Beacon 23 – Season 2 Episode 3 “Iris” Recap & Review

Iris

Episode 3 of Beacon 23 Season 2 picks up at Beacon 67. We follow Iris, its keeper, as she navigates everyday life. There are serious implications about the solitary nature of the lives that keepers have to lead on the isolated towers. Although B67 is ambitious and is constantly reminded by her personal AI, Jiang, to follow the rules and remain within bounds, Iris wants to break free.

She has been chatting with another keeper from B174 and things are getting out of hand. There is a natural tendency to form an attraction but Iris is conflicted. Her need for intimacy is strictly prohibited according to the manual. Jiang also keeps reminding her of the same.

Iris feels valued and cared for on her fantasy date with the keeper. But her reverie is broken by a system alert of a “thermal incident” on B23, Halan’s beacon.  She is immediately concerned although Jiang once again flags this as out of her jurisdiction. 

However, Iris is determined to respond to the SOS call. She is suspicious of QTA’s involvement and intrusion into the personal network of ISA Servers. When she learns from the pilot of a Springer military plane that the QTA Mothership is hovering around B23, Iris firmly believes she must visit the beacon. Against all odds, she makes the journey to the beacon despite her amateur piloting skills. 

The beacon is in tatters as Iris goes inside to investigate. She is scared when Halan approaches her threateningly. Iris quickly explains her identity and why she has come to the beacon. Halan doesn’t seem to be bothered about the fact that his ship isn’t visible on the radar. Something terrible has happened to the GWB that is causing this. When Halan starts explaining what happened on the beacon and Aleph’s role in the events, Iris tries to help him.

She repairs the AI device and brings Harmony back to life on the beacon. But the signal is very weak and she vanishes after a few brief seconds. Iris’ technical knowledge and vast reading of the handbook comes in handy as they try to secure the beacon. Halan is affected by her rigid behaviour. He enquires deeper into why she is so restricted when it comes to living life like a normal human being.

They both seem to share a hatred for Aleph. She alleges that when Milan became Aleph, he changed everything. He deleted the family’s programming and is doing everything to aggrandize his paternal fantasy with the galaxy by playing God. Since the power is gone, Iris tries to do something special for Halan. She bakes bread using an oven, which completely astounds him. He devours it without a second thought as Iris watches him in amusement. 

The conversation shifts to a more serious matter. Iris and Halan start discussing the terrible hardships a beacon keeper has to face. Their loneliness, lack of intimate connections, and the restrictions on their freedoms are all important considerations. They are quite powerless to change anything and yet, have an important role to play in the scheme of things. When Iris reads B174’s last message, she rushes to the window from where she can see the beacon.

However, the optimism is drawn by tragedy as the beacon seems unlikely to make a safe landing. Moments later, something does hit the beacon with full force, shredding apart the docking bay. Before Iris and Halan set foot on the vessel, Harmony warns them, saying there is no sign of human life. If that is the case, who was communicating with Iris all this time?

The Episode Review

This episode seemed to be wavering until the midpoint when we finally learnt the timeline. There have been way too many distractions in this season of Beacon 23 so we hope the show’s creators remain focused from now on.

Ellen Wong’s strong debut on the show is bound to create expectations. It might lead the story in a completely new direction as the beacon keepers unite to stand their ground. I like the deep implications of the lifestyle of the beacon keepers, which was only touched upon at a surface level in Season 1. This episode nails that aspect of the storytelling and Halan’s character development.

Iris’ flute-playing reminded me instantly of Gene Hackman’s scenes in The Conversation. They both share similar themes and dramatic overtures. I think Season 2 will be on strong footing if this trend is to remain going forward.