‘Creature Commandos’ Episode Six Recap: “Priyatel Skelet”

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for episode six of Creature Commandos.

The sixth episode of Creature Commandos is the show’s most fragmented yet, following not two but five distinct storylines that aren’t as fully developed as the central character it focuses on this time around, Doctor Phosphorous (Alan Tudyk). In flashbacks, we learn that, before becoming the radioactive scientist member of Task Force M, he was developing a pain-free cure for cancer in Gotham City using nuclear fusion. 

Named Alex Sartorius, the doctor was working on this cure under the funding of mob boss Rupert Thorne (Benjamin Byron Davis), without realizing that he would eventually use what he developed to sell it to other more powerful countries with malevolent intentions. When Sartorius finds out about Thorne’s intentions, he attempts to sabotage the technology until the mob boss has his wife and son killed and frames Alex for the murders. He also tries to kill Alex with the technology he has been creating, but it instead transforms him into the monster known as Doctor Phosphorous. 

In the show’s most heartbreaking montage yet (scored through Gogol Bordello’s “Wonderlust King”), director Sam Liu and writer James Gunn parallel Phosophorous’ revenge-fueled quest to not only kill Thorne but topple his criminal empire and take it over with the most joyous moments of his past life. From the first dance at his wedding to holding his son and flying him in his arms, which cuts to him dancing in the Iceberg Lounge, with endless money raining at his feet, and senselessly killing Thorne’s associates with no mercy. 

This tragic sequence is hampered by Batman’s arrival, who sends him to Belle Reeve. While no actor voices the character, nor do we see his suit fully revealed (he’s shrouded in shadows), his entry in the DCU shows him very much active as a Caped Crusader, which means we likely won’t sit through another origin story picture again. However, in those sequences, Tudyk gives a proper emotional contrast to Sartorius and Phosphorous. One is a doctor who thinks he is doing the world good by working with someone who will use his technology for terrible intentions, while the other has nothing to lose anymore and whose only drive is the immense, insatiable pain he constantly feels. 

Phosphorous has a brief respite with a young girl who reminds him of his son. Instead of killing her, he lets her and the family go and asks for directions to Ilana Rostovic’s (Maria Bakalova) castle. Perhaps there’s some humanity left from Sartorius after all, and this internal conflict could be further developed as the DCU continues its run, perhaps in a second season of Creature Commandos, which has been recently announced. 

Sadly, the rest of the episode feels incredibly unfocused. We follow the stories of The Bride (Indira Varma) and Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao) as they hide in Madam Guyrov’s (Shoreh Aghdashloo) brothel, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and John Economos (Steve Agee), in the hospital, hoping that Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) wakes up from his coma, while also intercutting to Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour) making his way to Pokolistan. Gunn also crams in a scene with Rostovic building up her army for the battle to come, which feels more like endless plotting than effectively developing a story that’s always been thinly constructed beyond the individual character arcs that are always thrilling to watch. 

It seems like a lot is crammed, especially when the episode only lasts 26 minutes. It results in moving pieces never coalescing together in an emotionally meaningful way, even if Phosphorous’ flashback is the beating heart and soul of this episode and forces us to watch from beginning to end. We ultimately feel for him far deeper than any other member of Task Force M so far, and, dare I say, begin to cry when Liu parallels Sartorius’ past life with his current one. 

It’s only because of this that I enjoyed this penultimate episode of Creature Commandos. However, I can’t say that the central narrative has been developed sufficiently and feels relatively rushed compared to the time we individually spent with each member from the second episode to now. Only one member is left to further flesh out during the show’s finale: Nina Mazursky. Perhaps Gunn is saving the best for last? One way to find out!

The sixth episode of Creature Commandos is now available to stream on Max.