So, is Gus magical? Like, I know there’s probably some sort of pseudo-scientific explanation for how the hybrids exist, but he sure does have a few abilities that seem magical.
I would not be surprised one way or the other.
It occurs to me that Gus has the ability to make hostile people and things pause or even calm down. It’s not universal, but this episode features the second such time when Gus basically stood in front of something that might like to do him harm, and, well, nothing happened. As in, the hostile thing just didn’t attack Gus. I can buy that Gus can use his simple knowledge of the world to somehow convince people to be better, but why both a gunman and a tiger just, well, refrained from attacking Gus I do not have an explanation for.
Yes, I said a tiger.
Gus (and Big Man) were rescued by Bear, leader of the Animal Army, a group of teens who live in the woods and act like kids without parents always do in these sorts of stories. Big Man they lock away and intend to execute because he is or was one of the Last Man, and those guys are dangerous. Gus is treated like a king because even though these kids call themselves the Animal Army and believe in the hybrids, there don’t seem to be any around. Heck, most of them are surprised Gus can talk.
Meanwhile, over at the zoo, Aimee is raising a hybrid daughter of her own, a little girl some pig features that she calls Pigtail. OK, Pigtail is probably not her actual daughter since I don’t think she was living in the zoo that long, but it did seem to me that there was some interesting choices for entertainment in the zoo and over at Animal Army HQ.
The Animal Army watches Bugs Bunny. Aimee and Pigtail watch Animal Farm. Somehow, these both feel right but that Army might do better if they gave Animal Farm a whirl.
What it comes down to is Gus’s simple faith in Big Man, something I don’t think even Big Man believes about himself, is enough to convince Bear not to be like the Last Men and let Big Man go. There’s a coup, someone tries to release a tiger, Gus stars the tiger down, and he and Big Man get away with Bear, giving up her position as head of the army, coming along behind.
So, that Animal Army wasn’t that impressive aside from being viscous little murder machines in the woods at one point.
Aimee is more impressive since she takes in another hybrid, a gopher headed boy named Bobby with the promise of doing more for others.
Man, this is like a lot of people learning to be better. What could possibly…oh yeah, the Singh plot where he learns the medication to keep his wife alive needs a live hybrid to make and when a nosy neighbor finds out Rani has the Sick, it might get bad but Singh’s horse kicks the woman in the head at the exact right time.
Wait, body disposal means it might actually be worse. And I thought it was bad enough when it looked like, despite the apocalypse and all, that nothing could stop a HOA…
Gus needs to stare some more people down at this rate.
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