Wow. That basically sums up this week's finale of Siberia. Filled with life or death moments, betrayal, and a glimpse of hope it offered up everything desired in a finale, except answers. Unlike most shows, Siberia hasn't laid out all the answers for the viewers so my goal has been to gather the information by paying close attention to the events, researching the facts behind the story and logically deducing theories to bring together a plausible narrative to explain the mysteries presented. Although this post is only covering the final episode, "...Into the Oven", the events that transpired and the questions that arose, I will also be adding a post entitled Siberia in Retrospect on Monday that will include all the mysteries we've seen throughout the season and some logical answers that tie them together. I also encourage you to check out my Siberia: Facts Edition as well as my previous recaps before you bid adieu to the wonderful journey that is Siberia! For now, let's jump out of the frying pan and "...Into the Oven" as this shocking episode received mixed reviews, with enough action to please but too few answers for closure, we have to wonder if this was the best way to end a chapter on Siberia.
- Neeko, Sabina, Irene, Esther, Annie and Miljan made their way through the territory of the Valleymen as Merilik had directed them. While I was hoping for more action, especially after Sasha's whisper last week advising Sabina not to run if she saw "them", the contestants arrived at the science center without any trouble or strange encounters. However, as they made their final strides Neeko uncovered a sign that clearly spelled out danger as the group realized they had traveled into a minefield.
Daniel, Sam, Johnny and Joyce ran to greet their fellow contestants but to their dismay Irene was frozen in place atop a pressure sensitive explosion device. Although the group debated what to do and what would happen if she indeed stepped off, Daniel insisted it was a dud, without any explanation, and proceeded to help Irene move off the dangerous explosive unharmed.
- The group shared stories of their separate journeys, including Sam saving Johnny's life after the shock of the tower and the moment when Sam thought he could no longer make it. He spoke of closing his eyes and being taken back to the moment where he was attempting to fish and Natalie was giving him a hard time. I wonder if for that brief moment he died or was passing through a purgatory of sorts as Natalie was the one select member he was with and as we know she had lost her life. Annie stormed off clearly distraught and the others shared the news of the unexpected loss of Natalie. Sam went to Annie's side and comforted her reciting his own personal experience with the death of his wife explaining that the impact she had on Sam's life would always be with him as Natalie's would always stay with Annie.
- Soon after a truck appeared coming down the road and most of the contestants ran to greet what they perceived to be their rescue. Unfortunately, the group was violently pushed onto their knees and held captive as the armed men argued in Russian over their fate. Of what Sam was able to translate we learned that they were searching for a weapon, they had killed the scientists inside and they had every intention of murdering the group as well. Joyce attempted to negotiate with the men but when she claimed their entire group was present and they uncovered her lie they strapped her to the front of the truck.
- As the armed men counted down to Joyce's execution, suddenly, something drew the attention of the armed men away from the group and they were able to run into one of the structures and barricaded themselves inside. Johnny took a daring risk and untied Joyce, bringing her to safety with the others amidst the gunfire. The group heard explosion after explosion as the building rocked with each impact. It was clear that the minefield was active and the loud animal-like screeching implied it was the Valleymen who had come to their aid.
- The group used the Valleymen's distraction to nab the truck and take off. However, they quickly noticed that Annie had not made it into the vehicle with them and though they stopped to let her on, she was struck by a bullet as the men redirected their shots towards the fleeing group. The contestants mourned Annie's death while previewing her journal that contained sketches of each of them. While Annie was not the first to die amongst the group, the fact that they witnessed her demise first-hand was something that none of them could shake.
- On route to the town Johnny had previously found on the map, the truck hit an ice patch and swerved off the road, leaving them stuck in a pile of snow. Daniel informed Esther that the town was now only a few miles away and they proceeded to push the vehicle to freedom. Unsuccessful, Esther approached Johnny who was driving and claimed they needed his strength to push and that she would steer. Why they continue to believe her ridiculous claims is beyond me, but as the truck regained its traction Esther drove down the road never stopping or even looking back. Miljan informed them that she had once again played them as she had taken the money from the Revealer and now was home free with all $500,000 and they were left stranded in the middle of nowhere.
- The group walked the remainder of the distance to the town but when they arrived they found everything was not as expected. The town was abandoned. Sam translated a sign that had been posted ordering the town to evacuate to the nearest Russian military camp and though they called out in hope of stragglers left behind no one returned their cries.
They located the truck Esther had escaped in unfortunately with no Esther and no money. While the contestants pillaged the open storefronts for a way to contact help (again) they were met with the familiar dilemma of no electricity and no phone service. In the distance Christmas lights shone off a balcony and the group raced to the building to see if it was inhabited.
- Although the apartment was abandoned, they were blessed with electricity and a fridge filled with fresh food that they quickly took advantage of. Miljan came across a gun which he hid on his person and Daniel finally mustered up the courage to kiss Irene. While they all were eating, drinking and seemingly enjoying each others' company like a family at Thanksgiving, Joyce noticed a tape Sabina had pulled out amongst the things she had stashed. Recalling that while she and Johnny lost their memory in the woods the footage was said to have gone missing, they immediately inserted the tape into the television. The scene before them flickered to life beginning with the two arguing as we had previously seen, they then came upon one of the cauldrons in which they noticed what looked to be cuneiform (same as the symbol of the Valleymen) writing along the edge and a circle composed of sixteen points within. The two continued back to the settlement, non-afflicted, when out of frustration Johnny punched a tree explaining the marks the others had noticed on his hands. The camera cut out and when the picture reappeared it was night, the two were obviously spooked as they hid behind a tree listening and watching for any movement. Suddenly, a beast appeared between the trees and began chasing the two and as they barley escaped when a bright spotlight flashed in the sky followed by the entire atmosphere lighting up in a green cross-stitch pattern as the contestants had witnessed at the camp distracting both them and likely the beast.


It wasn't until after this that the two became agitated and confused not remembering the strange creature or the cauldron that they had just encountered. Before they had time to analyze the intense video they had witnessed, a commotion outside led the group to the window where they saw a group of men similar in appearance as those whom they had just fled from at the science center entering the very building they inhabited. The group hid in anticipation and a rattling of keys could be heard as the door swung open. Rounding the corner was the last person they expected to see, host Jonathon Buckley appeared before them and with a perplexed look he sternly uttered a final line to last through the ages: "You're not supposed to be here".
The season finale of Siberia had viewers on the edge of their seats, however, the jaw-dropping ending left the majority of the audience confused and wanting more. "...Into the Oven" made for an excellent ending with a jam-packed episode that kept viewers on their feet and while this sounds like a good thing, with no news of a second season it left us with few answers and even more questions. Personally, I feel both ways as it was an amazing episode, but I was disappointed that the group traveling through the Valeymen's territory didn't have some encounter with them and the surprising ending left me mainly with guesses rather than logical clues to follow like the rest of the season provided. Overall Siberia was an interesting ride; at first the reality competition aspect of the show had me bored and came out of the gates a little slow for my taste. However, as the season progressed each episode became more and more intriguing as subtle clues were presented and discovering the wealth of truth behind the show was an ingenious move by the creators. Siberia is the type of show where answers were not laid out on a silver platter for the audience and while it was a hit for the inquisitive viewer, I fear that it also had a large portion of its target audience turning away as they didn't want a show that engaged their minds. It's competition, the television remake of Stephen King's novel Under the Dome, presented the answers to the questions that arose in an extremely slow manner that turned me away as there wasn't much thinking involved and the results were often obvious and took entire episodes for the characters to solve. This classifies Siberia in my book as a smart series with mind-bending storylines, characters that we loved to love or loved to hate and an unusual number of unknown outside forces that effected the contestants. This was a great episode for a confirmed return of the series next summer but I'm concerned that without another season we will be left with nothing more than conjecture and theories which is a huge let down. I wish that the audience was provided with more concrete information to go on as as it stands there is a whole world of possibilities. However, that won't stop me from taking what we were given and hypothesizing just where this story is leading us, so let's move right on to the new questions that arose and just what might be going on in Siberia!
I've learned from reading the various message boards and comments that no matter how logical an explanation I offer, people will ultimately believe what they want to believe, as I got a lot of slack in the beginning for offering up aliens as a possible cause of the Tunguska Event. This combined with the fact that various television shows over the years have failed to create that perfect story with no loopholes means that even if my theories can logically explain everything, that doesn't mean that's necessarily the direction the show will choose. Nevertheless I will conclude my Siberia chronicles with a quick recap of the questions and some final theories as to what has happened in this episode for you to make your own decision.
1. How did Daniel know the one mine Irene was on was a dud?
- Short version: luck? I couldn't find anything online about determining a dud from an actual explosive, so I really can't answer how Daniel came to that conclusion. I thought maybe the snow or the cold could effect its capabilities but as the minefield was clearly active shortly after Irene successfully stepped off the device I have no real answer for this particular question. I'm open to hearing your thoughts and theories about this so please feel free to comment below!
2. Why did the Valleymen attack?
- Although I predicted the Valleymen attacking the armed men to help the contestants escape, while watching I wondered if I was on point or if there was another possibility. Due to the fact the group was travelling through the Valleymen's territory on top of Sasha's advice to not run if they saw them I was expecting some sort of encounter between the two. Unfortunately, this did not happen. I originally theorized that because Miljan obviously has a connection to the beasts they would not want to see him harmed, thus when the rescue team threatened his life, they would attack in order to help him. This very well could have been the case.
- However, a second idea crossed my mind. The Evenkis used the snowshoes that matched the mark of the Valleymen so the beasts would not follow them. I wonder if instead, the Valleymen simply followed the group's human footprints to the science center and coincidentally had impeccable timing. Given a choice, I like my original theory better, it provides more of a storyline between Miljan and the Valleymen that we did not get to see played out albeit the Valleymen simply following the tracks is quite possible as well.
3. What was the weapon the military group was searching for?
- Sam translated the Russian men's conversation and uncovered they were at the science center looking for a weapon. If the scientists were responsible for attempting to duplicate the Tunguska Event and the tower is in fact a copy of the Wardenclyffe tower (see: Siberia: Facts Edition) it would be a powerful directed-energy weapon that could also explain some of the other mysteries in this episode. However, if opposed to my original theory that the science center was responsible for second Tunguska blast and in fact it was the cauldrons, which very well may be the writer's explanation for the original Tunguska Event as well(see: Siberia: Facts Edition), I think that yields a plausible theory that the men were looking for the cauldrons. While I'm not sold that these metal huts are alien weaponry left in the Siberian wilderness, it is a logical direction for the show. I believe they are looking for what caused the "fire in the sky" as before they were researching a one hundred year old event and footage from 1927, when now they know that it is in Tunguska and was used more recently so they have set out to find it.
4. Why was the town evacuated?
- I think that this fits perfectly into the weapon the armed men were searching for. Had a powerful blast like that occurred it is feasible that nearby towns would be evacuated for safety reasons, as it could have been a misfire or a test run, as well as the continuing danger that would exist had a weapon of that nature deployed aimed at the town. However, this theory also comes with the question: Wouldn't the Russian military be searching for the cause? I'm at a dilemma with that one because I don't believe the armed men are Russian military. I don't think the military would have killed the scientists inside or damaged the equipment and locked the door behind themselves. I think that the idea that this group is working with the science center is the most plausible answer, they killed the scientists and destroyed the radio tower so no one could communicate out. They asked if this was all of them as they didn't know which contestants had made it through the harsh conditions. If this is the case, it backs up the theory that they didn't want the group to ever leave Siberia as they were ready to execute them. This also means that the tower didn't cause the second event as if they had deployed their own weapon, they probably wouldn't be looking for it. What I obtain from this line of reasoning is that while they were attempting to recreate the event, they did not succeed thus the second event must have been caused by the cauldrons.
- While I do still think that time discrepancies play a part in the show, I don't think this is the case involving the second Tunguska-like event. If they had flashed back to 1908 and were experiencing the original Tunguska Event it would mean that the entire world or at least Russia was jumping back and forth with them. I've come to this conclusion because for the Russian government to evacuate a nearby town would mean they witnessed the effects as well miles away, so while I do think time disruptions are involved I don't think the "fire in the sky" was a trip back to 1908.
5. Where did Esther go? & Did she collude with others for the cash prize?
- Esther didn't seem to know about the nearby town so I'm not sure about the idea of her planning to meet up with someone there however, Esther is a pro at lying so she could have just been plying dumb. While I think that a reasonable twist would be to have her working with the cameraman who she blackmailed or even the host to get out with the money, there aren't really any facts or clues to go by so these ideas are nothing more than a guess. If the goal was for Esther to get out and meet with someone, I'm not sure how she could've planned to escape and trek over a hundred miles alone. I honestly think Esther is on her own, on the run attempting to get as far away with the money as possible!
6. What is the significance of the cauldron & it's markings?
left: outside of the cauldron found by Johnny & Joyce; right: inside
- I think the most important thing to take away from the cauldron was the sixteen dots in a circular formation. While there is conjecture about this being related to the contestants, I don't really think that is the most plausible explanation as two were eliminated right off the bat and there were never sixteen contestants staying at the settlement. Instead, I think it is related to the 1908 settlers. In my first theories post, I hypothesized the possibility that the original settlers were somehow mutated through alien technology and might be the creatures in the woods. The sixteen dots strengthen this theory as they may have engraved the cauldron after the Tunguska Event changed them, or the markings appeared on the cauldron as a result of the transformation. In addition, I had wondered about how Sam's bracelet from a 1908 settler ended up in the shallow waters today. One of my theories was that a beast still wore it as a reminder of who they used to be. If this is the case and the original sixteen settlers were transformed it connects a good amount of dots to create a plausible theory, including why they became enemies with the Evenkis as they were believed to have caused the event.
7. What happened to Johnny & Joyce?
- While there are a lot of people out there wondering if the cauldrons caused the two's confusion in the episode "Fire in the Sky", I felt like the tape gave my theory concrete proof that it was not the cauldrons but the lights in the sky. In this episode we saw the tape of what happened to the two while alone in the woods which provided answers to at least a few of the lingering questions out there. We witnessed that as the two argued they came across a cauldron with unusual markings, after studying it the continued forward and didn't show any sign of confusion or disorientation. Suddenly they were attacked by the beast, our first glance at the Valleymen which was a terrifying one (see picture below), this is what caused Joyce's abrasions and Johnny's battered hand was from nothing more than punching a tree. After the lights in the sky progressed the two suddenly didn't remember the cauldron, the Valleyman or how they became injured, so ultimately it was pretty clear to me that the event caused their confusion.
8. What can we take from the final visualization of the beast?
- I feel comfortable making the Valleymen and the beast synonymous. The creature we saw attack Johnny and Joyce had the same foot structure as the footprints that Merilik explained was the mark of the Valleymen as well as the tracks Daniel found at the site of Tommy's death. I also am pretty happy with the conclusion that they are aliens as there are many who believe both the Tunguska Event and the Cauldrons are extraterrestrial in nature. The one thing that I think is still unknown, is whether the aliens actually ever visited Siberia as the Valleymen may be the original settlers who were transformed during the Tunguska Event. While I at first believed that Miljan was related to the Evenki tribe, he seemed terrified by their presence and we learned that his actual connection was to the Valleymen. If the Valleymen began as humans he could still be related to one of the original settlers and through their alien technologies or abilities they are able to communicate with him through telekinesis that sparked the Evenkis belief that shaman could inhabit one's body.

above: Valleyman chasing after Johnny & Joyce
[picture from CreativeCOW.net]
9. What was Buckley doing there?
- The host's arrival with the armed men combined with the look on his face and his tone of voice makes me think that he is in cahoots with the scientists. Possibly, that he was placed there to keep an eye on the progress of the experiment. It is possible that he is the mastermind behind the show and the testing as he looked on the contestants with disapproval. I've put a lot of thought into this question and I don't believe that his clipboard in the helicopter means that he was aboard when it crashed. In addition, he wasn't like the Jeff Probst of the show where he needed to be present at the producers' camp as he rarely interacted with the contestants. He also lied to them about Tommy's "accident" which adds suspicion that he knew what was actually going on. There are only two possibilities of where this could lead, either he helps the contestants or he attempts to capture and kill them once again. The only logical reason I can deduct from him having an apartment with keys in the only building with power in an evacuated town is that he is there to oversee the experiment at both the science center and the progress of the show. I think his final line was both telling and confusing as he didn't embrace Joyce nor did he seem pleased that the group was alive and well meaning that he knew of the events that had transpired and believed them to be dead. I don't believe that he is part of Esther's betrayal as she wasn't aware of the town or had any assurances she would be able to escape and travel over one-hundred miles to a rendezvous point with Buckley, I think it's much more likely he is the overseer of the entire operation.
I think that this encompasses all the questions arose in the Siberia season finale. However, as there were so many questions presented over the course of the season I will be doing an additional post that will come out Monday as an attempt to fill the void entitled Siberia in Retrospect. There I will revisit all the mysteries from the season with the finite answers we have, my logical deductions of what else is going on and the conundrums that left no real clues allowing the imagination to run wild! Don't stop theorizing yet! Keep tweeting #SiberiaSeason2 as even if NBC doesn't renew it, a confirmed fan base increases the chance of it being picked up by another network and we may still gain answers. As always, please comment below with your thoughts and if you haven't checked out some of my older posts, click around for more theories, facts and recaps! You can also check out my website, still under construction, skh.xi34.com, which will serve as a hub for all my blogs covering a plethora of networks! Enjoy!