S03.E08: Frenemies - Chapter Eight: Infinity Inc. Part Two

[Trini]

Desperate to avert a major crisis on their hands, Courtney attempts to help a friend navigate their powers. Elsewhere, Pat and The Shade are forced to face their worst fears.

Glen Winter directed the episode written by Paula Sevenbergen & Robbie Hyne.

Airdate: 10/26/2022

Edited October 26, 2022 by Trini

[cambridgeguy]

Is it just me or did this feel more like a backdoor pilot?  Option 1 would be the Helix team, Option 2 would be the adventures in NYC.  Although naturally Courtney and Pat didn't bother to ask Jennie, Todd, and Shade to stop by Blue Valley first to help out, or even for a ride home.

I find it hard to believe the mysterious hooded person is a totally new character, so who's left?  A resurrected member of the ISA? 

Edited October 27, 2022 by cambridgeguy

[Trini]

17 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Is it just me or did this feel more like a backdoor pilot? 

I was coming here to say this! It felt like there was a lot of setup for a series that we're probably never going to see. Well, I hope the comics fans enjoyed those easter eggs; those flew right over my head.

As for the Blue Valley plots: It was interesting learning a bit more about Pat (dang - does everyone have to have a crappy backstory??), but I hope he isn't too much affected by his time the Shadowlands. Maybe they're setting up more scenes with him and Mike?

I wasn't one who thought Dragon King was still alive, but now I'm thinking it's a possibility. If he's not the Killer, he might at least be the Watcher. We're still pretty low on clues for those, though.

I do hope Courtney is able to pull all the frenemies together -- if not as a team, maybe as nieghbors co-existing in peace?  Trying to be optimistic...

[rtms77]

5 hours ago, Trini said:

I was coming here to say this! It felt like there was a lot of setup for a series that we're probably never going to see. Well, I hope the comics fans enjoyed those easter eggs; those flew right over my head.

As for the Blue Valley plots: It was interesting learning a bit more about Pat (dang - does everyone have to have a crappy backstory??), but I hope he isn't too much affected by his time the Shadowlands. Maybe they're setting up more scenes with him and Mike?

I wasn't one who thought Dragon King was still alive, but now I'm thinking it's a possibility. If he's not the Killer, he might at least be the Watcher. We're still pretty low on clues for those, though.

I do hope Courtney is able to pull all the frenemies together -- if not as a team, maybe as nieghbors co-existing in peace?  Trying to be optimistic...

Same yet when the various characters who they flashed never showed up to help out I was beginning to wonder. Until the end of course when Bones trotted out the whole team thing. Call it CW version of Doom Patrol. 
 

So does Pat really think Mike doesn’t love him and Courtney despises him? Or is that just deep seated insecurity from him? Or low self esteem. Given the way his father and then  Sylvester treated him I can see Pat having  a major blow up/break down  in the future.  Pat for much of his life has been a people pleaser, first his dad then Sylvester and neither has ever respected him. 
 

So the robe person? I too thought Dragon King given the underground sewer stuff, but now I’m thinking a returned Hour Man? 

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I was definitely thinking they were testing the waters for not one, but potentially two possible spin-offs, even though I'm not sure if any of them will happen due to The CW being in such a flux right now.  Of the two, I would definitely be interested in Jennie, Todd, and an exasperated Shade traveling around and doing whatever, but I guess a Helix show could work depending on who is involved.  Again though, this is all pure speculation/"what if?"

Enjoyed the Shadowlands stuff and getting glimpses of both Pat and The Shade's mindsets.  Pat's dad definitely seems/seemed like a piece of work (good showing from The Closer/Major Crimes' G.W. Bailey), and I can see how that led to Pat being the way he is now: both good and bad.  As for the scene with "Mike" and "Barbara", I think that was mainly his insecurities talking, but I do wonder if this also going to address how it does feel like he (inadvertently) has been pushing Mike to the side in order to mentor Courtney, and if maybe he'll take steps to improving on that.  As for The Shade, not surprised that despite his posturing he does have some real regrets: not just with his sister but how he rejected The Gambler's attempt at a reconciliation.  He does feel sincere about his regrets during his time in the ISA and I'm curious to see if redemption is possible for him.  Hope so!  One of the best former villains ever!

Looks like Helix wasn't behind the hidden cameras after-all, so I guess we'll see how long until that reveal comes out.  Also still have no idea who the killer is.  I imagine it has to be someone we already know or are familiar with, but I really can't speculate at the moment.

Fun episode, but I'm hoping the next episode gets back to addressing Courtney and her tense relationship with the rest of the JSA.  And finding out they might have a new housemate now!

[Cthulhudrew]

It definitely felt like our two main characters stepped into someone else's story, if not necessarily a backdoor pilot (for reasons outlined above re: CW shakeups). I'm just glad it's over. Two episodes of a brand new character I wasn't given any reason to really care about (and he never once mentioned his boyfriend at the end?), another couple of characters we're unlikely to see again, some bad acting, and repetitive clunky dialogue (how many times do we need to be told that Todd will destroy the world?)

Thankfully, Jonathan Cake is always a joy to watch, and manages to wrest a memorable performance even from badly plotted scenes, so that was a plus. I just wish we hadn't completely sidelined the main story and characters for two episodes for this.

[cdnalor]

Could the Watcher be Icicle back from the dead?  I don't recall if what happened to the shards of ice when he was shattered was mentioned by anyone.  Maybe the pieces melted, seeped into the ground and reformed in the sewer.  If so, he might be disfigured or deranged by the process which is why he stays hidden.

[Quark]

The last two episodes have been very enjoyable, even if they ended up having nothing to do with the main storyline.

[Trini]

7 hours ago, cdnalor said:

Could the Watcher be Icicle back from the dead?  I don't recall if what happened to the shards of ice when he was shattered was mentioned by anyone.  Maybe the pieces melted, seeped into the ground and reformed in the sewer.  If so, he might be disfigured or deranged by the process which is why he stays hidden.

I want Icicle to come back, but I also don't want to get my hopes up. However, I've always thought that he could have somehow survived getting smashed by a truck, so I wouldn't be surprised.

[Lantern7]

Is there anyone Shade would like right off the bat? Watching him lost his cool around Pat was funnier than he was with Jade.

I'm guessing fans of Infinity Inc. from the Eighties loved the hinting of Tao Jones and Penny Dreadful. Lots of meh, but we still have Keith David voicing Mr. Bones.

On 10/26/2022 at 9:25 PM, cambridgeguy said:

I find it hard to believe the mysterious hooded person is a totally new character, so who's left?  A resurrected member of the ISA? 

Brainwave. He convinced Yolanda that she killed him, and he's been playing Phantom Of Blue Valley for the past few months. I'm sure of it . . . which means I'm probably wrong.

[tennisgurl]

Yeah this episode by the end was absolutely screaming backdoor pilot, and two of them in fact! It definitely seems like the show is shopping around the idea of doing either a Helix superhero show or the adventures of Jennie, Todd, and Shade, both of which sound quite promising, although with the CW in a transitional phase right now I am not sure if they are in a place to grab many new pilots, especially of their superhero shows. If I had to pick one I would pick the adventures of Jennie, Todd, and a very long suffering Shade as their teacher, which sounds like a ton of fun. 

I liked this episode, even if it was pretty separated from the main story. I love Shade so of course I was totally down for a whole episode with him in it, and engaging in some hilariously awkward bonding time with Pat and learning more about his backstory. Not surprising that, as much as he acts all breezy and snarky, he does have regrets about his past, especially with his family and his involvement with the ISA. We also meet Pat's dad, who's a real piece of crap, he does sure explain a lot about poor Pat and his obvious self esteem issues. I think that the stuff fake Mike and Barbara said were mostly Pat's insecurities talking, but I do think that he's worried that he is spending less time with Mike due to him spending so much time mentoring Courtney and he worries that Mike's feeling neglected. 

Its awesome seeing Mr. Bones in live action, he looks pretty great, especially for a CW budget, and I like that they played with our (and Cortney's) expectations, as it turns out that Mr. Bones and Helix really do have good intentions, even if their plan of teaching meta kids to hide themselves is rather flawed. 

Even if the episode was kind of doing its own thing apart from the shows main storyline, I think it did work thematically, with Courtney feeling vindicated that just because someone has seemingly scary powers doesn't mean that their bad, and that former villains really can reform, after spending so much time feeling conflicted about giving the former villains chances and helping Cameron with his powers.