Creature Commandos Episode 7
"A Very Funny Monster"
Writer: James Gunn
Director: Matt Peters
Cast: Alan Tudyk, Benjamin Byron Davis, Mara Bakalova, Indira Varma, Zoë Chao, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frank Grillo, David Harbour, Viola Davis
This is it! This is where the last six episodes have led! Monsters abound, both the human and creature kind, and we find out the fate of Task Force M (for "monsters," remember?). Writer James Gunn saved the tragic story of Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) for last, and believe me, it's all tragedy from here on out.
She's born as a human girl, but with her lungs on the outside of her body. Her father and mother disagree with what should be done with her. Her father builds intricate mobile iron lungs for Nina, while her mother wishes she was dead. Mom eventually leaves, while dad, a geneticist, brainstorms a way for her to live a somewhat normal life.
In Pokolistan, Frankenstein (David Harbour) hijacks a car and gets the driver to take him to the castle, where he is supposed to stop The Bride (Indira Varma) from murdering Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova). It's a gamble to stop her from causing the end of the world, but Frankenstein knows that the Creature Commandos were set up by Clayface of all people. But all he can talk about is his obsession with The Bride.
While Frankenstein pulls up to the castle, The Bride, Nina, Weasel (Sean Gunn), and Dr. Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) break into the security room and start going through CCTV footage to find the least-guarded way in. Dr. Phosphorus and The Bride notice some older footage of the Princess bringing a large figure into the castle, but are interrupted by Frankenstein climbing through the window, professing his love … again. The Bride takes him out with multiple bullets, ending his life with a shot to the head on the ground below.
In Nina's flashback, she undergoes an experimental surgery from her father, splicing her with amphibian parts, that causes her to quickly develop gills, webbed digits, and fish-like features. As she chokes in the air of the operating room, he brings her to a sink and fills it with water. "Daddy?" she says when she sees him, and it's cute.
In Pokolistan, Princess Rostovic insists on taking a morning dip in the pond, to show her people that she is not afraid. After all, the pond will be surrounded by guards. The Creature Commandos see this is happening and head down to the pond, burning through a stone wall and the accompanying guard. Thanks, Dr. Phosphorus. Weasel sees the Princess and gets excited — after all, she played fetch with him for like an hour in Episode 3.
Nina's flashback shows that she's accepted into a prestigious preparatory school, by Principal Gail, which might have been a nod to comic writer Gail Simone. She's been homeschooled, speaks four languages, and knows Shakespeare and math. But she's bullied by fellow students in the halls and on the lacrosse field. It's a sad situation. She's had enough. To the sound of "I Am All I Got" by The Dead Brothers, Nina leaves home, removes her protective breathing apparatus, and leaps into the waterways of Star City (fictional home to Green Arrow).
Back at Belle Reve, Rick Flagg Sr. (Frank Grillo) wakes up just enough to tell Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) that the team was set up. Professor McPherson wasn't the expert on Themyscira that she claimed to be, but he passes back out before saying it was Clayface who was responsible. Waller is on it, she needs to call off this hit.
It's Nina's hit though. Since the Princess is swimming, it makes sense that she's the one who dives in and stabs her. "The water is yours, home field advantage," says The Bride. "Just another human there in the pond. You're a monster."
"You said I was a human," responds Nina.
"I was lying because I'm a bitch," The Bride replies.
Nina's flashback plays out. She's noticed by a photographer as she eats a fish on a rock, à la Gollum. Once the media gets involved, animal control teams from Metropolis and Blüdhaven head to Star City and capture her. As she's being led away to containment, her father breaks through the perimeter, but is shot by the police. Heartbroken, Nina is led to a tank full of water in the back of a prison truck.
It's up to Waller and John Economos (Steve Agee) to investigate if Flagg was right, that the McPherson who backed up Circe's prediction wasn't really McPherson. They get to her house and identify the remains of Clayface, still coating the living room. They also discover McPherson's body rotting upstairs. Now they know it was a trap, and that Circe was lying to them, aided by the fake McPherson's testimony in her favor. Waller calls Polokistan to warn the Princess that she's under attack.
As the Johnny Hollow cover of The Doors' "People Are Strange" plays, Nina slips into the pond and goes after the Princess. But Weasel, who now imagines the Princess as the little blonde girl he failed to save in Episode 4, alerts her by scrambling into the water. Noticing Nina, the Princess dives deeper, grabs the knife, and stabs Nina multiple times in the stomach, killing her. Her lifeless body floats to the surface in a haze of blood, as Dr. Phosphorus wrestles with Weasel. Weasel bites his arm and fries his lips pretty good.
The Bride gets the call from Waller that the hit is off. "We made a mistake," The Bride wearily states.
In the aftermath of the attack, The Bride, Weasel, and Dr. Phosphorus — the only remaining team members left — regroup at the castle. Dr. Phosphorus heals his own arm wound, while the guards praise Weasel for saving their princess. But The Bride feels something is up. She confronts Princess Rostovic in her office and says that she saw on the security footage the large figure that the Princess was bringing into the castle. It was Clayface. Circe was right, Pokolistan was trying to take over the world with Gorilla Grodd. Professor McPherson was telling the truth about Circe's clairvoyance, until she was killed and replaced by Clayface to throw suspicion on Circe's truthfulness.
Princess Rostovic confirms all of this but The Bride continues. She's not going to kill the Princess for her future attempt at world domination. "I'm killing you because you took the life of the only friend I had. And the only one of us with an ounce of kindness in her veins." Bang, bullet to the head.
The Bride leads the rest of the team out and back to Belle Reve, and that's where we see that Economos has devoted an abandoned wing for The Bride's team: Dr. Phosphorus, Nosferata (who we saw in Episode 4), Khalis the mummy (also from Episode 4), Weasel, a fully rebuilt G.I. Robot (again voiced by Sean Gunn), and now King Shark from The Suicide Squad (voiced by Diedrich Bader). Economos asks her, "You in?" and she slyly responds, "What else do I got to do?"
The end credits play under "Hey God" by Juke Baritone, but we do get an end credit sequence. Frankenstein is alive, and being cared for by the woman who alerted him to The Bride and Nina breaking into his castle in Episode 1. Again, he can't stop talking about his love for The Bride and how she's made a mistake in rejecting him. He's more sure of their connection now, as he eats disgusting spider dropping soup with the old woman.
The Creature Commandos will return in Creature Commandos Season 2.
