Sanctuary
Episode 7 of The Republic Of Sarah begins with Sarah finally delegating some of her tasks. First up though, the group band together to write their constitution. They want to prove that democracy is well and alive, but obviously it’s difficult to come to agreements. Well, this week’s issue comes in the form of immigrants. A whole caravan show up, 30 people to be precise, and they want to migrate there. Sarah invites them in with open arms and while this is actually good on paper, Maya is quick to remind the others that they need to be prepared just incase thousands show. Sarah is convinced they’ve got plenty of space, especially after checking the maps. While that is true per-se, there’s no contingency plan for say, 10,000 people showing up. And why are these people emigrating? They saw Sarah on TV and wanted to protest against fracking. Sarah’s Father being among those in attendance throws a serious spanner in the works. It’s been 18 years and he’s decided to show up after seeing her on TV. He wants to try and make things right but she’s having absolutely none of it. Instead, he falls back on Danny who at least lets him in and hears the man out. He wants to be part of their life and regrets his past actions. Danny shows some compassion and stays in Greylock while Sarah continues to put up a front. In fact, she simply turns and walks away. This inevitably drives a wedge between them, as Sarah continues to blank her Father. Meanwhile, Maya tries to do Tyler a favour by sending off his photos to the art committee. This causes more drama to ensue but for now, this is left open for the upcoming chapters. Eventually Sarah does agree to hear him out though. He wants to try and make things right, admitting that he’s a terrible Father. The truth here is that he’s actually on the run and the FBI are after him. He’s stolen classified documents and leaked them online. He’s the one behind this and has been helping out Sarah all this time. Speaking of family reunions, Grover takes AJ head off to visit her Father in the nursing home. The reason for this simply stems from Grover’s inability to address his grief. It certainly does the trick, and eventually he does take her up on the offer and heads in to therapy. There, Grover finally starts to face the grief and guilt he’s kept tucked away for so long. It’s a really beautiful segment, one of pure, human emotion and one equally matched by Dany’s confession late on in the episode too. His past is plagued with demons, and he left his partner originally because he was worried he’d end up physically assaulting her. After all this drama, the council reconvene and decide on their foundational words. The constitution is going to be rewritten every 5 years from scratch too, just so they can learn from their mistakes. It’s a bold future for Greylock, one that moves things in the right direction.
The Episode Review
Rewriting the constitution is a nice idea in theory but what happens if Greylock votes in a bunch of people who rewrite the entire constitution and remove that clause? And in rewriting this document they could theoretically create a dictatorship that would never end. The other hot topic here is immigration, which is simply laid out as a binary yes or no in this series. Yes, I know it’s a teen drama but the situation is given a quick once-over without actually going into more details. Now, as someone who has actively voted in favour of softer immigration policies every chance I get, the very real issue of space and jobs should be raised too. Unlike the UK where rich manors and holiday homes waste space, or America’s incredible vast stretches of grasslands (The US is a beautiful country but the amount of space is absolutely staggering!), Greylock is a small country. Well, I say country, it’s not actually recognized as such until the UN approve this. This has, of course, been mentioned extensively in the other recaps I’ve written but it’s important to point out nonetheless. The very real points about what happens if 10,000 immigrants show up at Greylock hasn’t been answered and is simply brushed aside. Away from the logistics of this contrived country idea is a mixed bag of drama, both good and bad. Sarah’s father is the latest in a long string of episodic issues for her to deal with while Grover and Danny get some pretty decent moments late on to express themselves. The acting is probably one of the better parts of this show, which works reasonably well to paper over the plot which has more holes that swiss cheese.
