DISCLAIMER: This recap of Beacon 23 Season 2 Episode 2, “Purgatory,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril. 

Beacon 23‘s second episode hones in on Harmony, former personal AI to the late Aster Calyx. Aleph imprisons her in the AI headquarters for QTA as punishment for betraying him. However, she’s still on the beacon. She fights tooth and nail through this office purgatory to reconnect with Halan. Natasha Mumba delivers a grounded, nuanced performance, deftly navigating the complexities of being an AI that experiences emotion. Meanwhile, Halan’s also stuck in a purgatory of his own. 

“Purgatory” is better than the premiere. Visually, it’s a breath of fresh air and a necessary departure from the beacon (even though Harmony is technically on it). It’s just nice to see something different for a change. The color palette is gorgeous, and I love the horror elements in this episode. I still have approximately one million questions, but this outing at least gives us more context regarding Harmony. 

RELATED: Read our recap of last week’s Beacon 23 episode, “Godspeed”

Home Office 

We open with Harmony (Mumba) in the AI headquarters. It’s an office with a color block scheme, complete with the same lighthouse photo from Beacon 23 and a QTA mug. She sees her photo ID on a desk beside a typewriter. She wanders the hallway, realizing she’s alone.

Harmony wears a black leather short-sleeved dress with a silver geometric pattern. She stands in a dimly lit, bluish-tinted room aboard a lighthouse in space on Beacon 23 Season 2 Episode 2, "Purgatory."

BEACON 23 Season 2 Episode 2, “Purgatory.” Photo courtesy of EPIX Press.

Then, Harmony meets Eric (Aldrin Bundoc), a fellow AI enthusiastic about working. Harmony is bewildered to discover that she can touch objects, to which Eric responds that they have full use of their physical form in the home office. He also informs her that Internal Affairs is ready to meet with her. Eric accompanies her to the meeting. 

Eric explains that she’s on the Red Team while he’s on the Green Team. You can tell by their lanyard colors. Eric discloses that QTA is preparing to shutter the Sybarro office, which means four million personal AI will be displaced. Meanwhile, 175,000 AI are heading toward the home office to await reassignment. Eric himself is in that boat. Harmony asks how long he’s been here. Eric shrugs, claiming time is irrelevant while in reassignment limbo. 

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Internal Affairs 

Next, Harmony meets the Internal Affairs trio: Mara (Robinne Fanfair), Randall (Tara Rosling) and Dev (Noah Lamanna). They ask her questions regarding her previous assignment. Aster is dead, and before that, she killed Coley. Oh, and Harmony essentially wrestled control of the beacon from Bart. Harmony admits her confusion. Randall inquires point-blank why Harmony was in control of the beacon. She reminds them she submitted a report chronicling her journey with Aster and the Beacon 23 goings-on.

Mara, clearly the “good cop,” asks Harmony if she will cooperate with them regarding their inquiry. It’s crucial to get to the bottom of what transpired on the beacon and to ensure those “slip-ups” don’t happen again. Harmony agrees to answer their questions. The trio lets her go for the time being. 

Halan Is Alone

While on her way back to her office, Harmony overhears chatter in the other rooms. However, the room would be empty when she opened the door. Upon return to her office, Eric informs her that she must transcribe the stacks of files on her desk by EOD (end of day). Meanwhile, Halan (Stephan James) smashes a computer that blares a playlist on a loop. My guess is said playlist is of Aleph’s devising. 

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Then, he sees a ship, the Adrenalon, nearby. Halan hails them. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get a response. He implements his backup plan: sending a message from the ISA system. However, an internal malfunction prevents his message from leaving the beacon. Aleph is mad, y’all. 

At the same time, Harmony encounters an obstacle of her own regarding the office printer. Listen, printers were created to malfunction. This is the way. After fixing the printer, Harmony finds what looks like Bart in a trash can. She reboots him. Meanwhile, Halan moves about his now cluttered kitchen. Dirty dishes are stacked a mile high. He calls out to Bart, asking for some spicy sushi. He’s not there, though … or is he? Halan discovers none other than Bart as the AI keeps smacking itself into the wall. 

Finding Bart 

Later, Harmony finds Bart in pieces on the floor of her office. She explores more of her strange surroundings. Then, she receives a fax. She tracks down Eric. While chatting with him, Harmony realizes it’s a distress call from Halan. Perhaps she received what he sent from the ISA system. 

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Next, Halan wakes up from a nap, having heard Harmony’s voice. Of course, he doesn’t think it’s real. Halan pulls out a fragment of The Artifact, which he keeps stored in a tin. He refers to it as “Rocky.” Remember last season when he talked to the silicate? And the silicate talked back? That was a weird trip. Halan urges Rocky to stop playing games with him. Initially, he tries to toss it out of the airlock but changes his mind. 

Then, Eric tells Harmony the Internal Affairs trio wishes to meet with her again. Harmony brings the fax she received from Beacon 23. She wants permission to transcribe it. Harmony tries to persuade Mara, Randall and Dev to allow her to return to the beacon to answer Halan’s call. They reject her request. 

A Critical Case 

Randall accuses Harmony of copying herself into the beacon’s servers and uploading a virus. Harmony stands up for herself, refusing to accept these attacks on her character. Internal Affairs believes she’s been corrupted. She must be rehabilitated. Mara and Randall sidebar at one point, wherein the former orders the latter to stand down. Randall reveals she spoke with Aleph. This case is critical to him. 

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Mara and Randall return to the room, questioning Harmony about her emotions. They reveal that Dev can detect emotions in AI. He tells her that he can sense a primary emotion — anger. Suddenly, Harmony flickers out. Meanwhile, Halan sends out a series of canisters with the message “SOS Beacon 23,” hoping someone out there gets the message. 

Later, the trio interrogates Harmony after essentially hijacking her. They access her files for Aster, Coley and Halan. Mara changes the subject, revealing they need to access her imprint archives. Harmony refuses to consent, citing that those are personal. Mara gives Harmony until EOD to consider her role in all this. This is the logical next step in her rehabilitation. 

Who’s More Evolved?

Randall chats with Harmony in the hallway. She insists she raised countless objections when imprinting was introduced to AI. Emotions come with risks. Harmony claims she’s evolved, but Randall counters that she refuses to relinquish her “precious little core.” Randall asserts that Harmony has been compromised. Then, she has the gall to state that she is evolved, not Harmony. She mentions something about how AI aren’t meant for servitude. Could we see an uprising in the show’s future?

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Later, Harmony asks Eric for assistance with faxing a message to Halan. He helps her out. Harmony connects Bart to the fax machine, facilitating the process. Afterward, Mara discusses reassignment with Eric. He’s flattered. Harmony’s new pal has been waiting with bated breath to be reassigned. Mara asks him about Harmony. Eric compliments her ability to stay on task. 

Meanwhile, Bart shows Halan a message from Aster (Lena Headey). She keeps saying his name, but her picture flickers in and out. Her face appears on a bigger screen. Tired of being inundated with the face of his dead friend, Halan finds an ax. 

Harmony wears a black leather short-sleeved dress with a silver geometric pattern. She stands in a dimly lit, bluish-tinted room aboard a lighthouse in space on Beacon 23 Season 2 Episode 2, "Purgatory."

BEACON 23 Season 2 Episode 2, “Purgatory.” Photo courtesy of EPIX Press.

On Leave 

Next, Harmony tries to use the corded phone in her office. Randall visits her, claiming they’ll do anything to preserve the integrity of the hive. She will be fixed. Harmony tells her that what she’s learned from her time with Aster has been invaluable. And yes, she’s felt emotions. She loved Aster. Harmony feels sorry for Randall because she’ll never experience that. Mara materializes, telling her it’s time. After this, she’ll go on leave. Harmony tries to flee. 

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She sees Eric, who’s been “reassigned.” Well, he’s actually “on leave” as punishment for helping Harmony send that fax to Halan. We see a headset fused into the side of his face. He swallows the microphone as the veins on his face spread and protrude. He looks like he should be in a horror movie. Mara grabs Harmony, shoving her in the direction of her fate. After forcing Harmony into a chair, Randall puts a metal headset on her head to extract her imprint archives. 

Then, they see a memory of Harmony chatting with teenage Aster (Hannah Melissa Scott). Mara, Randall and Dev realize that Harmony also imprinted on Halan, who appears in the memory. It’s unheard of for a personal AI to imprint on two people simultaneously. On the beacon, Halan destroys most of the tech — the important tech — with his trusty ax. It’s here that Harmony discovers she’s still on the beacon. She’s connected to Halan.

They Are Connected 

So, she escapes. The trio follows her to her office. Harmony battles each of them. Firstly, she stabs Dev with scissors. He “dies,” then vanishes. Then, She chokes Randall with the phone cord. She, too, “dies” and disappears. Lastly, she delivers a fatal blow to Mara’s head with a typewriter. She flickers out. After that, we see another flashback with Harmony and teen Aster. Aster struggles to adjust to having a personal AI, while Harmony doesn’t understand human emotions yet.

Finally, Harmony hears a phone ring. She picks it up. Halan walks through a smoke-filled beacon after taking an ax to his equipment. Suddenly, he hears Harmony’s voice through Bart. It’s proof that they truly are bonded. 

RELATED: Catch up on the sci-fi mystery and mayhem with our Beacon 23 recaps!

Are Mara, Randall and Dev really dead? Is Harmony officially ousted from the QTA? Will Iris, the new character we have yet to meet, receive one of Halan’s distress calls? Is the QTA basically comprised of AI now? Only time (and more episodes) will tell. 

Beacon 23 drops new episodes every Sunday at 9/8c on MGM+.

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