The Cape: Dice (S1E5)

So, let me just say how excited I was that Mena Suvari was in this episode. (As was heyitsabell.  She says she loves her but she kinda looks like an alien.)  When I saw the preview I just about squealed.  I'm glad, when I watched it, that she didn't disappoint.

A little sample of what happens when she analyzes probabilities

So, like I said, Mena Suvari is the focus of this episode.  Her name is Tracey Jerrod, but her nickname (or the one she goes by now) is Dice, so called because she could from an early age predict the outcome of dice rolls.  In the greater scheme of things, she could actually predict the future.  When you watch the episode, you see through her eyes that her mind works like a computer, endlessly analyzing probabilities and such.

Tracey as she was young, being analyzed by her father who was funded by Fleming

You first see her as a little girl.  Her dad works for Peter Fleming as a researcher.  And his study?  His daughter.  He says she's a savant and that her mind will save the world.  She makes a creepy prediction when she first meets Peter Fleming: He's going to kill her father, and then she's going to kill him.

Dice and Fleming at his casino themed party for the launch of T.R.A.C.E.

Fast forward to the future, she's all grown up and attending Peter Fleming's launch of their new predictive program: T.R.A.C.E. -- based off of her brain.  She finds and meets Fleming at a congratulatory party for the product later on.  He's intrigued, and hits on her.  (Can I just say, it's a little creepy considering he looked exactly the same when she was a little girl, and so the age difference is rather high.  I guess whatevers?)  She sets off a bomb at the party, but doesn't manage to do more than stun him.  Even after this attempt on his life, Fleming tells Marty that she's spectacular, and seems to be fascinated.

Vince tries to keep Dice from shooting Orwell.
In the mirror, you see written "God is the Dice."

Vince and Orwell find out about this, and at first Vince is rather happy that someone's gunning for Fleming.  Orwell manages to convince him that it isn't a good idea: if Fleming dies, the secret of his identity as Chess dies as well, leaving Vince stuck as the guilty party.  Reluctantly, Vince agrees to save Fleming's life.  He actually recognizes Dice (as little girl Tracey) too: he's been trying to build a case linking Fleming to Chess, and one of Chess's murders included Dice's father -- just as she predicted it.

Vince and Orwell break into Dice's apartment to learn more about her.  Dice surprises them and puts a gun to Orwell's head.  She calls Vince an interesting "blind spot," saying it's nice because it reminds her that she's not God.

The rest of the show is a flurry of assassination attempts by Dice and Vince's attempts to foil them.  Fleming lays on the charm thick, attempting to woo Dice even as she tries to kill him.  She claims what she wants is for the T.R.A.C.E. program to be destroyed... and of course for Fleming to die.  At the end, she gets at least part of her wish fulfilled: Vince destroys the floor of the building where supposedly all traces (ha ha) of T.R.A.C.E. are being held.

Doctor giving Fleming a checkup after the casino bomb

There's a few scenes that suggest Fleming might be suffering from a split persona or something: his physician (that was taking care of him after the first assassination attempt) asks him about if he had any visits from 'our friend,' suggesting that maybe the doctor was treating him for psychological problems as well.  Although Fleming denies it, it seems that it might be a distinct possibility, especially when you notice his eyes change color when he greets a chess opponent near the end.  Maybe Chess is an alternate persona of Fleming's.  Hmmmm....