Review of 'The Rook' 1.3

The most compelling thing(s) about The Rook 1.3 on Starz earlier this evening was the Gestalts and the short but effective explanation we got about them. They make a nice piece of science fiction, especially for the television screen, and work well in that Philip K. Dickian tradition.

They're a special kind of rook, a group of four in constant telepathic connection, emotional and visceral as well as intellectual. When Eliza passionately kisses Myfanwy, her three empathic blond brothers feel it to the extent that one of them drives off the road. Of course, that's not what Chequy recruited, bred, trained, whatever exactly intended for them. That would be to fight, which we also see a neat example of as the four get Myfanwy out of a perilous situation on a train. I'm always up for an action scene on the London underground, and this was a good one, ending in the Gestalts capturing a vulture.

That would be someone out to kill or capture a rook, and it's instructive to see the tables turned. Of course, this captured vulture can't be expected to tell Checquy and us too much, and that's exactly what happens (or doesn't happen). We still haven't much of clue, for example, as to who is the traitor in Checquy's midst.

One thing I think we can be pretty sure of, however, is that it isn't the Gestalts. Because one couldn't be a traitor without the other three knowing. And, if all four were traitors, that would likely be easier to spot than just one. I'm thinking the traitor could be Myfanwy herself—or, rather, the Myfanwy whose memory was wiped, and left messages for the current rook with that name. That would make, say, Farrier likely to know this, and her current game being to find out what made the original Myfanwy turn.

But I'm getting too far ahead here, and I'll see you again next week after we find out more.