The Rig – Season 2 Episode 6 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Episode 6

Episode 6 of The Rig season 2 starts with Fulmer and Magnus shocked as they realize Rose is dead. Well, for a bit anyway. The bullet dematerializes inside her and she regains consciousness. It turns out Rose has survived thanks to being part of the Ancestor. She injected herself with part of it off-screen, and that now allows her to survive seemingly fatal blows. As she herself embraced the Entity, rather than rejecting its hostile takeover like the others, this has allowed her to be stronger and survive where they may have faltered.

Rose is convinced that they need to save the Ancestor, and now knows that she’s been wrong this whole time. It didn’t cause the mass extinctions of the past, it’s what allowed life to regenerate afterwards. If Pictor destroy the heart of the Ancestor, it won’t be able to come back, and there will be no chance of preserving life.

Meanwhile, York promises Bremner that his cheque will go through given he’s secured the data drive. In turn, York messages through to someone from the board, claiming that Cirein II is going to be launched once the deal is signed off. With Rose alive, Magnus goes on the hunt.

In the UK, Kat works with Mackendrick to uncover evidence, which happens to come in the form of a public apology and message from Lennox about what Pictor are up to. This is what’s on the USB drive that Lennox handed over last episode. Lennox’s message quickly makes the news, and it doesn’t take long for Lennox to arrive on the Stac in her helicopter. She’s with Hutton, who’s back and is here to help out.

What is Lennox’s plan with Pictor?

Lennox then explains what’s happening here. She admits to stopping the Coast Guards from broadcasting the message about the tsunami and wishes she hadn’t. She found out what Coake was up to and believed that in allowing the Coast Guard to respond, it actually would have put even more people at risk. They didn’t know the extent of power this Ancestor has, but now they know properly.

Lennox explains that there’s a vast engine of power at the helm that’s stopping all of them from actually progressing and making big changes. Whether this is the Pictor Board or higher-ups than that is unclear at this time. Lennox knows the truth is not enough now, as Pictor will work with the machine to steamroll over any rebellion efforts.

Darian York is just one of many hydra heads at the helm of Pictor, but he is the most dangerous for now. Lennox’s initial play here was to go ahead with the Arctic plan, but then sit on the rights and keep the company in limbo so they’d be a stranded asset and unable to be exploited.

Unfortunately, that drive also has the exact location to the Heart of the Ancestor, so it appears we’re now on a race against time to get there before it’s too late. It doesn’t help that Darian York makes a public announcement, condemning Lennox and placing all blame on her. Oh and legal action too.

Who is travelling to the Heart of the Ancestor?

The only solution is to show the world the Heat of the Ancestor to turn public sentiment to one of sympathy rather than anger. This would work to potentially stop Pictor given they care so much about their reputation and public face.

In order to find the Heart and get there, Hutton gets to work reprogramming the signal so it can work underwater on a massive level in the Rover. He works with the other workers, who are now up from the subsea module, and working with Hutton to fix everything up ready to go.

Rose and Fulmer are the ones going down, but without the drive it’s unclear exactly how long it’ll take to reach there. Askel is disappointed he’s not going too, but these two make sense in going given they both have a connection to the Ancestor.

Does the ROV launch the poison?

While this is going on, Magnus has an uneasy feeling regarding Bremner and what he may be up to. There’s a guidance system on the Stac that could be used to launch an ROV, which would allow Bremner to also find the Heart of the Ancestor, potentially before Rose and Fulmer. And this, as it turns out, is exactly what he’s doing.

Bremner and Coake have actually equipped an ROV with poison which, when released, would choke the ocean with toxins and wipe out the Heart. However, Rose and Fulmer suss what’s happening and they hurriedly turn off the signal so Bremner can’t find the right position. He was relying on following their Rover but without that to go on, he just takes a lucky stab and ejects the poison into the water all the same.

Despite releasing this, Magnus shows up and holds Bremner up at gunpoint. He shoots the guy, stopping his plan, but the damage has already been done. At least for the ocean life in the area anyway, as he isn’t anywhere near the heart.

Fulmer and Rose receive the bad news, and they know this is a one-way trip, given their air supply is reaching 50% and lower. They may not make the trip back, and they remain steadfast in their desire to try and find the Heart.

Do Rose and Fulmer die?

Magnus is not prepared to just give up and let them die, so he works to reroute power and move the Stac to help get Rose and Fulmer back. As for the pair in the Rover, they uncover what look like roots on the sea-bed, so Rose dons her suit and heads out to investigate further. Touching some rocks nearby, they begin glowing and it appears to resonate with her touch. It awakens and reveals a large, beautiful entangled web which appears to be the Heart of the Ancestor.

Standing at the edge of the cliff-face, everything goes dark as it appears the Ancestor is trying to communicate with Rose. As the lights come back on, it shows off a huge, massive network of roots that stretch all the way up as far as the eye can see. It’s beautiful, and even illuminates the ice outside too.

The Ancestor is no longer hiding, and in fact even the news picks up on this phenomenon, as all the seas begin to glow. As a result, oil prices crash and the PM promises a full inquiry into Pictor Energy’s going on. Darian York is scrambling and he’s worried when he receives a call from someone called X.

How does The Rig season 2 end?

After doing everything they can, Rose and Fulmer are reunited once more and with 1% battery left, they prepare for the end, knowing this was a one-way trek. However, what they didn’t expect was the Stac itself, which moves all the way across to them and saves the pair. We don’t see the rescue operation, as we just cut to them on the Stac afterwards.

With everybody joined together and ready to fight for the next steps, all our characters head out onto the balcony and have a look around. However, there appears to be a satellite up high honing in on their location.

The Episode Review

So The Rig ends with another cliffhanger, and one that’s pretty rushed too. We continue to see a large hierarchy of higher powers here, with a weak attempt at a redemption arc for Lennox, who hasn’t been the strongest character from the start.

Furthermore, we also get some mysteries surrounding exactly who X is, which seems to have Darian spooked, while we don’t know whether Easter will ever get a proper conversation with Harish about his feelings. Honestly, what was with that plot point of them being in love but never going further with it?

There have been constant pockets of drama like this, including Bremner at the end just deciding to stand with the others and watch the Ancestor outside. Why would be care? And as for the plan itself to sway the masses, the water turning a strange colour could so easily have been explained away by the powers that be as some sort of light show, the moon’s rays or any other explanation. Instead, we get “sea glows so everybody is onboard with renewable energies now” which seems like such a bizarre jump in logic to take.

But then this show has never been one for logic, which is obvious from the way this second season has been put together. The best parts are that of the Ancestor, and seeing all those tendrils underwater with the network is a definite highlight here. It’s just a shame then that the rest of the season hasn’t had that same level of awe and wonder. Maybe season 3 will improve?