It’s nearly impossible to break the cycle of stigma once someone has become trapped inside it; the worst part is one cannot control how they are perceived by others who buy into it. The fourth episode of Creature Commandos, which focuses on Weasel’s past, shows this in a simple yet impactful way, as the one considered to be the most feral, unhinged wild beast turns out to be the most misunderstood one. Previously, G.I Robot’s war days were brought to light, and while rescuing Ilana Rustovic from Circe, the Nazi-killer robotic fighter met his end. However, Circe was incapacitated by the combined efforts of Phosphorus and Weasel, and after getting captured, she had lamented that the actions of the team jeopardized the fate of the world. The full extent of Circe’s warning is showcased in the fourth episode, with a nightmarish vision that prompts members of the team to switch allegiance.
Spoilers Ahead
Circe’s Nightmare Sequence
DC media shares a strange connection with nightmare sequences, be it Snyder’s DCEU planning or the conclusion of DCAMU, or Flash having premonitions of an ominous future across different ventures the character features in; catching a foreboding glimpse of the future seems to be a recurrent theme. Similarly, DCU shared its first tease of a harrowing future with the fourth episode, which put Circe’s warning into context.
After Circe is brought to the States as a captive, Waller interrogates her in the presence of Flag and John Economos, whom we are meeting for the first time since the first season of Peacemaker. Following a series of witch jokes, Waller finally questions her motive behind invading Pokolistan and attacking Ilana. Circe retorts that she was trying to save the world from a dreaded future that will be brought about by Ilana and offers to show Waller a glance at the dark age mentioned by her. Ignoring warnings of Flag and Economos, Waller decides to allow Circe to show her the future, which reveals Ilana and the advanced armor-clad Pokolistani army waging war against the rest of the world by dropping nuclear warheads, making the earth a veritable wasteland. Gorilla Grodd, the extremely powerful telepathic gorilla, is seen by Ilana’s side, who helps her to subjugate the rest of the world—and established heroes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Flash, Booster Gold, Starfire, Mr. Terrific, Robin, and Supergirl are seen murdered and put on a stake, as Ilana, having turned into a genocidal dictator-like figure, takes control over the world. Even a tough cookie like Waller is taken aback by the harrowing scope of Circe’s vision, and it doesn’t feel like a projection created by the sorceress to misguide Waller. The A.R.G.U.S. chief verifies the legitimacy of Circe’s clairvoyant powers by bringing in a Themyscira expert, Aisla MacPherson.Â
Waller appears quite convinced that the future shown by Circe will come to pass if they don’t act quick, and she commands Flag Sr. to return to Pokolistan with his team to kill Ilana. Flag, who had quite an intimate fling going on with Ilana during the mission, tries to convince Waller of Ilana’s innocence, and being unable to do so, promptly refuses to abide by Waller’s command. Waller orders Economos to look for a replacement leader, which shifts focus to other Project M members who have returned to Belle Reeve to serve their sentences.
Back to her miserable old life, Nina is seen getting bullied by Congorilla and Nosferata in the prison cafeteria. That’s right; not only did we get another gorilla character appearing in the same episode, we also got a really obscure vampire character from DC’s horror era, whom we would surely like to see appear in live action someday in the future. Anyway, Bride appears to have grown a strong bond with Nina ever since she accompanied her to Frankenstein mansion that day, as she stands up to Nina’s bullies and breaks Congorilla’s jaw, presumably killing him. Economos approaches her with the proposal to lead the team and kill Ilana, and Bride accepts without any qualms. It doesn’t matter to her that Waller’s command asks her to kill the same person who they were earlier assigned to protect; one less human means more room for monsters.
Weasel’s Tragic Past
Speaking of monsters, the fourth episode highlights Weasel’s past, and keeping in sync with the ongoing tradition with the members of Project M, it is really dark and tragic. At present, Elizabeth Bates, Weasel’s lawyer and an activist in the Freedom Foundation, threatens Economos for their malpractice of exploiting captive prisoners and maintains that Weasel is innocent, having been falsely accused of killing several children. To help Weasel clear his name, she tries to remind him about the sordid past by showing him the pictures of his ‘victims’—the children in question—but fails to elicit a proper response. As Weasel accompanies the team to Pokolistan, the repressed memories of the fateful incident flash in his mind in a dream.
It is revealed that Weasel had befriended a bunch of school children after a little girl showed him kindness by offering him some food, and the rest of the kids followed suit. Weasel felt safe around his new friends and used to play with them, and on one occasion, after the end of school hours, the children had taken him to the school basement. A random local guy had taken notice of this, and judging Weasel’s hideous appearance as a humanoid creature, considered him to be a threat to the children. In the basement, the children had accidentally started a fire. The local guy decided to call the authorities and went in on his own with a shotgun to apprehend Weasel. In his desperation to kill him, he ended up creating a fierce explosion by blowing up the gas reserve in the basement. Almost all the children were killed in the explosion, save for the little girl, whom Weasel tried to save by pulling her out of the burning school building. But authorities assumed him to be the killer, trying to prey on his final victim, and ended up shooting Weasel multiple times. As Weasel got caught, he failed to save the girl, and possibly as a result of this trauma, he completely lost hold of his already feeble mind. James Gunn has always had a soft spot for anthropomorphic creatures and animal characters, the thing I love the most about his work—and on this occasion too he paints a sympathetic portrayal of Weasel. The most tragic aspect of Weasel’s story is he will not be able to share the truth with anyone, and the world will continue to persecute an innocent soul as a monster.
Will Flag Sr. Turn Against His Team?
Ever since Flag and co. returned to the States. Eric Frankenstein had his eyes on them, and he wrongly assumed Flag to be romantically involved with the love of his life, Bride. On his way home, Flag tries to warn Ilana by calling her but fails to reach her and gets attacked by Eric, who almost ends up killing him in jealousy. Flag eventually manages to calm Eric down by revealing he and Bride share no such feelings, and he is in fact trying to save Ilana, revealing his feelings for her. Eric appears to be quite the romantic soul, as he continues to reference romantic classics like Titanic and When Harry Met Sally to compare Flag’s love for Ilana. Quite whimsical this undead fellow is, as within moments he seems to have created a good rapport with a guy he wanted to murder just a minute ago.Â
Anyway, having no ally by his side, Flag Sr. plans to take Eric’s help to save Ilana’s life and offers to reunite him with Bride in exchange. Which means, in the upcoming episode, we will see Flag facing off against his teammates, going directly against Waller’s command, which probably won’t bode well for him in the long run.
