TV Show Review

TV Review: DOMINION: Season 2, Episode 2: Mouth of the Damned [Syfy]

Simon Merrells Dominion

Syfy’s Dominion Mouth of the Damned TV Show Review. Dominion: Season 2, Episode 2: Mouth of the Damned, takes Alex (Christopher Egan) and Noma (Kim Englebrecht) down a road they weren’t expecting. With Gabriel (Carl Beukes) hot on their trail, Alex and Noma desperately search New Delphi for an ally, puzzled by the one they find. Meanwhile, Claire (Roxanne McKee) befriends her would-be assassin, Zoe (Christina Chong), only to discover a seething truth regarding the V1’s she’s long forsaken. Concurrently, Michael (Tom Wisdom) struggles to maintain his secret as the town prepares for a sacred ritual to demonstrate their unwavering faith.

Alex and Noma’s little walk about lands them in a real tight spot…a face to face with Julian (Simon Merrells), ruler of New Delphi. When these two go at it we understand what we are dealing with right away. Julian is very convincing communicating what he wants from Alex after taking the life of one of his guards. The depth in acting in this scene places a gap between Alex and Julian. After Alex responds, I was shocked Julian didn’t just shoot him. His motivation is all-wrong and his response gives Julian no reason not to shoot all of them. It’s almost like he didn’t hear the question that was asked. Alex and Noma are supposed to be rolling with urgency and it never comes across while Alex makes his case to Julian. Egan is still struggling with selling his scenes. That issue we spoke about, character accountability… is becoming a real issue for this show. After all Alex has been through he still hasn’t learned how to be smooth or think about his actions. Most scenarios require that he play a little chess with his adversary. His specialty seems to always be knuckle sandwich or the better know…game of checkers. He and Claire have much in common.

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Claire and Zoe (Christina Chong) go head to head. This scene for a few reasons falls flat. Number one, when we first meet Claire…she is reading to small children. Her character was never battle tested or even prepared to fend off a soldier….much less hold a gun. So we have to ask ourselves how is it that Zoe wasn’t able to simply sneak up on her and just cut her throat? Her defense against Zoe was what you would expect at a sleep over party. Claire should be dead going by her life skills and who her character has been introduced to us as. For some reason, she continues to be placed in these scenarios where she comes out of character where needed and does the impossible. I was expecting much more from her in this scene after seeing who attempted to kill her. Instead, this turned into a tit for tat with David Whele (Anthony Head). Claire, framing David worked to get him out of Claire’s way but story-wise…it doesn’t work. David is the type of calculating person who stays one step ahead. To out think a person like his character…you have to be like that character. He is always plotting. That is not Claire’s strong suit. Now that she has him out of the way, I guess we will see how it all plays out. So far this is not working. These plots feel like something you would expect from an after noon soap opera.

Michael continues to amaze with his erratic behavior. Dragging an 8-ball needlessly to his death was sloppy. What if someone from Mallory saw him? His waltz through this town and with the way he deals with Laurel (Olivia Mace) just don’t add up. The film relied more on foundation from the bible to add depth and give the characters some grounding. Here we find Michael, who had a close relationship with God behaving like he never knew him. He would not be spending time with these misguided folks worshipping idols. I get the show creator wants to add fantasy and his own twist but sometimes it’s better to stick with the ground work that has already been laid. We see the show constantly moving away from the film and with that…the bottom of the ship is falling out.

Gabriel seems to be taking a break from being the big bad wolf. Not so sure why. He was the mallet in season one and now he is without hammer. After being bombed by Claire and the casualties it caused…his character should be very short on patience. He should be killing and moving like he has a mission in mind. Instead he too is walking through these scenes with reservation. I guess this is the way the show writers are going to build things into a pot buster. All of the characters are all suffering from the same problem…they are not who they were established as. We need the dark side and soon.

Leave your thoughts on this review and this episode of Dominion below in the comments section. For more Dominion reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Dominion Page, subscribe to us by Email, “follow” us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, or “like” us on Facebook.

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Brian Fire

Brian is a screenwriter and visual fx Artist who loves science fiction, drama and follows many TV shows. He is a versatile writer who is published and has written copy for: CompUsa, The California State Lottery and Princess Cruise lines. Every year he attends The Sundance Film Festival and the San Diego Comic Con filling up on his other passions…indie films, comic books and video games.
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