Tribe Leader Episode Recaps

Series 3, Episode 01

Previously on the Tribe: the Mallrats were going to confront the Chosen and bring them down. Unfortunately, they grossly underestimated the Chosen’s numbers and found themselves surrounded on the beach. Fighting ensued and Danni got hit in the stomach by a scythe thingy. The Mallrats quickly surrendered. Lex had conned someone out of a dune buggy and rode up to save Bray, but then the dumbass immediately wrecked it, knocking both himself and Bray unconscious while the Mallrats watched. Ebony meanwhile, who had decided to leave the city, was watching the whole thing from somewhere up above.

So apparently the Chosen decided to leave the overturned buggy on the beach, as that’s the only thing left when we fade back in. I’m going to assume, and I think it’s later mentioned, that they thought the guys were dead. But really? They wouldn’t check their pulses to be sure? I mean, this is two of their major pains in the ass and they didn’t even check to make sure they were dead? Whatever.

Ah, here comes Lieutenant Luke (is he ever actually referred to as a lieutenant?) and some random Chosen dudes. You know he’s important because he’s in a lighter shade of robe and has more lines. So I guess they didn’t just leave Bray and Lex there. But it still seems strange that everyone else left before they decided to check on this. Luke orders one guy to check the bodies for signs of life. He walks over and stares at them, even taking his hood off, before announcing that “they’re history!” And Luke, who does not generally act like an idiot later in the series, accepts this without, as I said, even checking for a pulse. Again, whatever. Luke makes some comment about making history in the name of Zoot, and off they go, chanting like the brainless fanatics they are.

At the Mall, the Chosen are well and truly in control. Trudy holds Brady and watches smugly as the Mallrats and other tribe leaders, including Jet of the Gulls, are herded together in chains by the blue flunkies. She tells the Guardian, who is looking about 45 years old, that they’ve done great things today. From below, KC mocks her “Supreme Mother” title. The rest of the Mallrats chime in, Jack calling her “more like the Supreme Fruitcake.” Ellie says they’ll have to kneel to her next and she’s right. The Guardian gestures and Ellie has two blades at the back of her neck, forcing her to kneel. He asks the Supreme Mother what she wants to do with her and her verdict is “She’s nobody. Just like the rest of the Mallrats.” In other words, not worth the trouble of killing. The Mallrats can’t believe what Trudy has become.

Back on the beach, Ebony runs up to the buggy, begging Bray not to die on her. She even spares concern for Lex, who wakes up and immediately propositions her for a kiss. By this she knows he’s fine, and gives him an eyeroll in response.

Luke arrives back at the Mall and Trudy rather pretentiously asks where Bray and Lex are so that she can see them kneel with the rest of the Mallrats. She shows her first real emotion when he tells her they were killed. She demands that he bring her the bodies. The Mallrats, listening to the conversation, are devastated and Tai-San begins to cry silently. Luke looks to the Guardian for guidance and Trudy seems a bit annoyed by that. She goes up the stairs to appeal to him, saying that Bray has the blood of Zoot in his veins and shouldn’t be left on the beach. He agrees and off Luke goes again. It would have been a lot easier to bring the bodies back the first time, as proof say of what happens to enemies of Zoot. But that would have made too much sense and not given them time to escape. Sigh.

Lex and Ebony are dragging an unconscious Bray off the beach. Lex complains about having to haul around the “sack of potatoes.” Ebony basically tells him to quit-yer-bitchin’ and get a move on. None too soon either, as Luke is back looking for the bodies. He’s mighty perturbed to find them gone and bitches at the poor dumb Chosen dude who checked them the first time. He maintains they were dead, and blah blah. This whole thing is ludicrous. But surely now Luke is going to send at least one guy out to search for them? Ebony and Lex have managed to get Bray away into the trees, though, so they’re safe for now.

The poor dumb Chosen dude is toast. The Guardian decrees that he failed Zoot. He allowed Zoot’s enemies to escape and will be severely punished. He’s led away begging for forgiveness while the Mallrats, particularly Tai-San, look triumphant that Bray and Lex escaped. Even Trudy looks pleased. The Guardian sends out a search party and assures the Supreme Mother that they will be found. He is perhaps beginning to suspect that she cares a little too much for Bray and manages to wipe the smile right off her face.

Luke and the Chosen are back at the beach. You think they’d be a bit tired of this back and forth business. This is the third time for Luke today alone, and he hasn’t even had time to take a swim or catch some rays! It sucks being a lackey. They split up to search for the missing Mallrats.

Ebony and Lex continue to carry Bray further into the woods, and finally dump him against a tree for a break. They both breathe heavily and Lex announces this is the best they can do for him. Seems he plans to go off and leave Bray. It sounds cruel and Ebony points out they can’t leave him because he’s hurt. But Lex says if he doesn’t go out to see what’s going on, they could all be hurt. She still thinks he’s being selfish and can’t believe he actually takes off with only a “See you around.” As he’s leaving, she hears the search party coming up behind them and sees one of them poking around not far from the tree she and Bray are behind. Perfect timing for Lex to leave. Bray continues to lay there like a big, useless lump.

You have to give Ebony some credit for this. Bray did behave like an ass to her and she could have taken off and avoided any trouble with the Chosen. Now she’s dragging his unconscious butt through a forest with the Chosen hot on her heels. Even Lex ditched Bray, but she’s still sticking with him. It’s clear she cares about him.

In the city, a van goes through the streets blaring a message over a speaker system. “The city is under control of the Chosen. Surrender is salvation. Zoot is merciful.”

Meanwhile, Salene and Ryan are being shoved into the Mall to join the other Mallrats and are told to stay inside. They weren’t with the others on the beach as Ryan had gotten knocked out during the rescue at the Hotel and Salene stayed with him. So they get herded into the room, obviously completely confused. Ryan asks what’s going on. Patsy snarks, “The Chosen!” as if he’s stupid for asking. Considering that she’s the one who helped Trudy set all this up, I think I’d shut my mouth and keep a low profile if I were her. She then gets all dejected and wonders what the Chosen will do to them. Ellie reassures her that as long as they’re all together there’s hope. Jack kind of amusingly jumps in to back her up, not sounding so confident at first. Ryan is also reassuring Salene of the same thing, but she’s afraid. Dal lays out their situation: they’re trapped like rats in a cage and they have no choice but to do what the Chosen tell them to.

Patsy starts crying and is comforted by Cloe, but she thinks it’s all her fault and everyone must hate her; she hates herself. Cloe points out that Trudy fooled everyone, though in fact, she didn’t fool Cloe. She tries hard to take the blame off Patsy. I can understand how she must feel, as she did bring some of this on them. But her crying about it now isn’t going to help the situation and would be just plain annoying. Porky the Pig (their pet, not the cartoon character) wanders up then and provides some humor relief. If Porky survived so can the rest of them.

Dal and Alice remind them Bray and Lex are still out there. What a partnership that is. But Jet wants to know why, if they’re so wonderful, they got them in to this mess. She and Alice get into a shoving match, insulting each other’s tribes. It’s about to get intense when one of the Chosen step in and pull Jet aside. She wants to be taken somewhere else, away from the “stinking Mallrats,” and demands to see the Guardian. When she reveals she’s a tribe leader, Jet’s dragged off, presumably to be with the other leaders. Random tribe members are also taken away and the Mallrats are told to “sit down and shut up.” I guess the “or else” is supposed to be implied, though the thuggish Chosen is rather over-dramatic about it.

That night the Guardian holds a ceremony of some sort, more like a chanting session, to celebrate their great victory in the name of Zoot. Their aim is to increase Zoot’s power “throughout the land, throughout the world,” and to bring destruction and desolation to his enemies and non-believers. Cheery.

I actually do like the Chosen as the big enemy. Blind devotion is alarming in an individual but it’s practically terrifying in an organized group that has delusions of grandeur. Their early fanaticism is believable and realistic as a force of evil to be reckoned with and fought against. They truly want to bring Power and Chaos to the rest of the world for their own good, and had they been allowed to succeed, the consequences could have been horrific. It’s the “what if” factor that makes it such a good storyline.

The Guardian dismisses the acolytes to their devotions just as Luke returns with news of their search. Unfortunately he doesn’t really have any good news. He tells the Guardian and Trudy that though they haven’t found them yet, they will. They’ll continue the search in the morning; there’s no point in continuing to look for them in the dark. Trudy isn’t happy with this plan, but the Guardian can see the sense. He also knows, however, that while Bray and Lex are still out there, free, they’re a threat to the Chosen. He wants to make sure that Luke understands that. It’s imperative that no leaders be left alive to provide “a rallying point for the tribes. All their hopes must remain in Zoot. And no one else.” I must say, I kind of love the sane crazy devoted Guardian. He is sort of diabolically brilliant. And if he could just keep emotions out of things, both for himself and his cult, I think he could have pulled this off.

Alice is still frustrated and upset about her confrontation with Jet. She paces angrily around the room and muses that she should have broken her neck. The consensus among the Mallrats is that violence against the Gullz’ leader wouldn’t have served any point and they should concentrate on the Chosen as their enemy now. They deduce that the Chosen are trying to separate all the tribe leaders from the rest of them so that they won’t have anyone to follow. It occurs to Dal to ask if anyone saw what happened to Danni. She was with them at the beach but no one is certain what happened to her after that. She could have escaped or been taken with the other leaders. Though Salene doesn’t want to believe it, it seems probable that the Chosen are planning to kill the leaders. The question is, who will be next?

In the forest, Ebony tends to a wound on Bray’s forehead. He finally regains consciousness but not without pain from his injuries. Ebony gives him some water and reassures him that he’s safe, with her. He remembers what happened but has been unconscious all night. She also tells him that Lex ran out on them and if wasn’t for her, he would have been taken by the Chosen. To Bray’s credit he tells her that she shouldn’t have bothered after the way he treated her. She’s forgiving and willing to start over. It’s hard to tell exactly what she means by that, and Bray seems wary too, but at any rate, he wants to get started finding Danni and the others. Unfortunately, when he tries to stand, they discover he can’t put any weight on one of his legs. Ebony helps him up but explains that she needs to get him somewhere safe and tend to his injuries. He can’t do anything for Danni right now in his condition anyway. Off they go, completely unaware of the stranger watching them from the trees.

Salene wakes from a bad dream, happy to find Ryan keeping watch beside her. She asks him to help her keep the pregnancy a secret for now, until things settle down a little. KC wakes then and complains of hunger, a condition Cloe and the others share. Alice suggests they go get some food, but they have to get past the chosen to get to the café. The Chosen thug tells them their food no longer belongs to them. They’ll be told what to eat and when. The Mallrats won’t go quietly though, and KC leads them in a chant of “we want food!”

The noise brings the Guardian, who orders them to silence. If they want food, they’ll have to earn it. “The new order begins now. The age of Zoot is upon us.” Ellie challenges him, saying the Mallrats have their own laws. When Jack tries to silence her, she tells him they can’t afford to knuckle under to the Guardian or the Chosen. The Guardian intends to treat the Mallrats like slaves and put them to work until they accept the Chosen’s philosophy. He starts by forcing them to kneel and give thanks to Zoot if they want food. Alice kneels when the others do and Ellie tries to resist, but Jack pulls her down to her knees. Tai-San is the only one who refuses, saying she will not worship false gods. Her resistance affects all the Mallrats and they are denied food as well until they all repent.

Luke and the blue goons go running along the coast, looking in bushes for Bray and Lex. I’m surprised they’re not picking up rocks to check underneath them. I wonder, as I do many times while watching the Tribe, if they want us to believe that these people are just that stupid, or if the writing/directing is just that bad.

Tai-San is meditating and Jack gives her a hilarious double-take like she’s some strange phenomenon he can’t quite figure out but wonders about every now and then. Hee! I heart Jack. Ellie, however, doesn’t at this moment. She’s tells him he better never do that to her again. Jack calls her “Babe” – not a good idea – but was only trying to keep her safe. He tells her he cares about her and off they go arm in arm and in lurve.

May watches Tai-San’s meditation for a bit and then rudely interrupts her, practically shouting her name like she’s deaf and not just trying to relax. May’s seriously pissed off at her rebellious gesture and blames her for their lack of food. Tai-San seems genuinely confused by the strength of May’s anger and professes the benefits of denying yourself food and fasting for sharpening the mind. But May isn’t denying herself food, Tai-San is, and they’re going to starve because of her.

It’s scenes like this that are the brilliance of this show. This anger is the only indication May allows of the deep fear she carries around. She wasn’t like the others and had a tribe to support and protect her in the beginning. And even if she had, that terrible fear would have sabotaged it. May’s fears are basic: that she won’t be safe, or loved, or healthy. But Tai-San is an old soul and she’s conquered those basic fears. Her fears now are more complex: that the world won’t be safe, or loving, or healthy. Her actions are to change those fears, but she forgets sometimes how those actions affect others.

Alice interrupts May’s tirade and tells her to lay off Tai-San, who has other things to worry about, namely Lex’s safety. May calms down some and apologizes, trying to reassure her that Lex can take care of himself. Tai-San knows that deep down, but the worry will be her constant companion until she knows for sure. Even her love for Lex is complicated; it’s selfish and she wants to be beyond selfishness, especially in times like these. But still, she can’t deny the feelings she has for him. It’s a conflict she fights over and over again.

Meanwhile, Ebony, another character with conflicting fears, supports Bray as they try to put some distance between themselves and the search party. Bray’s ankle is swelling up, making speed difficult, and endangering both of them. Ebony refuses to leave him. Who does he think she is, Lex? Speak of the devil, Lex reappears. He couldn’t get anywhere with all the Chosen running around. And speaking of the Chosen, Luke has found a blue feather on the ground, and surmises that Lex and Bray have been there. How he knows that blue feather belongs to them, I have no idea. I mean, it does, but still.

Bray tries to convince Ebony to leave him behind, but she’s adamant that she and Lex can manage with him. Except that Lex has no intention of hanging around. He’s going to rescue Tai-San, though he hasn’t quite thought out how yet. Bray doesn’t plan to leave Danni to the Guardian either, but he would actually like to have a plan before charging in there. What a concept. But they’re both crazy if they think Ebony’s going to risk her life to save Danni and Tai-San, which she flat out tells them. Bray says it’s not about just them; they have to figure out how to rescue all the Mallrats, “Right, Lex?” Heh. Lex is like, sure whatever, all the Mallrats. He clearly hadn’t given them a thought. They hear shouting in the distance and assume correctly that it’s the blue goon squad looking for them. Rather than leaving Bray to fend for himself, Lex and Ebony help him hide deeper in the trees. The plan is to make noise and draw the Chosen away from Bray, lose them, and then double back to get him. Seems like a sound enough plan I suppose, in theory anyway. I wonder what the stranger peering at them from the bushes thinks of it.

At the Mall, Salene and Alice have pulled kitchen duty, torture if you’re not allowed to eat what you’re cooking. Or anything else for that matter. Still, they manage a bite or two of the carrots they’re chopping before a blue goon comes to berate them. Alice claims they’re just tasting the food for quality purposes, but he accuses her of being a liar and a thief for stealing food. Even though it’s the Mallrat’s food. He reiterates the Guardian’s edict: they can eat when all of them repent. And if it’s Zoot’s will that they starve, so be it. Alice clearly wants to sock him one. I say go for it.

Having lost the search party, Ebony and Lex head back for Bray. The stranger continues to watch them. Okay Nosy McStalkerson. Are these three really so interesting? I mean, I guess if you saw all the Chosen chasing them, you might want to know who they were. But I don’t really get his purpose. Of course I know who he is, but really, why chase all over after these three. Wouldn’t it behoove him more to watch the Chosen’s activities in the City? If you don’t know who they are, they’re not really important. Unless he saw the activities on the beach, but we didn’t see him watching that. Whatever.

Anyway, Ebony and Lex return to the spot they left Bray, but he’s vanished. Ebony’s sure this is the spot, and the undergrowth is flat where someone was laying, but no one is there now. They look at each other like “oh, shit,” and we fade out.

What’s happened to Bray, and who is the creepy, overly-interested dude lurking in the trees? And will Luke ever get to stop running around the beach and forest and get to rest for five seconds for Zoot’s sake? Tune in to the next recap to see!