Zoo Review: Sins of the Father (Season 2 Episode 9)

That’s how you make a soapy hour of television, folks.

Zoo dials up the drama in “Sins of the Father”, but not in the ways we expect.

If you’ve been following along with these reviews every week, you are already aware that I’ve been very unhappy with the course of Zoo‘s somewhat sloppy second season. (Or is it actually a BETTER second season, and I just prefer the sloppy? Who knows, really?)

This episode saves the day, piquing my interest from start to finish, even despite the groan-inducing dialogue and the lack of an “animal of the week” story.

Unless you count the fact that we were ALMOST on the hunt for a saber-tooth tiger on Pangaea.

Pangaea, guys.

Saber-tooth tiger.

Now listen, although the payoff of that possibility isn’t quite in our grasp just yet (dammit Jackson!), I’m all about the idea of taking this animal train (plane?) back to the Mesozoic era.

But that’s neither here nor there concerning the “Sins of the Father”.

Let’s first dive into exactly what those sins are.

After killing his mother, Elizabeth, in order to save Abe, because she had gone all Kovacs, Jackson learned that his mother had, in fact, been injected with the gene by Robert as he had.

Or so he thought.

What Jackson discovers upon a check of Elizabeth’s corpse is a lack of the scar that he is bearing from the injection.

That’s when Abe drops the truth bomb, that one that Davies alluded to in episode 8.

Robert hired Abe to inject Elizabeth with the gene. Abe knew, all along, that this could happen.

And just like that, I’m hooked back into Zoo, because when push comes to shove, I love the animals, but I also love the story of brotherly love that comes along with Jackson and Abe.

James Wolk and Nonso Anozie have such a great chemistry, and watching them go at it in the final moments of the episode was heartbreaking. These two men have spent so many years putting their trust in one another, and this deception will potentially tear them apart forever.

Then there’s the news of Dariela, Abe’s…well, I’m not sure what she is to Abe.

But I know this: they had one sexy-time fling, and now Dariela has some test results from a doctor that are surprising her.

Will baby make three for dear old Abe and Dariela? That would certainly make for one heck of an interesting story moving forward.

Plus, with an episode title like “Sins of the Father”, and the focus going to Abe’s sins against Jackson — I don’t know for sure, but it seems like there’s something to this theory!

To make matters on the Zoo Crew’s plane more awkward, Max Morgan has arrived, Mitch’s charming father and Allison’s ex-husband.

It turns out that Allison and Mitch were a thing, and Max stole Allison away from Mitch, once upon a time, and now it looks like Mitch has Allison back, or at least he has her back in bed.

There’s a twist I didn’t see coming.

I’m over the ickyness of that story within minutes, but it works. It serves a huge purpose for Mitch in this moment, and finally allows Allison to serve a purpose in the greater story.

Mitch has spent much of the season hanging in the background. Aside from some confrontations with Abe, and popping up to say science jargon, he’s really not been in the forefront, which is a sin in itself, considering he was the breakout character of the first season.

Now Mitch can go back to being his charming and funny self. Seeing Max reminds me of everything I miss about Mitch. I think letting go of Jamie angst is exactly what Mitch needs.

Speaking of Jamie, while she was more likable this week than she’s been in ages, she still hasn’t earned forgiveness, especially not from Mitch. What did she think would happen by going upstairs with her wine? She’s done nothing but push him away. She’s doesn’t deserve Mitch.

At least not yet. With the news of a season three renewal, we might have an official “endgame couple” goal with these two crazy kids.

With the Noah objective set to launch in days, the Zoo Crew needs to seriously spring into action before it’s too late.

And now, I’m back on board with them.

Where’s that sloth? I want to go hug him. This plane is so luxurious.

What did you think of this episode of “Sins of the Father”? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Zoo airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on CBS.

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