‘Tom Swift’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 6 “…And the Benefits of Bondage”
This week on Tom Swift, Tom is kidnapped and goes through a set of trials while Zenzi and Isaac team up with an unlikely ally to find him. Read on to find out what happens in “…And the Benefits of Bondage.”
The Search for Tom
Isaac calls Tom but soon finds his watch and the slightly damaged Corvette. He notcies a handprint on the window and takes a photo of it. He goes to tell Zenzi, and they head to the manor where Barclay was (oddly) in sleep mode. Barclay analyzes the handprint and reveals it’s Tom’s. He shows the security footage of Tom getting taken, but it’s of little help as Barclay was hit with an EMP before the kidnappers are shown. Oh, and Tom’s cell phone is pinging in multiple places across New York state.
Isaac and Zenzi find Rowan, thinking The Road Back abducted Tom. Rowan says it wasn’t because he was tasked with keeping tabs on Tom. Since Tom is now missing, Rowan’s going to help Isaac and Zenzi find him.
Ransacked
Barclay leads Isaac to Claire’s office where a capsule piece was accessed and destroyed, but Tom got the data. Isaac tells Zenzi, who says the piece is probably waiting to be incinerated. Rowan joins them and asks about a ransom note, thinking it’s weird they didn’t get one. They aren’t sure who could’ve taken Tom but think that whoever sent the piece is a good place to start.
They return to the manor to find it trashed, and that Isaac scanned the capsule piece before it was incinerated. Rowan notices a dirt footprint that Barclay scans to narrow down their suspect pool. But, of course, there’s no additional helpful security footage. However, Isaac and Zenzi remember a tech-y ring Tom has that they can use to find him.
Saw, But Make It TV-14
Tom wakes up in a large room with a desk and a disassembled phone on top. The walls become electrified, and he has 12 minutes to make the phone work. When he gets to just over five minutes left, he notices a camera and asks a question that bumps his time down to two minutes. After a failed attempt, he uses the camera wiring to make the phone work. He’s freed and goes outside where a man named Garrett tells Tom a woman’s life is in his hands. Tom agrees to stay and now has to go through an obstacle course. He makes it through but is tranquilized after.
The Next Trial
Isaac, Zenzi, and Rowan find Tom unconscious and Zenzi spots a syringe she uses to wake him. Tom tells them about the woman and uses a watch he was wearing for the trials to find her location. On the way there, he changes and adds his own tech. When they arrive, Barclay calls Isaac and tells him the DNA from the capsule piece was Rowan’s.
The group goes into an underground bunker where they are locked into an exam room. A second door opens and Tom rushes through to find computer monitors showing his friends and the woman. A voice tells him to pick a room to receive oxygen, and the other gets nitrogen. He gives the group instructions on how to create a makeshift drill so that they can get oxygen from the other room. Three people show up an tranquilize them, and Tom loses any communication to the woman.
Secret Society
Tom wakes up at the manor and Garrett’s voice tells him to put on the Prying Eyes glasses. When he does, Garrett shows Tom images chronicling Black history and significant figures, beginning with the Tulsa Massacre. When he’s done, he shows up and the glasses reveal Garrett’s been dead for a while. Turns out it was Lorraine using Tom’s tech. She tells Tom everyone is fine; she just needed to know he was surrounded by good people. Then, she explains the secret society within the Tubman one.
Lorraine explains that since Tulsa, the secret group was created to help Black people build their own fortunes free from white supremacy, and that they would eventually go to space. The idea came when she was six months pregnant with Tom’s sister. Garrett was her doctor who dismissed her symptoms, and Tom’s sister was stillborn because of it. Lorraine realized how widespread the disregard towards Black women is and Barton wanted to create a safe space for them and Black people. After Lorraine saw how Tom handled himself lately, she wants him to build the space station. She assures him the woman is fine and is a member of the society. Lorraine also says Tom can tell the others, but he has to keep his head down. She adds that she doesn’t want any more secrets between them, so Tom tells her that Barton is alive.
Tom calls Isaac to tell him everyone is okay, and they need to meet. Isaac finds Rowan and confronts him about the capsule piece. Meanwhile, Zenzi goes to the manor where she finds Isaac unconscious.
Tom Swift airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on The CW, available the next day on The CW app and cwtv.com. Keep up with our coverage here.