Episode Recap: Mirror People

Wasn’t that great when the Rats tagged everybody with hallucinogens at the dance? Well, around here, fun - or rather, getting caught - has consequences, ‘cause now Marcus and Petra are in detention, fancily named “Prolonged confinement designed for behavioral rectification” at Kings. To make things more interesting for the rest of the gang, archrivals Chico and Viktor are joining them. Oh, and since Lin made Marcus Saya’s pledge, she’s there, too - his eff ups are her eff ups. And finally Jaden, a Legacy kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. And did we mention KD detention lasts 48 hours? Yeah…    

Maria knows this, and seeks out Willie to beg him for a passport. But isn’t that a Soto Vatos specialty? Yes, Willie, of course it is! But Chico can’t know that Maria is trying to escape. Willie sees the fear in her eyes and agrees to do her a solid.    

Billy isn’t anywhere near campus - his little brother called to say their dad is in big trouble and taking it out on him and their mom. Billy rushes home, only to find out that things are worse than he thought…    

But first we head back to draconian detention. Aside from it looking like a violent reimagining of “The Breakfast Club” – Viktor is the jock, Petra is the burnout, Chico is the rebel, you get it – it also isolates Saya from the protection of the monks. You may remember that little package a mystery student received not too long ago. He makes a call to someone to say that they need to move on Saya now.    

Unaware of the plot against her, Saya is getting itchy without her katana. The monks confiscated it when they locked her in this library. Marcus is getting antsy without food. So when Petra suggests they break into the spot where all the confiscated stuff is - be it katanas, junk food, bombs, pogo balls - everybody’s all in.    

This gives the assassins the perfect opportunity to strike. They’ve already slaughtered all the monks guarding the place, and, dressed in snazzy black suits and Japanese demon masks, they pick a fight with the Breakneck Club. Our gang makes a run back to the library, but on the way Petra is stabbed in the back, Viktor in the stomach, Jaden loses A WHOLE DANG HAND, and then Chico throws Jaden into the assassin’s path to buy himself time.    

Marcus loses his shit when he sees this, but Chico blows him off, saying that move saved the rest of them. Viktor and Petra are starting to bleed out when Saya admits that the masked men are from the Kuroki Syndicate, and all they want is to take her back to Tokyo to face the wrath of her brother. There’s no way Chico is sticking around for this! While Saya and Marcus attempt to stop Petra's and Viktor’s bleeding, Chico sneaks out of the room through the air conditioning vents. Two points if you’re still keeping track of Breakfast Club references.    

Marcus and Saya race after him, only to have a wrought-iron gate slammed in their faces as Chico throws up a John Bender fist and walks away. They don’t have much time to fume - the Kuroki killers show up, knock Marcus out cold, and carry Saya away.    Lin returns to find his guardians dead on the floor. He prepares to fight the Kuroki, knowing he’s overmatched, just as Marcus grabs a frying pan and whacks one of the killers over the head. It’s anybody’s melee, with Saya waking up just in time to grab her katana and strike one of the bad guys in the heart - the other one runs away, knowing he’s beat.    

Later, as Petra and Viktor recover in the medical ward, Marcus finds Saya to commiserate over the grief of killing someone. In this case, Saya killed her cousin. It’s a special kind of hurt she now has to live with, so he takes her hand to comfort her.   That’s enough drama for campus, for sure. But remember how everybody trashed Shabnam’s house last week? He never cleaned up. He also never noticed that the middle-aged guy who came to sell weed was still there. And when Shabnam’s parents come home, they find the mess - and also the drug dealer - and also F%^kface, aka Marcus’s roommate at the boys’ home. F%^kface has got a score to settle with Marcus, and he’ll take down anyone he needs to on his way.