines take a necessary backseat to the Adam/Ben plot in this episode.
Bridey and her evil editor are nowhere to be found.
Meyer appears only in fantasy sequences and in a replay of a scene weve seen before.
Credit: Giovanni Rufino/ABC
Clements must be making organic honey with his husband at their country cottage.
The spotlight is on those boys and the friendship they forged in their isolation.
A viewer advisory is earned.The Familydoesnt flinch from their ghastly childhood.
How long has Ben been in Dougs prison?
That information doesnt come out, though he shows Adam around the bunker like a proper host.
(He is not our friend.)
When Adam takes ill, Doug removes him from the bunker.
The actual season finale may find Detective Meyer opening up another bunker and finding Adam Warren alive.
In that scenario, Willas jig is most certainly up.
And Willa is already not coming off so great in this episode.
Theres a satisfying inevitability to the Warren daughter being the first in the family to encounter Ben.
Who else would be up so early, getting a run in before another busy, joyless day?
Shes never met a situation she doesnt ache to control.
She wants to reserve the right to drive what happens next.
Whats really shocking is Willas complete disregard for Bens well-being.
This is a person a child who experienced the same imprisonment and rape that her brother did.
She treats him like a tool, and Ben is used to it.
He goes along with Willas scheme willingly, until he doesnt.
Ben learns a new set of rules easily; hes malleable almost a cipher.
Theres a moment when Willas humanity nearly cracks through her shell.
Ive never seen this before, Ben says as the sun streams through the motel window.
Morning, he answers, contentedly.
But no, shes too far gone.
She actually truly believed that Adams return would make her parents love each other again.
Ben can be anyone he wants, she tells him.
Becoming Adam could be the only viable option Ben can see.
Or hear me out it could have been his plan the whole time.
How did Adam get sick, anyway?
The boys werent as chummy as they grew up and emotionally apart.
And the loosened bricks had been available weapons for quite some time before Ben carried out his escape plan.
Did Ben see that he had no future, even if he did get away from Doug?
He knows everything there is to know about Adam, he tells Willa.
Of course, that version of events assumes that Ben foresaw Willas invitation.
Its more likely that Ben had simply developed a fixation on Adams family with no memories of his own.
All he knew is that he wanted to be close to them.
Well, hes certainly gotten his wish.
The episode begins immediatelywhere Nowhere Man concluded.
But Willa immediately breaks down into helpless sobs, and Claire knows its all true.
They have the kind of fight that even blood relationships dont recover from.
Willa betrayed her mother in the most criminal way.
Claires son has now died twice, and theres no reasonable way to untangle themselves from this.
Still in a rage, Claire moves for the door.
Maybe shes protecting herself from the truth the way she tries to protect the people around her.
(I love you, Mom.
I dont believe that either.)
As a last-ditch effort, Willa feigns concern for her pawn, who beat her at her whole game.
She suggests that Ben deserves something from the Warrens for what he went through.
He may not be Adam, but hes the closest thing we have, she pleads.
Hi, Mom, he says.
She hesitates a beat while she makes her choice.
Then she embraces him.
