Following the immediate aftermath of the previous episode, Tandy and Tyrone teleport back to the church and try to determine their next move.  After Tyrone reveals that his absorption of Mayhem wasn’t the first time it happened, Tandy suggests he absorb her so that they can find out what Mayhem knows about the missing girls.  The remainder of the episode follows their separate journey’s as Tandy explores the mysterious dimension and Tyrone tries to protect his mother from the criminals that are after him.

One great thing about this season is they haven’t been relying on interpersonal conflict to create tension.  At the beginning of the episode, Tandy is upset with Tyrone for keeping his absorbing power a secret.  It’s understandable that she’s upset since it’s an incredibly important detail to keep secret and it affects both of them.  But Tandy doesn’t dwell on it, she understands where Tyrone is coming from and that he’s ashamed about what happened.  She also knows that being angry with him won’t accomplish anything and will delay her from finding the missing girls.  So Tandy moves past it and focuses on what’s ahead.

This shows real character growth because Tandy’s only able to do this because she’s lived with Tyrone for so long.  They’ve come to know each other very well and are able to understand where the other is coming from.  It also allows the plot to move forward in a much more compelling direction.  And that’s a huge plus for a show operating in the “Young Adult” genre.

Once Tandy is absorbed, Tyrone gets a call from O’Reilly letting him know that the criminals have discovered his identity.   Tyrone has spent the past 8 months on the run in order to protect his family, so he immediately goes home to protect his mother Adina.  Once he returns Adina is initially quite shocked, but Tyrone warns her of the danger and they scramble to leave the house.  While they’re running away Adina chastises him for staying in New Orleans since he’s wanted by the police.  Even though she’s looking out for him it comes across to Tyrone like she’s being over-protective and treating him like a child.  This creates an interesting dynamic between the two characters because we, as the audience, know what Tyrone has been through and what he’s capable of.  However, for Adina, when Tyrone disappeared he was still an average high schooler so she doesn’t know just how capable he’s become.

Initially, this is a bit difficult for Tyrone because he doesn’t like being treated like a child.  However, he quickly realizes that she’s doing it out of love, but also from a fear of losing her second child.  When Tyrone finds out that Adina has been researching his case he’s initially upset because he’s stayed away from his family so they wouldn’t get involved in his mess.  Although it becomes clear that nothing would keep Adina from trying to protect her son.  She even puts herself in harm’s way when Solomon threatens to shoot them toward the end of the episode.  Gloria Reuben did a fantastic job in that scene because we get the feeling that Adina is becoming emotional while trying to appeal to Solomon’s sense of right and wrong, but she’s also in complete control.  She didn’t seem scared, just incredibly determined to get her son out alive no matter the cost.

While all this is going down, Tandy is exploring the strange dimension she finds herself in.  She’s put on a path of discovery after talking to a mysterious being that takes the form of a young Tyrone.  It’s not very clear who this being is or what they represent.  He tells her that “The only way out is through the gauntlet of transactions” which ends up meaning she has to forgo using her daggers in order to move forward.  However, it’s using her abilities later in the episode that enables her to escape the dimension so it’s pretty unclear what exactly is going on.

During her journey, Tandy encounters Mayhem and the two of them have a very antagonistic relationship.  Mayhem wants to kill Connors and gets upset when Tandy tries to save him.  Obviously, Connors is a terrible person who’s committed many crimes, but Tandy still believes that he shouldn’t be needlessly killed.  Of course, she’s also motivated to keep Connors alive so that he can clear Tyrone’s name.  But Mayhem believes that anyone who is a detriment to society should be dealt with using whatever means necessary.  At the moment Tandy isn’t on board with this, but she also acknowledges that Mayhem’s methods are what saved a lot of girls from being kidnapped.  It’ll be interesting to see how their dynamic shifts over the coming episodes and if either of them begin to see things from the other’s point-of-view.

Tandy is also directly confronted with her past in this episode when she and Mayhem are going through the mysterious record store.  The records all have the names and pictures of missing girls and for some reason, Tandy’s is mixed in.  When they play them it flashes to what seems like repressed memories of her parents fighting.  From just this episode it’s a bit unclear what this scene is trying to accomplish.  We already know that Tandy’s father was abusive and there were scenes last season where Tandy watched her parents arguing so there really wasn’t anything new.  The sequence was very well shot and what we saw was heartbreaking, but I hope we learn more about the records and what it all meant as the season progresses.

VERDICT

3 records out of 5.  

The structure of the episode was a bit odd.  There were moments where Tyrone and Tandy’s storylines lined up really well and quickly cutting between them was very effective, like when Tyrone was explaining what happened in the Clemence Convent to his mother.  But for the most part, the rapid cutting between Tandy and Tyrone was a bit jarring and seemed to break up the momentum that each storyline was building.  However the character work this season continues to be very strong and I really like how they’re each being paired up with an interesting foil.

ONE-SHOTS

  • It was cool to see Tyrone figure a way out of his predicament without using his powers.  It would have been easy for him and his mother to escape, but he chose instead to rely on his quick thinking.
  • Looks like the Mayhem puns aren’t going to stop any time soon.
  • Hopefully Tandy still has the coin with the Cloak on one side and a Dagger on the other because that could be a great way to introduce their hero names.
  • It’s unclear if Mayhem made it out of the dimension with Tandy and Connors or if she’s still stuck there.  I went through the end of the episode a couple of times and didn’t see her back at the church.
  • Solomon made the right call, I’m hoping that he’ll help Tandy and Tyrone take down whatever criminal organization is after them.