Lourdes the Mole
Hey folks! Hopefully you are getting as excited and wistful about the season finale tonight as the rest of us!
Contributing Author Justin stops by to give us his take on Lourdes’ outing as the mole last week,
ContriMole? It’s a Beauty Mark!
Hey folks! I realized I’ve been mostly mum on my impressions of season 3, and I’ve decided to break my silence. Suffice it to say, I thought season 2 was as good as it gets, and now, thinking back on it, I realize how wrong I was. Each season seems to be a marked improvement over the last and if that trend continues then I can’t wait for what season 4 has in store for us! But enough on that, my fanboy rants aren’t what I came here for. You want an actual story, and so I shall give you one! I noticed a shameful lack of (SPOILER ALERT) Lourdes-is-the-mole reactions and decided that I, the seeming sole Lourdes lover in the universe, should be the one to rectify that.
So let me start by saying, yes, Lourdes is the mole. I realize that I attempted to debunk that theory in my last post about the various mole suspects, but apparently the writers are (a) smarter than I or (b) ignoring a glaring plot hole. I like (b) better because it makes me seem more intelligent. And also not crazy. But anyway, if you read the article, I pointed out that Lourdes was in the delivery room with Anne when Manchester was shot. At least we can assume so, as Anne went into labor shortly before Manchester’s death. Maybe Lourdes excused herself to get a drink of water? “I know your freaky, half-alien spawn-of-the-devil is about to come out, Anne, but could you hold on one second? I’m really thirsty. FOR BLOOD.” Or maybe she cloned herself? “IT’S ALIVE! Now, my evil Lourdes doppelganger, go forth and bring death upon Arthur Manchester and together, you and I shall rule Charleston together!” On the other hand, I could be wrong. Maybe Anne was having a bit of trouble pushing Lexi out (though I’m sure the child could have clawed her way out given the chance) and Lourdes decided to “wait and see” as is so often the case with women going into labor (I have lots of cousins, ok?). At that point, she would have had plenty of opportunity to gun Manchester down while Tom and the Mason boys sat in the delivery room.
The other theory is that Lourdes wasn’t the one who killed Manchester…Marina was. At least she would probably be the most likely one if it wasn’t our resident mole. In her quest for power, she decided to eliminate Tom’s candidates for vice president, knowing he’d be forced to select her instead. From there, it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump (and some arsenic) to the big seat. She may not be a mole, just a power hungry you-know-what. It’s pure coincidence that Lourdes was going around wreaking havoc.
But that’s enough conspiracy-theories for this post. I’d like to delve into why Evil Lourdes is a good thing now. Well let’s start with how well Seychelle Gabriel played off the Evil Lourdes part. After we, the viewers, discover Lourdes is the unwilling alien vessel carrying out acts of violence in Charleston, everything the once-innocent medic did was tinged with a sinister tone. Her smiles, her ‘kindness,’ and her attempts to help people all had a nuanced darkness about them that Ms. Gabriel did a fantastic job portraying. It was just dark enough that we would know she was alien-altered, but still on point enough to believable fool the other characters. That self-satisfied smirk on her face after the conference with Marina and Weaver regarding President Hathaway’s death? Superb.
Now I openly admit I was in love with Lourdes from the beginning. I always felt that her character had a lot of unexplored potential. While the religious aspect irked a lot of people, let’s face it—some people have faith in this world and that faith does get them through trying circumstances. So while it may have annoyed a large part of the viewing populace that she was religious, it isn’t beyond the realm of believability. When the world’s been shot to hell, some people cling to whatever it takes to keep their sanity (and/or hope) alive. That said, I always wondered how long it would take for her to break this religious shell of hers, and we got a glimpse of that during Jamil’s death and half of the following episode. Then, she was inexplicably back to her old self, without the change in perspective most of us were expecting from her.
It seems that now, the writers have forced a change of perspective for Lourdes. She’s alien controlled now. She’s killed people. She’s wreaked havoc and harmed some of her closest friends and allies. And I love this new direction of hers. It’s the darker, edgier Lourdes. The kind that would charm you with her pleasantries and then knife you in the back. The kind that would slip into your bedroom at night for her own amusement and then slit your throat when she’s finished. The dangerous Lourdes. Some might say the new-and-improved Lourdes. And it’s finally given her something to do beyond the ‘let-me-help-stitch-this-up-and-then-I’ll-pray-for-you’ routine of her past. Even the religious aspects of her past have adopted a new, darker role. That scene with her in the chapel, kneeling in prayer as the bugs swarm her gave me chills.
Lastly, Evil Lourdes is good because Seychelle Gabriel gets more screen time. And I do love Seychelle Gabriel. Yes, I’m gushing now. But I do. It’s true. I think she’s a great actress, especially since she’s been handed some really bad material in the past (ala M. Knight Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender”) and yet you can tell she gives the role as much depth as she can with the script she’s given. Now she’s going to get the spotlight a bit, which highlights her true acting chops. And, as I said before, Lourdes gets to be involved with the plot now! In the past, her sub-arcs were dusted off whenever a little drama was needed. Now, she gets to drive part of the show’s main plot like Anne driving the med bus in season 2.
So what happens to Lourdes now? Well, the season finale is right around the corner. I really hope they don’t kill her off dramatically in this last episode for the summer. That would be tremendously disappointing because she’s just started to become a three-dimensional character! My hope is that she’ll make it out of season 3 intact. There’s always the possibility that evil Cochise and the treacherous Volm (face facts, it’s gonna happen) will execute her (I know Greg hopes that Denny will get the role of dramatic death by firing squad) in order to prevent the Espheni from learning their true intentions for Earth. But I hope the 2nd Mass either finds a way to debug her or they take her with them, tied down and screaming about how Tom is doomed to die. They could debug her on the ‘human reservation’ that the Volm appear to be sending all people to (at least according to the episode description). This would open up a new sub-arc for season 4 in which she seeks redemption for her past wrongs. It won’t be easy—let’s face it, if the people are willing to hate Hal for something he didn’t do, they will most certainly not treat poor Dr. Delgado kindly—but it would add even more depth to her character as she struggles to regain her place in the 2nd Mass and among her fellow non-alien-infected humans. That’s what I’m hoping to see in season 4 for the character. It would be interesting, and it wouldn’t detract too much time from the main storyline—just a few scenes here and there showing her struggling to reconcile what she’s done and make good on her moment of darkness. Maybe a few tearful ‘what-have-I-done’ moments where she talks to someone (any character would do) and maybe even a few suicidal notions to make her guilt completely believable.
One thing’s clear. If Lourdes makes it out of season 3 (and I really, REALLY hope she does) and if the season 4 writers have any semblance of sense (and I really, REALLY hope they do) then her arc for season 4 and the rest of this series (or her time on it) will be interesting, fraught with ups-and-downs, and hopefully win her new fans who may have hated her old, religious ways. That’s why Lourdes being the mole was a good thing. We’ll see if this comes true on Sunday. Until next time, this was a random collection of disorganized thoughts and ramblings by yours truly, Justin Mathai, resident Lourdes devotee. Take it away, Greg!
Justin is a Contributing Author here at THE Falling Skies Blog, often defends the weaker characters, and I am glad he wrote about Lourdes as she is a big part of our search traffic lately.
More of Justin’s stuff can be found at: http://justinmathai.wordpress.com/ and he can be followed on twitter at @JustoMathai
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As someone who has hated Lourdes since the very first scene she was in, I agree with you. IF the writers show any sort of aftermath and character development she could actually become a real character.
i have to agree with you but watch season 3 it is messed up
I watched the last few, blessedly Anne-less episodes and they were decent, one was brilliant, and one really made no sense to me. I can’t abide Dr. Chewtoy and her creepy spawn, so I can’t watch those first episodes. I just read reviews to keep up. Next season looks pretty bad, too, with Matt in some kind of Hitler Youth camp and the group divided. 10 episodes per season is not enough time to follow several small groups adequately. Oh well.