When Jeremiah narrowly survives an assassination attempt, he calls on the help of Kurdy and Smith for a dangerous trip to the heart of Daniel's new world.

Jeremiah has been elected Milhaven's town steward, having run unopposed. Thanks to Libby, he survives an assassination attempt arranged by Daniel's group.

Rachel says two "enforcers" have claimed to be Jeremiah. This suggests that Daniel's group are suspicious of Rachel but haven't yet been able to get close enough to see if her operation is more than small-scale black market trade.

As part of their anti-Thunder Mountain propaganda, Daniel's group has been claiming that Jeremiah took over Milhaven by force. Jeremiah was unaware of his reputation.

Rachel confirms that Daniel has been restoring power to cities using slave labour, however it seems he is merely superficially cleaning up cities still standing from before the Big Death rather than building entirely new ones. An official broadcast from Daniel states that power has recently been restored to three cities in Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware, and assets have been acquired from five military bases along the way, though this might be just propaganda.

Jeremiah Kurdy and Smith manage to get one of Daniel's former political advisors out of Daniel's territory, and he provides information to Markus.

Jeremiah and Libby become intimate in this episode.

Rachel runs the underground resistance in Daniel's territory. She operates out of the back of a pole-dancing club in one of Daniel's towns.

Karl Stevenson was Daniel's political advisor until he recently defected to the resistance.

Rachel: "Mister Smith?" Kurdy: "Long story." Smith: "No it's not - it's a proper name: first name Mister, last name Smith. Not a title. See - max seven seconds." Jeremiah: "Rachel-" Rachel: "Ms Rachel." Kurdy: "See what you started?"

Karl Stevenson: "Those of us who were there in the beginning, we made Daniel - in more ways than you'll know. We thought we'd be able to control him. We were wrong."

From Daniel's broadcast: "Our enemies fall before us like wheat from a scythe. Soon we will turn our eyes to the west, to the liberation of territories seized by the so-called 'Western Alliance'."

Jeremiah to Smith: "Do you have any unspoken thoughts?"

It's not really a direct reference, but Rachel's method of ascertaining Jeremiah's identity is the same that the apostle Thomas used with Jesus - see the Gospel according to John, chapter 20, verses 24-29 for details. Read this passage here.

There's a brief appearance from Richard, the Milhaven resident from the last episode. He seems to have got over his concerns about Jeremiah's decision making.

Smith hesitates before saying to Libby that God has nothing to say about the situation in Milhaven. This could mean a couple of things. Either God has said something that Smith doesn't want to share with Libby, or Smith would have expected God to have something to say about it and is surprised he hasn't. After she leaves, Smith says "I couldn't tell her", which would point to the first option as the likeliest.

It's possible that there's been a fairly large amount of time in-between the last episode and this, enough for Jeremiah to further gain the trust of Milhaven residents and for the election to be organised and held. If so, it follows a string of episodes from the end of the last season that likely follow very closely after one another.

It's not explicitly stated where the city is located that Jeremiah, Kurdy and Smith go to check out, only that it's one of Daniel's "showcase cities", so we can't be certain where it is beyond the statement that it's three days of non-stop driving from Milhaven.

There are more hints that in some aspect Daniel may not be "real". It could be that the person called Daniel is a figurehead, supported by a consortium who hold the real power. If so, Karl's words may mean that Daniel has been trying to seize more direct control for himself.

"One nation - under Daniel". Another nod that Daniel may be God's opposite strange attractor. Plus twice the action cuts to Daniel's broadcast immediately after Smith says "God says-".

Additional: Updated 4 March 2006 So, is this the last episode of Season Two or not? A further eight episodes were shot for the season, but were not aired by Showtime until a year after the first seven. However, there are two good reasons to count all fifteen episodes as part of the second season: firstly, this is how MGM list them on their website; secondly, the season was broadcast in Canada without an interruption. This guide will consider all fifteen episodes to be part of one season, as this is how they were planned and produced.

Why does Jeremiah have such a reputation with Daniel's group? Although he caused them problems in the previous episode, they must have more important things to concern themselves with. Perhaps Milhaven's former status as a supply line for Valhalla Sector gives it strategic value, and they want to control it, or at least disrupt whoever does control it. It so, this may further hint at some connection between Daniel and Valhalla if they are aware of Valhalla Sector's former connections.

The information that Rachel operates from "some club downtown" seems a bit vague given that Daniel's territory apparently encompasses several cities.

This bleak excursion into Daniel territory foregrounds this season's Orwell influence to very strong effect. Although primarily a question-answering episode, there is room for the usual mixture of action, humour and character development.