Episode Recap: Stigmata Martyr

It’s not like things are ever “normal” at King’s D, but right now is SUPER not normal. Madam Gao (you know the one from the office where the furniture was all people?) is on site 24/7 to find out what happened to Chico, interrogating any and every student who might be a suspect.

This is stressing out Maria, who was already stressed by the fact that Chico’s dad, known to his friends as Alma del Diablo (or “Soul of the Devil” for the gringos), tasked Maria with finding the truth behind Chico’s disappearance. It’s like asking the guy with the matches to find out who set the fire. And thanks to a disturbing flashback, we also learn that Mr. del Diablo killed Maria’s family right in front of her just before “adopting” her as his own.

Meanwhile in the “B” story line, Viktor gets humiliated in front of the whole class when the martial arts professor whups him in a sparring match. It wasn’t really Shabnam’s fault, but it was in Viktor’s eyes, so he devises some special torture for the chubby assassin. When Marcus discovers the dirty deeds and interrupts them, he expects relief and gratitude from Shabnam.

What he gets is anger that Viktor will make his life hell now that his plot was foiled. He says Marcus can make it up to him by spilling the tea on his new girlfriend, but Marcus denies any such thing.

Because, you see, what happened was, Marcus and Maria are so totally a thing, but they can’t let anybody know for fear of drawing suspicion their way. Maria, being the worldly woman she is, wants Marcus in her pants, but he, being the virgin he is, wants to take it slow. In a fit of mania, Maria makes a display of lust in front of Petra, who promises she won’t tell (which is so Petra).

Saya is pissed – Maria could get them all killed if she doesn’t get back on her meds and manage her bipolar disorder. Maria’s diagnosis is news to Marcus, and when Saya tells him to convince his girlfriend to take care of herself, he realizes Saya caught feelings for him, too. Their almost-kiss is interrupted by an arrow flying at Marcus’ head (the most common way for kisses at King's to be interrupted).

Marcus chases down the archer but Saya, knowing better, stays put. Marcus finds the assailant in the graveyard – it’s his girlfriend. She has a really weird way of telling him that she was jealous of Saya’s feelings for him. An arrow is not the clearest message.

But Marcus feels for her, after all she’s been through and continues to go through, and finally gives up the D. Hey, almost dying is a wild ride. What better way to feel alive than to have sex on top of a sarcophagus?

This rollercoaster of a love life and this adrenaline-mainlining school are more than Marcus can bear sometimes. But he’s going to have to bear it, and more, because F*#kface has his number, literally. He makes a late-night phone call to his favorite punching bag to share all his secrets: he knows about Chico’s murder, the sexy times with Maria, the riding on a reputation for mass murder that he didn’t earn. He issues a challenge: find the head of Chico (whose severed head is now being kept in a bucket of ice. Eww!) within three days, or find out what life is like when everyone knows your girlfriend killed the heir to the cartel.

Hey, it wouldn’t be school if it weren’t a challenge. Right…?