Blood Drive: “Welcome to Pixie Swallow” (S1; E2) Review

Who’s hungry? I could totally not go for a burger ever again.

Creator: James Roland
Stars: Alan Ritchson, Christina Ochoa, Thomas Dominique

This episode finds our heroes screeching into an Arizona rest stop in Pixie Swallow (is that a metaphor?). They’re tired, they’re hungry, and they’re low on fuel. Time for a quick break from the relentless road.

Only problem is, this diner is both run and frequented by cannibals. Arthur gets hip to the homosapien meat racket while skulking around the diner, and promptly let’s Grace know that the corn dog she ate was probably a thick, juicy–just be on high vomit alert basically from moment one.

Meanwhile, a set of subplots has begun to move forward.

Arthur’s partner (Thomas Dominique) has been taken (captive) to HEART industries where he learns the company’s sinister history from Aki (Marama Corlett), a delicately beautiful robot with dozens of identical siblings who may or may not run everything. This corporation took full advantage of the massive drought that plunged America into its current dystopia and is profiting hand-over-fist with all of its many creations including the Blood Drive…

Slink, the creator of the Blood Drive, is also at HEART HQ for a meeting. He’s disgruntled and more than a little paranoid and seems to be weighing that question so many of us have asked ourselves: “Would I rather be fired or promoted?”

The greasy showman chooses to stick with his current career path, destroying his theoretical competition and finally getting to his meeting with–guess what–Aki the robot (or most likely one of her many siblings). HEART has some notes they would like Slink to incorporate into the show. Should Slink be worried?

Finally, some heartbreaking character development comes in the package of the Scholar. This mechanic has a complicated relationship with his racing partner, the Gentleman. A scenario that could be played as a cheap and ignorant joke is surprisingly given a bit of heart. After this episode, I’m rooting for the Scholar, and I bet you will be too.

SyFy has delivered another fun episode filled with sweaty cannibals, sneaky corporate robots, and an adorbs long-haired chihuahua. The plot is just coherent enough to follow without bogging down the gory fun; the acting is spot on for the camp-tastic style; and the cinematography and set design are working in lockstep to highlight the changing landscape while keeping the series cohesive.

Guess I have to keep watching.

Rating: 4/5