This. He is drained to the breaking point.

He looks incredibly sad. And tired. Maybe too tired to hate.

When last we saw him, he said that he couldn’t leave Bennet until they were back in Europe… well, they’re back now, so the implication is that Geist has returned to the Ubermenschen.

Thank you for clarifying things, Shawn. I should have figured misdirection, intrapolation, and vaudeville would make up much of Mark’s repertoire.

I am mildly surprised that Hightower hasn’t suspected Agnes has additional powers, especially once she reassures him that his vivid hallucinations are not simply senility. Even if he knew, though…. he certainly couldn’t do anything about it, short of calling in a paranormal investigation unit that the USA might not actually have. Which could cause even more damage to Agnes. Unless you are thinking of some spoilered variety of direct action?

Maybe Geist can’t hold his drink?

He’s still in there. We’ve actually seen moments of him letting Bennett come to the surface before – remember the potato peeler?

Tsapki and trev006 are on the right track, but here’s the full scoop:

When Mark first confronted Geist, he didn’t really know if there was any way to control him. He knew that Agnes’ force field had stopped him, so he figured that she may have some power of him. But he also knew that she didn’t have full control of her telepathic powers, so he wasn’t sure how effective she would be. Also, because her telepathy was a secret, he had to keep his plans to himself (which is how he likes to operate anyway).

(He also knew that Walter had resisted Geist, which meant that Geist’s power wasn’t absolute. Walter is a strong-willed person, but doesn’t have any specific training in controlling his mind. Mark gambled on his own training being enough to protect him from Geist’s influence, and he turned out to be right.)

Mark threatened Geist in order to keep him contained, and to keep his presence a secret. If anyone found out about him being there, Mark would have to reveal his secret weapon — Agnes’ telepathy — and he didn’t want to do that. So he bluffed Geist about her power, and then set about training her up. But he had no way of knowing exactly what Agnes would be able to do against Geist, so he relied on his empty threat to keep the ghost in line. Eventually, Geist called his bluff, but Agnes was able to turn the tables on him. She may not be able to kill him, but she now knows that she can detect him and disrupt him, which would have been enough to keep him from getting into any mischief on base.

In the end, it was all about keeping Agnes’ secret. If Hightower had been aware of her telepathy, there’d be no reason to sneak around. Mark could have just told Hightower that Geist was possessing Bennett, and direct action could have been taken.

I just realized that Geist must not be possessing Corporal Bennett at the moment. So where is he, and what is he up to? There’s trouble ahead.