The sixth episode of VisionQuest, “Deadlock,” is an inherently juxtaposing episode, combining generic action sequences and unimaginative, generic plot twists with dialogue that appears almost Shakespearean in its tone and effect.
The episode begins with Ultron finding Joe Carrington in the data stream, having previously escaped Vision’s mind sphere when the firewall was lowered. Joe cryptically reveals to him that the biometric keys she has been collecting – one of which Ultron possesses – will unlock the “future of the human race.” Ultron begins to grow weak, and Joe confides in him that viruses of her own design have infiltrated his system, as he is now in her area of the data stream. After feigning weakness for a moment, Ultron sheds the ruse, proving his strength even in unfamiliar territory. Skeptical, Joe questions him as to his motive, to which he simply replies “I want to know you.” When Joe says that to know her will be painful, Ultron – strikingly, and almost romantically – responds, “Then hurt me.”
Contrasting the pure white environment which Ultron and Joe inhabit, Thomas wakes up in Paladin’s van in Madripoor, where he is informed there is a motion sensitive explosive embedded in his arm. Paladin escorts him to a cafe where they meet both Lisa and Vision, and where Paladin says he will disarm Thomas if Vision deactivates himself willingly and comes with him. When Vision refuses, Paladin retaliates by telling Thomas that Vision was created solely for the purpose to kill Wanda and the fantasy she constructed in Westview. In turn, Vision threatens Paladin’s estranged and previously unmentioned daughter, sharing the knowledge he possesses of Paladin’s life.
Meanwhile, in the calm data stream which they inhabit, Ultron and Joe explore the vulnerabilities of Joe’s past. Joe shares that her father died of a rare neurodegenerative disease which, in turn, led her to neuroscience. She was the one who invented the prototype of the AI her company later co-opted and even used her own brain for the scan. Eventually, the neurodegenerative disease took her as well and, as she died, her collaborators sold her code to Stark Industries who, at the time, was still a weapons manufacturer. She reveals the betrayal crushed her. She only ever wanted to do good – to provide a companion – and instead her innovation aided a war profiteer. It is revealed she does not remember how her consciousness was digitized, nor does she remember how her synthezoid body came to be.
In the cafe, Paladin and Vision remain at a stalemate. It is solved for them, in a way, when another bounty hunter shows up and begins to start shooting, having taken over the contract after Paladin was fired. Vision and Paladin (who has been wounded) escape to the back of the cafe, while Thomas and Lisa escape to Paladin’s truck. As the fighting continues, the man who hired the bounty hunters (who still remains unknown) speaks through a television, frustrated with the lack of efficiency from both men. He accuses Vision of being “empty” without Wanda, and tells him that he will spare nobody if it means he can get to him. As the bounty hunter is closing in on Paladin and Vision, Thomas manages to bring Paladin’s truck into the frey, giving the duo a leg up and allowing Paladin to defeat the other in hand-to-hand combat.
Joe continues her monologue, and tells Ultron that her goal is to cure people, not kill them – a direct opposition to what he has stood for thus far. It is revealed that she plans to do so through nanobots, which will fundamentally rewire a person’s brain. She attempts to send the first nanobot into Thomas, but Ultron stops her, urging her to avoid the boy. Instead she sends it into Lisa who, in turn, grows violent and deranged, forcing Vision and Thomas to restrain her.
Back in the truck, Thomas again tries to breach the subject of WandaVision, but Vision refuses him, claiming that the boy in his memories is “not him.” In the data stream, Joe attempts to share whiskey with Ultron, who refuses, claiming it is only “ones and zeros” for him. Upon her insistence, he relents, and can finally taste it due to his experience of her memories. When asked how he feels, he responds with, “I feel real.”
This is an overall interesting episode. While the plot that follows Vision and Thomas (which, in many cases, would be considered the main plot) was truthfully a bit generic and uninteresting, the plotline surrounding Ultron and his realization of his humanity was deeply moving. Not only the dialogue (with the use of “I feel” – as Ultron has never really been shown to feel before) but the actions. He is letting somebody in, he is trusting somebody. It is, interestingly, very easy to root for him. We want to watch him experience love, and whiskey, and devotion.
While the action was relatively bland and predictable (Lisa’s demise was expected the moment her and Thomas expressed any semblance of attraction towards one another), the emotion both James Spader and the script manage to infuse into this character more than makes up for it.
Rating: 8.5/10
