Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / The Ministry of Time S02 E05: "A Virus from Another Time"
aka: El Ministerio Del Tiempo S 02 E 05 Un Virus De Otro Tiempo

Go To

Barcelona, 1918. A young woman is giving a painful birth in a small, dark hut, only illuminated by candles. The young woman's birth is assisted by Irene Larra and a doctor (the latter not so much, given that the young woman's mother won't allow him to approach her daughter's intimate parts). Fortunately, Irene manages to help the young woman... and future Flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya is born. However, just as she hands the baby to the mother, Irene faints.

The veteran agent has, unfortunately, contracted Spanish flu, one of the deadliest illnesses in the history of humanity. Doctor Vargas tells newly-named Undersecretary Susana Torres that the protocols state the infected agent cannot return to the future, but Susana states No One Gets Left Behind (with extra emphasis because Irene is her lover) and forces Vargas to bring her back. Irene is well isolated, and the doctor attempts to find a cure, but nothing works. Disaster strikes, though, when one of the nurses accidentally infects himself with the illness and unwittingly spreads it around the Ministry: when he falls ill, the doctor enforces a quarantine, but not before the illness also spreads to Alonso, Velázquez, Germán the clerk and several others. The quarantine also forces the agents in mission to remain in the past - as shown with the two men forced to remain in Altamira, even though it is incredibly cold.

Those who are ill begin to reminisce about their past as fever begins to take them: Velázquez remembers about his youth as apprentice to Francisco Pacheco, Alonso about how his friend Blanca was forced to leave for the north of Spain and later returned to Seville (where they would later marry) and Germán about his father's last days and their shared love for football.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Ministry has to deal with the enforced isolation, which, for Amelia, Pacino and Ernesto becomes worse because of their shared worry for their friends' lives and their dislike of Torres (with Ernesto angrily complaining about why it is the dumbest people that get the best positions, referencing Torres' previously demonstrated ignorance of what her job entails). A clandestine Skype chat with reputed physician Gregorio Marañón reveals that a pharmaceutical company called Schäuble tried, in his time, to create a vaccine from samples extracted from dead people, but it did not work. Pacino notices Doctor Vargas acting in a strange way, and Ernesto and him catch him carrying out an almost illegal act.

Vargas reveals that he has made contact with Schäuble and made a deal with them: in exchange of virus samples from living patients, the company would provide a vaccine and pay Vargas. As he gets pointed out that Schäuble's motives may be less than altruistic, the doctor answers that, yes, he knows that, but he also points out that he, and many others, carry out a thankless job for a pittance, while people like Susana Torres earn a large salary for doing a job they know nothing about. Ernesto and the others concur, but they cannot take any risks over what might happen, and Ernesto authorizes Amelia and Pacino to leave the quarantine so they can destroy the samples. The two manage to infiltrate the building and, after a couple of Ship Tease scenes, ensure the virus is destroyed. As they leave, with the sun rising, Pacino kisses Amelia... and she replies with a slap.

Back in the Ministry, Doctor Vargas begins to vaccinate the patients: only one of them, the nurse, has succumbed to the flu, while the others begin their slow recovery from the illness. And, thirty-eight days later, the quarantine ends, and everyone can come back home... including the two men sent to Altamira, who have decided to deface the cave with a little drawing where they proclaim their love for each other.

Alternative Title(s): El Ministerio Del Tiempo S 02 E 05 Un Virus De Otro Tiempo

Top