The penultimate episode of Creature Commandos is here, with just one episode left in the first season, how will they wrap things up from here? This time around the focus is put on our illuminated source of unlimited cancer, Doctor Phosphorus and just how he became the sarcastic source of light in Task Force M’s life.
IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN
We drop back into the DCU at the peak of a dark city skyline, face to face with a perched gargoyle, illuminated by wandering spotlights in the background. This is our first hint that we’ve arrived in one of the DC Universe most prominent cities, Gotham, an epicenter of crime and villainy protected by the caped crusader himself.
We’re focusing on him right now however, moving attention the doors of a van swinging open as it speeds down the road, out falling a man in a lab coat and pursued by men in suits, quickly thrown back into the van. A man awaits him in the dark, sparking a cigar and referring as the lab coat as Alex, the light of the cigar revealing the man in the van as Rupert Thorne, who warns Alex that he isn’t getting away from them and telling him to “get it through his skull”.
Flashing to present day, from Alex to the now dubbed Doctor Phosphorus. The Creature Commandos are scattered across Pokolistan. Phosphorus quickly exits a dumpster and strolls down the alley, whistling the opening theme as it transitions to the opening credits.
We find him again, running through the alley-ways of Pokolistan, making his way inside a random home, only to find it inhabited by a family, with photos of children flashing us to memories of his past with his own son and wife. Arguing with the latter about the potential of his cancer research, only to flash forward to see his wife and son butchered and framed for it, rubbing his prints over their bloody corpses and the knife used.
Phosphorus is pulled out his reminiscing to find the child of the house awoken by his intrusion, expressing that she is hungry. Phosphorous sits with the girl at the kitchen table, fixing her a bowl of cereal but unnerved at the possibility of her telling people that he was there.
Flashing back to the past, Alex has returned to his lab with Thorne and his goons, as they tear the place apart as he pleads for answers as to why they’d do this. Thorne reminds him that the deal was that they’d fund his cancer experiments and in return would reap the rewards to give to their allies in Bialya.
Bialya is a fictional middle eastern country within DC canon found north of Iran and Saudi Arabia. The nation is where Dan Garret found Kahji-Da, the Blue Beetle Scarab that allowed him to become the first iteration of the character. Bialya would eventually become a police state led by Colonel Rumaan Harjavti and supervillain Queen Bee.
Alex claims that he gave them everything he’d learned, only for Thorne to reveal they know it was all fake data and that was why they were coming after him now. Out of love for his wife, Alex did not give the true results of his experiments to Thorne out of fear of what these nuclear secrets could be capable of in the hands of an oppressive regime such as Bialya. Getting what they came (and paid for) Thorne’s men toss Alex into his own machine, trapping him inside.
The Creature Commandos episode then flashes back to the kitchen table, where the little girl refers to him as priyatel skelet, translating from Bulgarian to pretty skeleton, before flashing back to the machine activating, melting off Alex’s skin and irradiating his body, turning him a bright shade of green. Assuming him dead, Thorne and his goons leave the lab, just before a green hand slams against the glass.
Alex does not wake up, only Doctor Phosphorus remains as he melts his way out of the laboratory waddling in hysterics as he cackles his way towards Rupert Thorne’s home. Melting through the guard stationed at the gate, and the gate itself, Phos lets himself right in as he walks towards his vengeance, killing Thorne and his entire family.
Phosphorus burns through the men who destroyed his life and quickly claims leadership of Thorne’s empire, his land, his money, everything. Phosphorous reigns terror on Gotham city as one its leading new crime bosses. However during a night on the ton, Phosphorous is caught mid dance number but none other than the caped crusader himself, a flash of silhouette above seems to confirm just how the glowing skeleton was apprehended and ended up in Amanda Waller’s pocket.
The young girls parents are quickly awoken by what sounds like her screams, rushing downstairs and outside, armed with only a wooden bat ready to protect their daughter. Except all they find is Phos playing with the girl, tossing her into the air like once did his own son and the girl squealing with joy. Phos apologizes and sends the girl back to her parents, insisting they were only “pretending to fly” and following it up with a request for directions towards the castle, happily on his way.
MONSTERS ON THE RUN
Sergei is briefed by Princess Ilana about the impending attack of Task Force M, warned by Flagg that the operation has been altered due to information given by Circe that has now put a target on the Princess. Sergei urges Ilana to take shelter in the bunker but denies that as she does not wish to hide in the face of this threat, demanding he and the knights mobilize quickly to neutralize the Commandos.
Amid the scattered team, Nina and The Bride quickly regroup together out of pure coincidence as the two quietly navigate the cities alleyways, finding refuge in a local brothel. The two commandos enter the brothel and The Bride immediately scans the room for whoever is in charge, out of fear of being caught by the Amethyst Knights, demands the woman in charge give them shelter and to tell the guards they haven’t seen them.
Nina immediately asks The Bride to calm down and tells her that she always immediatley resorts to violence without thinking. A knock at the door sees the guards burst in, looking for two figures that they witnessed enter the establishment. Even after helping the pair and sending the guards off without a lick of information, The Bride insists they linger till the coast is clear, with Nina suggesting a bout of scattegories to pass the time.
Madam Gyurov, the owner of the brother, asks The Bride and Nina if they’d ever considered this line of work, that men would be interested in their strange nature. The Bride insists the two of them have more respect for themselves than to be prostitutes but Madam Gyurov rebuttals asking The Bride that she has no problem with killing, but draws the line at being a sex worker, asking if thats how she respects herself instead.
Madam Gyurov insists that The Bride does not harbor an ounce of respect for herself or anyone, sending the Bride into a fit of rage that has Madam Gyurov agree with her friends observation of her instant resort to violence, in which The Bride responds that “she isn’t my friend”, the argument cut short but a loud knock at the door, which only sees two drunkards enter and take a girl upstairs that The Bride feels proves her point.
Madam Gyurov also happens to be voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, who just recently played the wife of Salvatore Maroni in The Penguin. Making Creature Commandos her second DC Studio’s project this year.
A loud shriek is hear above, Madam Gyurov rushes upstairs to find the girl cowering before one of the drunkards before who threatens Madam as his hand begins to crackle, revealing himself as a meta human. Gyurov tells the meta that their kind is welcome, they just cannot use their powers in the building.
The meta doesn’t like that and grabs her by the throat, throwing her across the room. As the man approaches the girl hes struck over the head with a glass bottle by Nina, who again slashes him across the chest with the bottle and insisting he get out, the Bride watching from a distance and clearly enjoying the show.
The man tells his brother that he’d had enough and that they’d need to kill everyone in the place, The Bride of course doesnt agree and quickly puts the Meta drunkard’s brother down as he enters the room. The Bride takes own the electric meta and quickly mutilates him, tearing his arm off and his heart out of his chest right before him.
Nina and The Bride are thanked by the girl they saved as they depart the brothel, with Nina calling bride a softie in which she insists she only did it because she was saving Nina again and her insisting its because they are friends.
SAVING COLONEL FLAGG
Last episode saw a Rick Flagg Sr. and Frankenstein teaming up to do some investigating of their own, with Flagg believing the princess to be innocent and Circe having twisted Amanda Waller’s mind to carry out her goal for her.
The fight led to Flagg being critically injured and dropped off at a local hospital by a “monster”. John Economos questions the nurse, asking what type of monster, even asking if it was a “mite” referencing the interdimensional Imps such as Bat-mite and similarily Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk.
The nurse describes Eric Frankenstein, someone on ARGUS’ radar and who Economos knows has been stalking the bride “for centuries”. Waller worries that Frankenstein’s intrusion could stop the team from assassinating Ilana, taking the measures to watch all local airports and keep Eric grounded.
Eric of course is already one-step ahead, having already hijacked a private jet and killing its passengers, warning the pilots that they must take him to Pokolistan so he can stop “malevolent forces” from poisoing the Brides mind and killing Ilana.
WEASEL’S DAY OFF
If Weasel knows how to do something, its wander off into a forest. We saw him do it at the tail end of The Suicide Squad, awaking from his presumed death and scurrying into the rainforests of Corto Maltese. This time hes found himself in the lush forests of Pokolistan, and has even met a few fellow furry friends as he’s surrounded by a pack of wolves, face to face with their white-furred alpha.
Just as we think they’re about to face off, snarling and barring their teeth towards eachother, Weasel reaches for a stick on the ground, catching the wolves off guard and instead insisting they play catch. So that is exactly what they do, all night.
We don’t find Weasel again until morning, huddled and sleeping alongside the pack as the sun rises, becoming a member of another pack of beasts. He dreams of the little girl he couldn’t save, who morphs into the princess and awaking him from his slumber and setting him on course for the castle but not before debating whether he should leave his pack or not.
Amanda Waller sits at Flagg’s bedside, assuring him he will make it as he lay lifeless in a hospital bed, having yet to awake from his fight with Clayface. Waller questions how this altercation ties into the larger scheme and who wanted him dead.
Frankenstein lands in Pokolistan and expresses join at once again being in the land of his own very creation. Eager to find his the Bride that assuredly wants nothing to do with him any more than she did initially.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF CREATURE COMMANDOS
The Creature Commandos all converge as they approach the castle, with Weasel stumbling upon Phosphorus and the two finding The Bride and Nina as they reach a cliffside just outside the kingdom. The Bride declares that they’ve reached their destination and utters, with what seems like a bit of joy for once, “lets go kill a princess”.
The next, and final episode of Creature Commandos will see the culmination of the past season and all will be revealed as the team face who they believe to be the real enemy all along.
Supposedly the events of this series will affect other upcoming series such as Peacemaker Season 2, Lanterns, and assuming its still happening, Waller. We can also hope for some teases as to where Season 2 may go with these characters and what we can expect from the team, possibly even hints to new characters joining the ranks.
Creature Commandos Episode 6 is now streaming on Max. Check out a trailer for the show below:
Check out our coverage of the series here!
