Written by Patrick Ness
Directed by Wayne Che Yip
Quill (to Charlie): "I'm no longer your slave, prince. I have my free will back and I have my gun and things, things are gonna change around here."
Last episode we saw the kids in detention, turning on each other due to a confessional monster but at the end of that episode, we also saw that Quill had been through the ringer herself. This episode covers exactly what happened to her.
The upshot is that the Arn is finally out of Quill's head and it was something a trauma for that to happen. Dorothea kept to her word and decided to help Quill regain her freedom by enlisting a shape shifting criminal/surgeon named Ballon (Chiké Okonkwo), who like Quill and Charlie also happened to be the last of his species too (but not really as we later learned his niece was alive on Earth).
The trip itself really did become metaphysical as the three of them explored a gorgeous pink forest, which we soon learned was the Arn idea of heaven while things took a less pleasant turn when Ballon was forced to face his people's version of the Devil with Quill then later having to deal with her people's Goddess that she even had serious doubts of existing.
Exploring all three of these particular worlds took up the right amount of screen time. It never felt like things were being needlessly dragged out and there was something interesting in seeing both Quill and Ballon confronting some of the customs of their own people to boot. Quill's conversation with her Goddess in particular was pretty riveting stuff until Ballon stepped in to kill her.
Speaking of Ballon, he's easily one of the best characters we've had on this show and sadly, he only lasted this episode. I loved the rapport he had with both Quill and Ames and the deeper connection he forged with the former felt authentic enough so that when Ames turned them against one another, there was a twisted tragedy to them.
Keeping with Ames for a bit, she really does like to stir the pot, doesn't she? She kept telling Quill and Ballon their mission was likely to be a failure and then she dealt the killer blow by revealing they were in the Cabinet of Souls all along and only one of them could return. I wasn't expecting Ballon to survive but I was a bit surprised with his sacrifice for Quill though.
As for Quill, the episode ended with her freedom regained, her hair much longer and as Matteusz exclaimed in the very last moment, Quill was also revealed to be pregnant. The dynamic between her and Charlie for the finale is certainly going to be an interesting one to watch out for.
- Ballon's species is Lorr but we learned that he posed as a Zygon at some point.
- Quill quoted the poem Home to Ballon during the scene with the Quill goddess. We also learn that Quill children eat their mother after being born.
- Standout music: MIA's Bad Girls gets an appropriate playing at the end of this one.
- Chronology: Set within the events of Detained.
Easily the best episode of the series. The Metaphysical Engine, Or What Quill Did took a break from the teen angst and focused on the best character of the bunch along with Ames and Ballon and delivered an episode so good, it could've easily been one from the parent show itself.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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