To his
anxious followers the good Lord once said “For wherever two or three come
together in my name, there I am with them.”
But typically, wherever three
people come together to do anything, even in the Lord’s name, (which is
rarely), there is likely to be tension and conflict. The reason for this is a psychological
process called triangulization.
Originally
derived from family systems therapy, the concept has seen wider application to
situations in which a relationship involving two people—typically family
members, though not always—is disturbed by the interactions and agenda of a
third. The original two person
relationship loses its stability with the arrival of the third member, who can
act as a messenger between the two, but usually with his or her own interests
in mind. A common example of this is the
“romantic triangle” involving two lovers, one of whom has attracted an
alternative. Another common triangle is
the one that forms between two competing employees and a boss.
It
may be that there is at some deep psychological level a human preference for
the symmetry of even numbers over odd. “Two”
and “four” are peaceful and complete. “Three”
and “five” seem unstable. (On the other
hand, Three Dog Night would have it that “one is the loneliest number that you’ll
ever do” and David Crosby once sang “Why can’t we go on as three?”)
At
least two separate triangles are on display in the newest episode of SyFy’s Dominion. An especially interesting one is created with
the appearance of Michael’s and Gabriel’s older sister Uriel. The three angels gather to complain and
criticize each other, as siblings often do under duress. Uriel misses her father—who is of course, God—and is appalled at the behavior of
her two younger brothers. The “boys” have
been fighting each other for centuries.
All three in fact miss their father, each in their own way, and are
uncertain and anxious about the future.
Uriel
warns Gabriel to avoid harming the Chosen One, whom we now know is a common
soldier from Vega named Alex. She also
states that humanity is her father’s greatest
creation. (What then was His worst?) Yet she seems strangely
ambivalent about the outcome of the war between the angels and the humans. Can she be trusted? Probably not—every character in Dominion seems to have a hidden
agenda. In separate scenes with Michael
and Gabriel, she promises to take each brother’s side if they can bring her the
Chosen One. She even offers to give each
one her special sword. Clearly she is
playing one off the other, and last appears with an impish grin and knowing eyes.
Senator
Frost, David Whele and General Riesen form another troubled triangle also focused
on meeting the Chosen One. Frost knows
that the Chosen One is somewhere in the city of Vega, and suspects that the
other two are concealing him to protect their political power. He lures the other two men to the
agricultural irrigation tower—so that’s
how Vega gets its food!—and threatens to drown them as well as destroy the city’s
hydroponic farms if they do not produce the Chosen One. While in captivity, the General and the Secretary
reminisce and philosophize about their experiences in the earlier part of the
war—two old guys reliving past glories. They
even review their respective medical histories: the general’s heart problems,
Whele’s recent gunshot wound.
David
Whele, the evil, Machiavellian Secretary of Commerce, is by far the most
interesting character on Dominion. He is the champion of a materialistic,
power-hungry secular humanism. In an
earlier scene, he disputes the existence of the Chosen One and mocks the
religious sentiments of his fellow citizens—even though his son William is the
leader of a fanatical cult surrounding this Messiah-like figure. (Recall that in previous episodes the
Secretary has fed innocents to his pet lion, Samson.) His best line in the most recent episode is “The
Chosen One—It’s Us!”
As
with the malevolent Constance Sutton of Helix,Whele
is so bad you suspect he eventually
must die in some spectacular fashion. He
is merely shot in the leg by the twitchy Senator Frost, which provides a moment
or two for the Secretary to display some vulnerability. Yet he rallies, shoots Frost in the head
during the rescue, and resumes his evil machinations.
This week’s
episode—called “The Flood”—contains some interesting baptismal imagery. While briefly imprisoned, Alex has a vision
of being hallucinogenically doused with streams of brightly lit water, which spills
over the mysterious tattoos on his body.
The general and the Secretary also come close to being inundated in the irrigation
tower, a scene that recalls the biblical flood.
The archangel Michael finally reconnects with Alex, the Chosen One, near
the end of the show. Coming attractions
indicate that Alex is now going to be intensively trained by the angel in
fierce hand to hand combat with sharp implements and other weapons.
Though
blasphemous to say, had the original
Chosen One received the kind of martial arts training Alex is going to receive
from Michael, salvation history might have taken a completely different
direction.
Dominion is on SyFy Thursday nights at
9:00 E.S.T. See the show’s website at http://www.syfy.com/dominion for more details.
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