Silent Majority

UNIT #3.3

Released: 23 November 2016

Listened: 4/9/23

This one opens with another time-jump, to just before the election that was called in the previous story. Osgood (and John Dorney) have come up with a tech-y solution to the Silence: goggles that let the wearer see 360 degrees, so a Silent can’t evade your view, and also with a small image of a Silent so you won’t forget them when they aren’t around. Josh is working for the LeBlanc campaign full-time, running security, although neither LeBlanc nor his aide can recall just where Josh came from. Unfortunately, the Trumpian parallels continue, as LeBlanc makes it clear he doesn’t actually have any policies, and didn’t particularly want to be Prime Minister, but he’s about to have no choice. Once Osgood figures out the subliminal messaging trick, she can use a portable hologram of a Silent to get anyone to do anything she wants, which is really rather scary, but she uses it sparingly. Hearing Josh spout right-wing bile at Osgood is disquieting, and underlines the point that there’s no flirting in this boxed set. Kate’s the one who realizes what the Silence are really up to, because why would they need to have a hand-picked Prime Minister in office, when they could just mind-control the one who’s already there? And yet, “seize power” is such a standard play for alien baddies that you don’t realize it until Kate says it, so good on John Dorney for playing that well. Also well-plotted for giving UNIT a win and a loss simultaneously.