WARNING: Spoilers for the sixth episode of Creature Commandos.
Gotham City is home to some of the craziest and most ruthless villains in the DC universe.
The Good Doctor
In the penultimate episode of Creature Commandos, the spotlight lands on Doctor Phosphorus. Formerly known as Alexander Sartorius, we see how the only villain on Task Force M comes to be. With the commandos split up and aiming to regroup near the castle, Phosphorus reminisces about his life after encountering a family. The origins of Doctor Phosphorus give a glimpse at Gotham City, meanwhile, The Bride and Nina face off with some metahumans in a brothel. Rick Flag ends up in the emergency room and Weasel befriends a pack of wolves. Overall, this installment of Creature Commandos may be the best one yet after the titular third episode.
The Darkest City in DC
The episode opens up with Alex Sartorius trying to escape from one of Gotham City’s biggest crime lords – Rupert Thorne. Before any action takes place, the atmosphere alone gives it away that we are in the darkest city in the DC Universe, home to many criminals, the cowardly lot, monstrosities, and mob bosses alike. Rupert Thorne’s inclusion is a perfect callback to when the character was introduced in Batman: The Animated Series (Thorne’s debut in the comics was Detective Comics #469 in May 1977). This time delivering a more grim interpretation, one responsible for Doctor Phosphorus’s creation. Thorne is written to be every bit devilish as he is unsympathetic.
Crashing The Wrong Cathouse
Princess Ilana has ordered her army to find and execute the commandos. Scattered across Pokolistan, the members of Task Force M find themselves moving sight unseen as they try to regroup to kill the princess. The Bride and Nina find refuge inside a brothel after some army personnel search the nearby area. A conversation between the brothel ladies and our duo represents a larger discussion surrounding the objectification of women contrasted with empowerment. The head of the cathouse, voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni on The Penguin) expresses that the girls are emboldened by their work, while Bride disagrees, violently. The conversation gets interrupted by drunk metahumans who harm one couple of the brothel girls. Bride beats them both to death, even ripping one’s heart out. Despite doing it to save Nina, this shows the affection Bride has grown for her fishy ally.
Birth of A Supervillain
While on the run in Pokolistan, Phosphorus breaks into a family home. After waking the daughter, Phosphorus fixes the child with a bowl of cereal and gets reminded of his own family. The full genesis of Doctor Phosphorus is revealed through flashbacks. After being hired by Thorne and trying to lie about his test results, Thorne murders Alex’s family and frames him. To top things off, once Thorne gains the results he needs after ransacking Alex’s lab, he shuts Alex in his test pod to have Alex atomized. This backfires, and Doctor Phosphorus is born. This is reminiscent of how Clayface was created in Batman: The Animated Series. The origin of Matt Hagen stems from working for Roland Daggett with the crime boss turning him into the infamous monster of clay.
One Dark Night
After the transformation, Phosphorus hunts down Thorne and murders him along with his whole family. Not long after this, Phosphorus then takes control over Thorne’s operations and businesses. Leading to a life of crime and villainy. After a montage filled with murder and bombastic parties, one party is cut short. The lights go out, and up in the shadows of a window, Batman stands. The implication of the caped crusader taking in a supervillain who becomes locked up in Belle Reve goes back to Suicide Squad (2016). This version of Batman is most certainly NOT the same as Matt Reeves’s version of the character played by Robert Pattinson. Our first glimpse of the dark knight offers a more brutish, Jim Lee-inspired bulky take on the character.
Commandos Reassembled
Frankenstein arrives back in Pokolistan, and Princess Ilana prepares for the arrival of Task Force M. Phosphorus makes his way toward the castle, in addition, he is also joined by Weasel, Bride, and Nina. Bride cracks a joke at Phosphorus after he calls her new look “hot”. Concurrently Flag is still comatose after his encounter with Clayface. Nevertheless, Amanda Waller remains determined to get information. With only one episode left of Creature Commandos for this season, how things wrap up will leave fans wondering what could happen next. With a second season already ordered, the final episode should lay the groundwork for more adventures.
New Episodes of Creature Commandos air on MAX on Thursdays at Midnight PST.