The Masters

Previously — In episode 13, we learn the backstory of John Spillers, as told by Sergeant Zayas during his final moments following the attack on the Grass Cutting Area. Spillers was an immigrant from Holland who joined the crew of the Santa Maria as a cooper, and was later left behind in Haiti with 39 other men in 1492. He’s not only managed to survive 450 years, he’s doing whatever he wants. With impunity. First, there’s JTF Alpha—soldiers he’s hand-selected and modified with super-human capabilities. They can travel undetected, somehow under the concealment of a strange blue light. They also have astounding durability—one man took a face full of 30 caliber rounds from a Browning machine gun shortly before throwing a man into a wall from across a room like a lawn dart. We also learn that Spillers likely had cagey motives from the get-go with respect to the construction of the Grass Cutting Area—this is the top secret detention facility nestled in the jungles of Ramey Air Force base. After JTF Alpha parachutes in and kills everyone, it starts looking more and more like the whole place was intended to serve a single-purpose in a larger scheme involving the jibaro Jesus Santiago. And though it’s not clear why, Spillers still needs Santiago—alive.

Previously — In episode 12, Vandyck reveals her misgivings about Area J operator procedures — specifically, the over reliance on aperture screen technology. She mockingly compares this to Santiago’s no-frills demonstration from earlier, when he took control of a recorded session to directly address a room full of operators from his stone dungeon in Puerto Rico. Privately, she admires the old man, and wonders if she might be able to duplicate his results — essentially creating a bridge between her world and his. Back at the Grass Cutting Area, there’s a catastrophic descent into chaos shortly after machine gun fire erupts. Communications have been cut off. JTF Alpha is inside the wire. In the confusion, the men of building two rush to the armory to gear up for a fire fight. Meanwhile, Captain Sepulveda takes a two-man detail to collect Santiago from his detainment cell, but when they hear the explosions and gunfire above, they realize building two is lost. The captain leads the group to cell number 3, locks the door, and orders his men to leave through the secret evacuation hatch built into the floor. When they’re safely gone, he draws and uncocks his sidearm, prepared to join his men upstairs. Santiago prevents him from leaving, tell him he’ll die if he walks out that door. They argue a while, but when Dawkins shows up, wiping his bloodied hands along the walls of the hallway outside and loudly boasting of his kills, Sepulveda realizes everyone he cares about is dead. Moments later, just as Dawkins kicks the door in, the air of the room folds over on itself. And Sepulveda and Santiago vanish in a pinwheel of blue sparks.

Previously — In episode 11, we meet the three-man chalk of JTF Alpha—a motley collection of military oddballs hand-picked by John Spillers. There’s Delaloza, who spends most of his time napping, not saying a word. And Chaulette, a full bird colonel recently transferred from an all black airborne unit known as the Triple Nickels. And Dawkins—a disgraced Navy UDT diver who is, in the words of Ramler “a pile-up of unintended consequences”. Dawkins is in charge of the chalk and their mission objectives are clear: jump into the Grass Cutting Area, cut off the compound’s communications with Ramey, locate and take possession of the detainee Jesus Santiago, and kill anyone who gets in the way. Accompanying the chalk is a tight-lipped jumpmaster who wears a blank piece of fabric where his name tape ought to be. This small violation of uniform SOP immediately arouses the attention of the pilot—captain Will Hardesty, a man who by modern standards, would be classified as on the spectrum—but in 1950 is just another military oddball. Hardesty spends the duration of the flight spitballing possible names for the jumpmaster while observing the men of the chalk with a mixture of suspicion, astonishment, and detached coolness. Though he knows he’s flying them to a spot above Ramey Air Force base in Puerto Rico, he has no idea why.

Previously—In episode 10, Sepulveda walks with Spillers in the Grass Cutting Area compound, only to wake up below the canopy of the enormous ceiba tree. Unable to speak or move his legs, things quickly take a turn for the bizarre when Garcia shows up. This is the Spaniard Santiago’s father killed over 400 years earlier while protecting his family. During the melee, Spillers disappears from view and tells Captain Sepulveda he must get up and fight or die at the hands of the Spaniard. There’s a struggle during which Sepulveda is convinced he will die. In what he believes are his last moments, he finds a macana and uses it to get the better of Garcia. When he rises to his feet, the there is only Santiago. The old man, who appears to be able to change his appearance at will, explains that he has brought Sepulveda here despite his physical body remaining in building one—that the two are now entangled in what he describes as shared intent. He ends by warning him that something ominous is coming. Back at building one, we learn from Spillers and Ramler that JTF Alpha is inbound to Puerto Rico, and will be jumping in in less than 45 minutes.

Previously—In episode 9, Captain Sepulveda and FBI station chief John Spillers go for a short walk. Their conversation is cordial—mostly smalltalk about the new Sikorski helicopters recently shipped to Ramey Air Force base. But deeper into their walk, Spillers suggests moving over to a tall tree in the distance. When this happens, Sepulveda catches a glimpse of something he can’t explain—Spillers’ face seems to wobble and move, capturing and bending the light in a way that acts as a kind of blurring filter. At Area J, we find out that Jesus Santiago has somehow become aware of the activities of Dr. Vandyck and her colleagues—that he can sense the presence of their aperture sessions. When the other operators at Area J learn about this, Vandyck’s FOJIP presentation breaks down into chaos.