411: Higher Devotion

Synopsis

The episode picks up where 410: Just Watch the Fireworks left off. Billy tells Dr. Simeon "sleep," and Simeon drops into a very deep sleep. He sees the stars from the sleeper hold rush toward him and finds himself standing on the familiar alien landscape of Soyland, with lightning in the distance and crystalline pillars around him. He sets off quietly toward some crystal rock formations to look for his wife.

Back in the bedroom, the others wait while Simeon drools in his sleep and nothing changes for him or Mary Beth. The Keeper warns them not to wake him. Tallahassee says he does not know exactly how he got to Soyland, and the group recalls that the radios acted up at the diner and at the hospital just before people were taken, so the radios seem to tell them when the one responsible is near. Dom is asked to use his "hobo powers," and the radio starts to hiss with static.

In Soyland, Simeon finds Mary Beth down on her hands and knees, digging. She is weathered and dehydrated, does not know how long she has been there, and says time is strange in that place. Simeon tries his Command of the Wizard to get her out, but it does not work, and he spots movement behind the rock formations as the creatures of the realm seem to notice them.

With 25 minutes gone and no change, Tallahassee decides that the only way he knows to get to Soyland is to be taken there again. He hurls insults at the presence behind the radio, which flares, explodes into static and makes the lights flash. Tallahassee sees a dark shadowy figure at the edge of the bed, hears a voice speak from the radio, and feels cold wash over him as the shadow flies at him. He chooses not to resist and drops unconscious; Runch tries to catch him and misses. The group speculates that whatever is doing this has only limited power and must rest between attacks.

Tallahassee wakes on the alien landscape, "like the salt flats, but worse," finds that his Flesh Ward diamond skin came with him, and runs to Simeon and Mary Beth, who are hiding behind a crystal pillar. His noisy approach draws one of the giant spider-like creatures. Simeon rises onto his tiptoes, convinced he is levitating, and spends five magic points on Smiting Blast of the Foul One, which knocks the creature onto its back.

In the bedroom, Billy casts Command of the Wizard on the sleeping Tallahassee: "Tallahassee, get your fat ass up." Tallahassee hears the voice echo out of the sky and feels the realm shake. As another creature closes in, he casts Sign of Power with his last magic point, tears open the space in front of him like fabric, and the three push through. Simeon, Mary Beth and Tallahassee wake up in the bedroom. Mary Beth is badly dehydrated but looks like she will be all right with fluids and rest, and unlike earlier victims, she was brought back.

Then the phone rings downstairs. The Major goes down to the dark living room and answers. After static and breathing, a voice on the line says "Corbett": it is Bernard Corbitt, and the call ends as the episode closes.

Funny Moments

As Simeon heads into the tunnel of light, the Keeper says he goes "Into the waiting arms of your grandparents."
When the others wait in the bedroom, the Keeper says Simeon is "definitely drooling, like he always does when he sleeps and dreams of his wife."
Asked whether he knows any hobos, Dom answers "Oh, I know a hobo. He's right here."
Tallahassee's string of insults at the radio ends with "You insignificant worthless inconsequential minusc you infantesimal spineless worm".
After the Keeper offers a guess at how much power the presence has, Runch says "That's that's way too abstract for me".
Runch says his power "would be pretty low," and when another voice says "Good to know I'll remember remember to attack next time," the Keeper admits "That was runch that was in the keeper that should have been the keeper's voice".
Asked how his spell looks, Simeon says he levitates out of his hole, and the Keeper narrates "you can tell what he thinks he's hovering in the air on his tippy toes".
After the Smiting Blast, someone asks "how does that make you feel?"
Tallahassee's Sign of Power is described as the "shibadir" hand sign, and the table jokes that Abe looks like a sign language interpreter.
Mary Beth tells Simeon "You can do that whole thing you just did on me later," and then "Your breath smells horrible, babe".

Notable Quotes

"This is Soyland." —Mary Beth
"I thought I should dig because that seems like the best thing to do." —Mary Beth
"Come at me like a man quit hiding behind your shadows" —Tallahassee, to the presence behind the radio
"Nobody can even remember your name" —Tallahassee
"I've made a huge mistake" —Tallahassee, on waking in Soyland
"Tallahassee, get your fat ass up" —Billy, casting Command of the Wizard
"Simmy, let's go, come on" —Mary Beth