An intense holiday episode (and no, I'm not being sarcastic) in which the team struggles to save a 10-year-old boy from drowning on Christmas Eve after he is caught in a beach cave rockslide while the tide is rising.
Of course, before all this, we have the obligatory moment of Paige trying to get everyone holiday ready. So then we must go through everyone's holiday history/memories. Toby's dad would take him gambling and his mother would get drunk. Happy's foster families would ship her off right before Christmas so they wouldn't have to buy her anything. The usual stuff.
Meanwhile, Walter and his sister are having Fat Burger on the beach. Walter helps a kid named Owen with his kite, and Owen impresses Walter with facts about Benjamin Franklin. So when a little while later Owen is caught in that rockslide, Walter is extra motivated to help him.
I'm kidding. Walter would help no matter what because Walter loves a challenge. His brain functions best under extreme conditions.
Seriously, though, I'm trying to make light of what was actually a fairly intense episode. Sylvester first calculates that Owen will have 1 hour and 22 minutes then realizes with the tide coming in it is more like 56 minutes. Oops. When calculations go bad . . . Sylvester takes it hard and goes off to mope, giving Megan more chances to spend time with him and buck him up.
While that's going on, Happy and Toby are trying to create a jack to help free Owen's leg, which is pinned under a boulder. And Walter is working on a way to keep Owen breathing even after he's submerged. He uses the same oxygen system hospitals use to keep oxygen flowing through the body when patients are in surgery. The trick is Owen has to stop himself from trying to breathe normally because that will be his instinct. (Keep in mind this is not usually an issue for surgery patients since they are unconscious.)
Nothing I write would accurately convey the sense of urgency the episode created. They did a good job with it, and this is one of the best episodes thus far because of it. Of course Owen is saved—that's a given in a show like this. But they managed to maintain the tension regardless.
The theme of the episode seems to be science versus faith and the questioning of miracles. And then we get our happy ending with everyone having Christmas dinner together. Even Happy and her dad—it turns out he's known all along she was his daughter, and their acknowledgement of their relationship was actually really touching. Nicely done.
Overall a solid end to this half of the season.
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