As authorities check on the corpses, Danvers (Jodie Foster) discovers that the bodies were stripped naked, with burnt eyes, self-inflicted bite marks, ruptured ear drums, and other strange injuries. She also notices a spiral symbol on a forehead, but does not understand what it means. As they try to remove the bodies from the ice, one of the officers accidentally cuts an arm. Suddenly, one of the men screeches, shocking them.
While the man is taken to the hospital, Danvers visits a teacher friend, Bryce, to ask him about the Tsalal crew. He states that they were reserved and were trying to sequence the DNA of an extinct microorganism that could stop cellular deterioration and find a cure for many diseases. Danvers prevents Captain Ted Connelly (Christopher Eccleston) from passing the case to Anchorage, much to his chagrin. Navarro (Kali Reis) visits Rose (Fiona Shaw) to question her about seeing Travis Cohle, father of Rust Cohle (True Detective Season One). She in return opens up about the "ghosts" that Julia has been seeing, which included their dead mother. Before Navarro leaves, Rose questions her about the spiral, something that Navarro has seen before, and Rose claims that the spiral is not only older than Ennis, but it might be older than the ice itself.
Per Danvers's instructions, the “corpsicle” is relocated to an ice rink to ease the process of unfreezing. She and Peter (Finn Bennett) debate on the discovery, as their clothes were carefully placed together near their corpses. They question many familiars of the scientists, all of whom describe them as very reserved and uncooperative with people on the outside. In particular, Clark was deemed as a very strange person, with a local seeing him with the spiral marked on his chest as he walked naked through town. Peter tells Danvers that a non-governmental organization funds Tsalal, and the investors point to a shell corporation named NC Global Strategies, which is owned by Tuttle United. She assigns him to retrieve Clark's credit records, although Peter is scolded and punched in the face by Hank (John Hawkes) over stealing Anne's file from their house.
Danvers is revealed to be having an affair with Connelly, despite their animosity. She tells him that after 19 years, their affair must end. Connelly says he must pass the case to Anchorage, as he does not believe she can handle it, and she furiously leaves when he appears to threaten her. She visits Navarro at her house, telling her that Clark got the spiral design from the victim of Navarro's unsolved case. She asks Navarro for her help, due to her knowledge in the case. Leah (Isabella Star La Blanc) runs away from the house and joins Peter in watching over the thawing bodies, where they talk about their parents. While visiting Qavvik (Joel D Montgrand), Navarro realizes the purpose of an RV that belonged to Clark. She finds Clark's abandoned RV and calls Danvers to join her. They find that the RV contains animal bones, Annie's phone and a shrine devoted to Anne. They go back to the ice rink to discover that there are only six bodies, and Navarro deduces that Clark is still alive.
Tropes present
- Arc Symbol: The spiral on the dead scientist's forehead is also tattooed on Clark's chest, who got it based on the one Annie had on her back after her death .
- Ice Breaker: One of the officers accidentally breaks off an arm off the frozen bodies. The body screams, as he was Only Mostly Dead.
- Sanity Slippage: Revealed in Clark's research notebook. The notes start out with data on the samples taken but go to frantic writing like "I hear her calling" and "her eyes her face" (repeatedly) and "OH GOD NEVER SLEEP" amid illegible scribbling.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The corpsesicle is towed to the ice rink to the sound of The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick".
