Written by Tanya Steele
Directed by Rebecca Rodriguez
Rita: "The world is flagellating. I'm getting mine."
Revenge is certainly a dish best served cold or whatnot but while this episode's focus might have been Rita's mission against Madame Rouge/Laura De Mille, it was our band of misfits getting caught in the crossfire between them and the Sisterhood of Dada.
Last week, they all disappeared courtesy of some creepy CGI birds that came from Malcolm. For most of the episode, we saw Larry, Cliff, Jane and Victor all having to deal with their biggest regrets/trauma and not entirely come out the other side of it all. Some things were said and done, but things didn't get magically better here.
Larry relived his wedding day and his mother's homophobia while deciding to take care of the alien parasite that he puked up before being taken away. I'm not sure keep that thing will be a good idea to be honest. Then there was Cliff coming to terms with prioritising his own hedonism over being a father while also losing Clara's trust in the present day. Get off those pills, Cliff.
Victor dealt with identity issues ingrained into him as a child before waking up to another new body in ten present day. Has Cyborg been erased for good? Then there was Kay wanting to break free completely from Jane with the unintended consequence of the other personas leaving her too. Again, not really a great result there and that's taking out the rather effed up version of Sesame Street we got for most of her scenes this week.
As for Rita, I'm not sure she's actually gotten her revenge yet. We did get a bittersweet confrontation between her and Laura, where the latter seemed to embrace her villainy while Rita regained her old memories, kept most of her new ones and returned to the current year. Then there was that final scene between her and Laura.
As for Laura, her actions with the Sisterhood of Dada did have consequences. It saw her getting booted out of the Bureau of Normalcy and right into the hands of the Brotherhood of Evil. They even gave Laura her new name of Madame Rouge and tasked her with usurping one of Niles's greatest achievements. After this episode, I'm not sure if there's any gluing back for Laura.
- Poor Harry the puppet lamb getting slaughtered by Jane and company. He did not deserve that fate.
- At least Laura was actually fully dressed in red when she got the Madame Rouge moniker. It's amusing in the comics that the character's costume is usually blue.
- Rita really was responsible for the deaths from Vacay Patrol as part of her own mission.
- Chronology: Both 1949 and 2021 here.
Subconscious Patrol had so many beautiful character moments that it's an immediate favourite this season. These characters are a mess and desperately need to get their shit together but you never stop feeling bad for them, even at their worst. Saying that, it's the battle between Rita and Laura that should propel the last two episodes.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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