Project Blue Book: 3 best scenes from Abduction

It’s the penultimate episode of Project Blue Book’s first season and tonight has Hynek and Quinn dealing with a victim of a possible alien abduction.

When we left off with Project Blue Book last week, Mimi had given Hynek an ultimatum about their relationship. Does Hynek quit Project Blue Book? Well, not really. He does tell Mimi he’s going to, but we wouldn’t have much of a show if he hung up his coat and stylish hat before the first season is even finished would we?

While Hynek does turn in his resignation, they don’t get very far in the process before they’re taken hostage by a man who claims to have been abducted by aliens and he doesn’t plan on leaving until he gets some answers.

Let’s take a look at the three best scenes from “Abduction”.

1. Hynek hypnotizes Thomas.

At first it would appear maybe Thomas is crazy, he is raving like a mad man about voices in his head and having black outs where he can’t recall what he’s doing. Then his wife shows his drawings from the past few weeks since the supposed incident, and Hynek recognizes a star map that isn’t possible for an average civilian to have seen unless some other being showed it to him.

More from Drama

• The Serpent Queen season 2 release updates and everything we know
• Is Quantum Leap on tonight? (November 22, 2023)
• Is Magnum P.I. on tonight? (Nov. 22, 2023)
• Miss Scarlet and the Duke returns for season 4 at the top of 2024
• The Way Home season 2 trailer reveals 1800s storyline and release date!

It’s because of this discovery Hynek is willing to try hypnosis to see if it will help Thomas access his abduction memories. In them, Thomas is naked, suspended in a void-like existence, almost like a vast space womb. In the cognizant present, Thomas speaks of what he sees, recalling how the beings that took him were running tests to determine differences between their species.

By reliving his experience, Thomas has a breakdown and begins screaming and crying out for help, claiming a burning sensation is emanating from his neck. He then realizes the aliens implanted something in his skin and has wife remove it. Looks like we’ve got another alien artifact in play!

The implant is a perfect circle. Quinn thinks it could just be shrapnel but Hynek is more suspicious, especially because the object glows blue and sparks. It would appear Thomas may have been telling the truth after all.

2. Susie kills her associate.

The odd Russian subplot takes a violent turn this week when Susie gets fed up with her associates constant cruelty. (As a side note, I don’t think this guy has a name, he’s listed as “Susie’s Associate” on IMDb so I guess I’ll keep calling him that).

In order to get valuable intel from Hynek, the new plan is for Mimi to have a “dalliance” with Mimi and take photos of it so they can blackmail them. Susie shows up to Mimi’s sporting a battered face in order to garner sympathy and the two women get drunk together. Eventually, Susie drugs Mimi and puts her to bed where they share a kiss. Unfortunately, the whole scene comes off more creepy/potentially sexual assault than anything else.

But we don’t get confirmation that Susie actually did anything more than kiss Mimi. She claims she did to her associate, but it’s not shown, and then she shoots him three times in the chest. Finally! I’m glad Susie has reclaimed the upper-hand.

My guess is, Susie didn’t actually do anything to Mimi since she clearly cares about her – though the kiss was still not okay given the circumstances. She also leaves Mimi a note, though we don’t get to see what was written yet.

3. Quinn admits he’s better when Hynek is around.

Hynek and Quinn had a difficult time this week dealing with Thomas’s abduction. As per usual, the two of them were operating on opposite sides of this issue. The past few episodes have shown an increasing amount of tension between Quinn and his hard law-abiding self and Hynek’s pursuit of the truth at all costs (including stealing intel).

Coupled with the adrenaline and nerves from being taken hostage at gunpoint, all of that tension boils over into an explosive fight between the two of them. Though admittedly, the whole thing comes across rather silly as neither men seem willing to truly hurt the other.

By episode’s end, they’ve reached common ground once more. Quinn apologizes to Hynek in his own way and asks that he reconsider resigning from Project Blue Book. He needs Hynek to keep honest, to make him better. It’s a pretty touching moment between the two and offers a much softer side of Captain Quinn.

Odds & Ends

• It’s kind of bothering me that we never found out what came of the Quinn x Susie date. I know it was mentioned once after the fact but it was a crucial melding of plotlines I wish we had seen explored on-screen rather than off.

The season finale of Project Blue Book titled “The Washington Merry-Go Round” premieres March 12th on the History Channel.