Blood Drive: ‘Episode XI: Rise of the Primo’ (S1; E11)

This episode has more twists and turns than a set of entrails.

Director: Gregg Simon
Stars: Alan Ritchson, Christina Ochoa, Thomas Dominique, Marama Corlett, Colin Cunningham

This review contains spoilers.

It’s the final day of the race, y’all. Grace and Arthur are raring to go. Complete this final task–whatever it is–and they’re free to go.

Slink is in high spirits as he enters the arena, but his excitement is short-lived. It seems the sulfurous showman still needs to prove his show’s worth to HEART Enterprise’s endless group of executives.

“Many will enter. Only one will leave,” an announcer proclaims. The final Blood Drive challenge is a down-and-out battle to the death. Arthur doesn’t want to kill again. Grace just wants to leave. Slink wants to create the best finale ever. But what does the head of HEART want? He’s had his eye on Grace since before the race even started.

Meanwhile, Chris’s co-dependence levels are one the rise. He may have felt compelled to get to his partner’s side, but that partner has changed. The good cop and his sexbot girl can’t get anywhere until they deactivate her proximity sensor. So it’s back to HEART HQ and into the arms security. Good thing security guards are “dumb as shit” (Chris’ words not mine).

The pair quickly fool the guards and stumble upon something special. 

Back in the Battledome the HEART puppet master has revealed that he’s more than what she seems. Karma’s a bitch, and when you leave your little her in an insane asylum, then she becomes an evil mastermind.

A caged Grace is going to get what’s coming to her, until Slink steps in.

You see, that’s the thing the dubious director has been trying to explain to the suits all season. A story worth telling is a story that always knows when to raise the stakes. These moments are necessary to push the characters forward, even if the push takes them over the edge.

Back at HEART, Chris and Aki aren’t quite sure what they’ve stumbled upon. With every crack of lightening, an object appears. If only they had stuck around a while longer. The duo would have seen the Soul Reclaimator in all its glory. It looks like Blood Drive’s cannibal cars are greener than we thought.

Two may cross the finish line, but there can be only one Primo. The audience may have thought they knew the end, but good stories are filled with twists. 

Glory feels great, but a simple zoom out reveals victory is hollow.

Rating: 5/5

Photo courtesy of SyFy.