I, for one, will be grateful when Sanctuary goes back to the 13-episode season format in the fall. "Out of the Blue," like last week's episode, takes a well-worn sci-fi concept--putting the characters in an alternate reality--and does nothing innovative with it. What began as a promising season with the Hollow Earth episodes has since become a boring and languid walk through typical science fiction tropes.
The episode begins with Will and Magnus living in a suburban neighborhood, Will as a surgeon and Magnus as a painter. There is nothing special about the episode once everything is set. The audience immediately knows that their condition is caused by an outside source and Will and Magnus soon realize that too, their world unraveling before them. In the end, they break out of their "bliss," and drive off a cliff, escaping from their world. Abby and John act as deterrents to them getting out, which may reflect on the real world, however you want to take it.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this is how Magnus perceives John. She imagines John's killing tendency as a separate entity, the newspaper headline telling us that John was the one who convicted the ripper and that this is what consumed him. Indeed, this is what happened in the real world, an entity which pushed John to kill. But it is John himself that Magnus rejects. Despite his best efforts, she turns away from him. How much of this is attributed to the fact that she wants to get back to the real world is unknown (as is the case with Abby), but she didn't seem to like him regardless of the situation.
The final revelation is that Will and Magnus were put into the state by a large creature and were actually being helped by Virgil St. Pierre of all people (the guy who wanted to bug/hero costume), who was recruited by Kate, Henry, and Bigfoot. The episode all but confirms what we learned in "Metamorphosis," that abnormals are coming out of Hollow Earth. This time, however, a very large number is coming out and all the sanctuaries are on high alert.
At the end of the day, "Out of the Blue" seemed like an unnecessary episode. Sure it was cute to see Magnus and Will in a different setting, but until the end, the episode lacked the punch of forward momentum which fueled the first half of the episode.
Score: 8.0/10
