The Unicorn Evils

The Unicorn Evils is the Season 3 premiere episode of Shadow Unit, with production number 3x01. It was written by Elizabeth Bear and Emma Bull and originally aired February 6, 2010.

Basic Statistics
Location: Washington, DC, Yardston, OH, Delia, ND, Rolette County, ND, Des Moines, IA, Rugby, ND, Grand Forks, ND, Silver Spring, MD, Seven Corners, VA, Ashton, VA

Point of View Characters: Daniel Brady, Esther Falkner, Solomon Todd, Stephen Reyes, Daphne Worth, Nicolette Lau, Peter Pauley, Madeline Frost, Chaz Villette, Hafidha Gates

Away Team: Stephen Reyes, Chaz Villette, Peter Pauley, Esther Falkner, Nikki Lau, Daphne Worth, Daniel Brady, Solomon Todd, Madeline Frost(!)

Timeline: May 12-14, 2009

Unsub: Felicity Tabor

Major backstory revealed:

Easter Eggs

 * Episode playlist
 * Coyote And Rabbit Were Friends

Pre-Air-Date Speculation
According to Elizabeth Bear's LiveJournal, the first lines of "The Unicorn Evils" will be:
 * One gray-blue eye emerged from under the zippered edge of the jacket, blearily squinched. "From Hell's heart I stab at thee," Todd grated. "Is it the end of the world?"

An updated opening was listed in the Season 3 Promos page (found at the end of episode 3x00 "On Faith"):
 * One gray-blue eye, blearily squinched, emerged from under the zippered edge of a jacket. "From Hell's heart I stab at thee," Todd grated. "Team back?"
 * "Not yet."
 * "Is it the end of the world?"
 * Brady didn't need a mirror to know what his face said. Todd's expression was the only reflection necessary. "Pretty much yes."

Another entry in Bear's LiveJournal listed the following "darling":
 * It wasn't that Solomon Todd hadn't seen this sort of thing before.
 * It was that he had.

A separate Twitter entry stated:
 * Reyes & Villette are having a shouting match. In flashback. Yes, I am Scene Two Flashbacking. Ten demerits.

She also listed an epigraph:
 * Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
 * And the unicorn evils run them through;
 * --Dylan Thomas

These lines are from Thomas' poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion."