Digimon Reviews, Episode 55: Gammamon and Friends [Ghost Game]

In late 2021, after the Digimon Adventure 2020 reboot, Digimon has its 9th anime series -- Digimon Ghost Game. Which, full disclosure, I've only watched the first couple of episodes of. But I will still do these reviews otherwise I don't get to talk about Digimon at all! 

The concept is interesting, playing off an 'urban horror' vibe that Digimon does do quite well -- the earlier animes do this quite a bit, and the setting of Ghost Game takes place in a futuristic society with holograms and AI... which leads to 'hologram ghosts', that turn out to of course be good old Digimon. It's an interesting twist at least on paper, and the show was highly episodic which actually might make it a good background show for me to watch while work threatens to kill me. 

From what I've heard, Ghost Game is a pretty nice show, particularly on the week-to-week basis? I did watch the first episode, where the manifestation of Digimon ends up causing things that look like supernatural incidents to the humans... with them making motherfucking Clockmon of all things actually feel scary. They actually make great use of the 'sewn-mouth' aesthetic that a lot of the '90's Digimon have, which I thought was pretty cool!

Again, the big caveat here is that I haven't watched Ghost Game yet, and so I'm likely to return here and redo some of these reviews once I have... which may be next year, or it might take me another 5 years!

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Also... I've been doing this for the past, well, 5 years. But here is a full list of all the Digimon, at least until where I've stopped reviewing them, and links to the page that I reviewed them in:

• Digimon Review Master List

Do you know how much I appreciate Pokemon's numbering system? It might not always make sense, but boy oh boy, Digimon's classification system sure is something!

(The X-Antibody reviews, by the way, have all been given their own separate pages: X-Mon I and X-Mon II. This includes Baalmon-X and a couple of stray new ones, but otherwise I really freed up the very cluttered episodes 29-33.)

(Speaking of decluttering, I've also split off chunks off of some Frontier-era and Savers-era posts and made a new 'Episode 30.5' ,a new 'Episode 37.5' and a new 'Episode 48.5' to let some of the articles breathe. I may do a re-numbering at some point, since we're getting a couple of these -- probably in a couple of weeks. oh, to heck with it, let's do it now. All episodes have moved forwards in number now as 30.5 becomes 31, 37.5 becomes 39 and 48.5 becomes 50!)

(None of the reviews themselves have changed too much other than the formatting and location. I am aiming for somewhere of a 15-20 maximum entries for each page, which was a huge reason why I split up the original Pulsemon article into what's now 3 articles. Only the X-Antibody, Digimon World and Collectors articles will run long, by design.)

Anyway, Digimon classification and numbering! All this madness would have been avoided if Digimon catalogued their different releases and forms and whatnot better! 

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Curimon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby I
• Type: Lesser
• Attribute: None

One of the things that I don't really care for new protagonists in an anime is that we inevitably get a slew of very specific Baby I and Baby II stages that can't conceivably evolve into any other Child-level, since they just look like the iconic Child stage... but just the head. It's particularly bad when some of them don't even have anime appearances to make them memorable. 

Curimon's... serviceable, a white blob with a tiny horn and a strange spiky plate. It's a nice nod to what's about to come next, but on its own Curimon's kind of bland. 

 4/10.

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Gurimon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby II
• Type: Lesser
• Attribute: None

Again, basically what you expect. It's just Gammamon's head, hopping around on its own, with more defined eyes and the head-crest taking the form of the child mode. Both Curimon and Gurimon like to bash their heads against rocks, which again is a nice nod to what the rest of the line is themed upon, but it does make the two babies feel very much like accessories. 

Eh, it's cute enough, and diverges just enough from the Gammamon head. 

 5/10.

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Gammamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Child
• Type: Ceratopsian
• Attribute: Virus

And here we have the new main character mascot of the main 'gogglehead' of Ghost Game, the new Agumon/Veemon/Guilmon/Shoutmon/Gumdramon. It is, of course, another dinosaur-based baby, but I reasonably like this one quite a bit! It's based on a ceratopsian, and while it does have an anime monster-mouth instead of a beak, I actually like Gammamon's design a fair bit. It looks like it can go around on four legs while still raising itself up on two. I like the assymetry of the red ring/marking on one arm, and the head crest so visible on its baby forms are a lot nicer on a larger body. Not sure if he really needs that anime protagonist blue scarf, but it does bring in a nice bit of colour and the anime model makes it a lot less intrusive.

The whole theme of Ghost Game is occult and ghost stories, which seems to be the vogue in anime in the past couple of years with Dan Da Dan and Jujutsu Kaisen seeing particularly great success. We even got remakes of Nube and Persona 3! So picking a triceratops mascot instead of a spookier one isn't exactly something that fits into the theme. Gammamon is meant to be one of those 'space alien communication' type of occultism, though, as shown by the name of its evolutions. Which... isn't the most immediate thing that comes to mind for a triceratops, but there you go. 

Gammamon is noted to be linked to 'digital signals that came from extragalactic space', and is normally reserved in regards to emotions until you reach out to it. Gammamon also has retractable bat wings that allow it to fly. From what little I've seen of Ghost Game, Gammamon is depicted as a very young 'little brother' to the main protagonist, with him going around going "Hi! I'm Gammamon!" at every opportunity which combined with the voice acting was something I found absolutely adorable! While I tend to not be the biggest fan of the 'main' Mascotmons, I thought this one was genuinely cute!

 8/10.

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BetelGammamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Dragon Man
• Attribute: Vaccine

Gammamon has a bunch of different Adult stages in the anime, and what seems to be its 'default' one is BetelGammamon. Which... yeah, it's the sort of design that I really don't care about, but has become kind of expected for a lot of these protagonist partners. It's Gammamon in all red, with a fully humanoid body except for the claws, and that cute little scarf has blossomed into a full-on Final Fantasy accessory. It shoots fire out of its fists, because of course it does. 

BetelGammamon's attacks rises depending on its emotions, but that's just all anime characters. This is BetelGamammon's 'strong and fast' mode, which is... it's expected that we'd get one of these. It's inoffensive, for what it is. I like Gammamon's child and other Adult forms a lot better. He also kind of reminds me of Shoutmon, doesn't he? Even moreso with his anime model, where he doesn't have quite the 'muscular adult' proportions that the Reference Book gives him. 

 5/10.

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KausGammamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Dragon Man
• Attribute: Data

KausGammamon is the 'calm and clear minded' Gammamon evolution, and I really like the blue colouration here. Interestingly, his head has grown a lot more draconic or theropodal, making it look like one of those Veemons. KausGammamon's whole deal is that it's a flier, hence having a sugar-glider pair of membranes under his arms. But his thighs and pectorals have also seemingly evolved into cyborg exhaust vents. Now jets don't exactly work like that, but it's neat enough. 

KausGammamon lacks all the hot-headed spirit of its BetelGamammon form, and moves calmly and directly to dodge opponent attacks. It's all right, and I like it slightly better than Betel, but not exactly 'my thing'. 

 6/10.

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WezenGammamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Ceratopsian
• Attribute: Data

Oh, this is a lot more 'my thing'! WezenGammamon is just a straight-up robot triceratops. It still has the shark-y mouth of regular Gammamon, but it's turned green, and its three horns have transformed into chunky pesudo-cannons. I like how mechanical the design is, and the obnoxious scarf has been turned into wrapping around WezenGammamon's tail. It appears to be strapping a sci-fi device to the tip of its tail. This tail device is jabbed into the ground to 'draw energy' from it, to empower the gigantic gun barrels that form its forehead horns. 

WezenGamammon is explicitly an anti-aircraft cannon Digimon, being slow but very destructive. The bio even mentions that the tips of its feet are actually 'autocannons', which... I'm not sure how exactly does it fire them without being in an awkward position, but it can. This one is a bit too streamlined for me to like it as much as some classic robot/cyborg Digimon, the likes of Mugendramon or Tankmon or Megadramon, but I still like it a fair bit more than the other two adults. 

 7/10, could be 8.

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GulusGammamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Dragon Man
• Attribute: Virus 

So we get a 'SkullGreymon' for Gammamon, although it's in the Adult-stage. Normally these things are in far more advanced stages! I also normally go through all entries in these 'branching' evolutions, but like the Dorugamons back in the day, I'll alternate between the "good" and "evil" forms as we progress through the evolution stages.

GulusGammamon is basically just BetelGammamon, but with a far cooler black-and-hot-pink colour scheme. Oh, and he's got a full cape. BetelGammamon, as expected from these 'evil' evolutions, is only interested in fighting and will fight whoever he gets in his sights to the death, and will continue fighting even as its limbs get broken.  

I think it's about at this time that I probably should note in writing that every one of Gammamon's evolutions all draw their names and attacks from the names of stars. Betelgeuse, Regulus, Kaus... Anyway, it sure is an evil dragon man! These kinds of 'evil evolutions' tend to worm their way into my heart depending on how well the story is executed, but as it stands, on its own it's just a cooler BetelGamammon. 

 6/10.

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Canoweissmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Sky Dragon
• Attribute: Vaccine

Despite having three 'good' Adult evolutions, Gammamon's only got two Perfect forms, one for the 'good' and one for the 'bad' evolution. And Canoweissmon here is the good evolution. It sure is a dragon! It sure is a white and red dragon. I like that Gammamon's triceratops horns are still there on the head, which is something, at least. Its bio is... simple? It burns with flames of burning justice, and it is a Digimon all about justice. 

I find it all right, as far as cool dragons go, but it's also a design that I feel without a strong association with the character I'll just eventually toss into a pile of 'samey' as a lot of the many, many draconic Digimon that never had a major role anywhere.

 5/10.

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Regulusmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Evil Dragon
• Attribute: Virus

The dark evolution of GulusGammamon is an evil version of Canoweissmon, and it's a little bit more of an interesting anatomy with two pairs of wings and a gigantic shield for an arm. Regulusmon and Canoweissmon are both noted to be Perfects with the power of Ultimates, and Regulusmon in particular is compared to Megidramon of Tamers fame... which... yeah, I don't know, those are huge shoes to fill!

Regulusmon actually has some creativity in its abilities beyond just 'big shadow laser beam', because it unleashes an actual memory-rewriting computer virus called the GRB Factor. This causes Digimon it infects to go haywire and frenzied, similar to the Black Gears and Black Rings and other similar plot devices in the past... but interestingly, Regulusmon's abilities do not work on Digimon that have 'Black Digitron' on them, which are all those 'Black' variants of Digimon. That's a neat nod to the many, many Black variants we've had in the past.

The evil Gammamon forms end up being the final villains of Ghost Game. Again, this is something that may go up or down depending on execution, but currently as a set they don't impress me all that much.

 6/10.

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Siriusmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Light Dragon
• Attribute: Vaccine

And honestly, as expected, the final Ultimate evolution for Gammamon is an Omegamon/Imperialdramon clone. Is this guy also part of the Royal Guards? Are we still doing that? It's a nice-looking enough robot knight man, and I actually like the use of hot pink for the details. While the artwork shows an Omegamon-style 'one sword hand, one gun hand' anatomy, the art implies that Siriusmon can extend those reverse-bayonet blades out, giving him gunblade arms. His profile just talks about him being a hero of justice, and that he has a lot of super-cool powers. I mean, it's what is expected, but it's also easily the fortieth time I've seen this. 

Again, I'm putting a perfectly average score for this guy. Depending on how much I like Ghost Game this score might increase, but as it is, I think I've spoken quite enough about how samey I find the glut of 'robot dragon knights' of this franchise.

 4/10.

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Arcturusmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Dragon Man
• Attribute: Virus

Regulusmon evolves even further into Arcturusmon, who is, again, a black-armour knight and a parallel to Siriusmon. Arcturusmon has drills for his arm melee weapons instead of bayonets. Sure. I actually like Siriusmon marginally better than this guy. 

That Megidramon mention before made me yearn for the time in Tamers where we had the stark difference between Dukemon (or Gallantmon) and Megidramon. Just having the Adult, Perfect and Ultimate 'evil' stages all basically be near-repaints of each other really isn't anywhere as dramatic as how different those two designs (or MetalGreymon and SkullGreymon, to use the original archetype) are, yeah? 

Anyway, Arcturusmon's lore notes that any Digimon infected and secreting GRB factor (which is the thing that its pre-evolved stage Regulusmon shoots at other Digimon) will ultimately evolve into Arcturusmon if pushed hard enough. And that Arcturusmon will cause a digital hazard when it manifests. Okay. As far as I can tell without looking at spoilers, it's the evil Arcturusmon that's the final villain of the show -- which would be interesting? I don't think we've had the superpowered evil main character as the main villain, so that would be new.

 4/10.

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Proximamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Unique
• Attribute: Virus

Siriusmon and Arcturusmon can combine, actually, turning into this dragon-centaur robot called Proximamon. This sounds like the mega-final-ultimate form that is either a final boss, or the final form used to fight the final form. But as far as I can tell, surprisingly, Proximamon never made an appearance in the anime and have only showed up in video game spin-offs? 

Proximamon's bio notes that it's a 'theoretical' prediction in a high-speed computing simulation, so it's not exactly a 'real' Digimon whose existence is confirmed. It has a duality of generating holy and evil energy, and constantly breaks down the digital matter around it and reconstructs them. That is a very cool 'final villain' or 'secret ultimate form' vibe, and the idea of disassembling the digital world into data and reconstructing it is a very nice eldritch-horror vibe unique to the digital world setting. Oh well. 

The design is... it's a bit more interesting than any of its component forms, but that's really not saying much. I appreciate what they're going for here, and having a centaur body layout oes make it somewhat more unique, but ultimately it's not a design I really care for.

 6/10.

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Oboromon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Undead
• Attribute: Virus

Ghost Game deals with the cast investigating creepy happenings that are mostly caused by spookster Digimon -- the likes of Mummymon and Bakemon acting like ghosts, or Reppamon and Yatagaramon being mistaken as their yokai counterparts. As the show goes on, we get a couple of new yokai! Again, these articles were written way before I've watched Ghost Game, so they're not really in any particular order. 

Oboromon here is based on the oboroguruma, the 'hazy cart' yokai, a ghostly ox cart with a face on it. Oboromon... isn't actually a cart, but rather a skeletal wraith with a rather cool design. His spine just gives way into a giant ball of blue flame shaped like a skull, and one of his arms is the skull of a dragon holding a sword. He's got the garments of like a slain samurai, and his scarf trails off into purple flames. 

How cool is that? This feels a lot more like a creepy 'ghost story' or 'urban legend' monster. Oboromon is described as a Digimon that lives in graveyards like a ghost, and it itself has no real sense of self -- being sluggish when outside of battle, before going into a berserker rage when it fights. Oboromon also talks suspiciously with the beast skull fused to its left arm. The blade is actually brittle, and smashes apart all the time... but it regenerates over and over every time it breaks. The vibe is less of an 'ox-cart yokai' but more of this tormented undead soul who can't find rest. Very neat, and I do like how 'old-school Digimon' this guy looks. It looks like it could really evolve naturally off of old, abandoned Musyamon, doesn't it?

 8/10.

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Gyukimon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Demon Beast
• Attribute: Virus

Glorious. The Gyuki is a once-obscure yokai that has gained a lot of love in recent years thanks to modern anime, with Naruto's Killer Bee and One Piece's Saint Saturn both turning into monsters based on the 'ox-spider' yokai, the Gyuki or Ushi-oni. Gyukimon here is a great mixture of not just adapting the yokai, but throwing in a very Digimon twist to it! Like a lot of the great Digimon we've been discussing in the past couple of episodes, Gyukimon here brings in a lot of features of classic digimon while also having the nice modern details. And it's a 'spider-centaur', except the humanoid part is a minotaur

Or, specifically, a Minotaurmon. An emaciated, zombie-like Minotaurmon with rotting purple skin, but it's still got a cannon on his left arm. Gyukimon's Minotaurmon half has its eyes covered with seals, and it's got bandages wrapped all around its cannon and where it connects to the spider half, which gives the idea of a corpse that's being lashed together. And, of course, the lower spider half is straight-up just a black-and-red Dokugumon, with basically the same anatomy and Dokugumon's distinctive front legs arranged in a position where it could be grabbing those hair-locks. Love the seals slapped all over the body, and Gyukimon's abdomen has even got some creepy science experiment cylinders with green fluid stuck onto it.

Gyukimon is described by its profile as being super stealthy thanks to its spider legs, and is extremely ferocious when it gets its prey. Those bells on its horns only ring when Gyukimon attacks, making those who have been chased by a Gyukimon be super-duper paranoid about bells. That's all nice and good, but Ghost Game adds in an extra little wrinkle as well -- Gyukimon's venom slowly turns whatever they bite into more Gyukimon! That's like, Regulusmon's little gimmick up above, but it's way cooler on this undead franken-spider monster. 

I do really like this. And it's always nice when new designs feel like they could naturally 'fit' in place as evolutions of older Digimon, with Gyukimon here being a nice stage up from both Minotarumon and Dokugumon, two very different classic Adult-stages, while also still homaging a specific yokai. That's cool! It also means that over a couple of years, good old Dokugumon has gotten a dedicated child stage in KoDokugumon and a more thematic perfect stage in Gyukimon, a nice and more monstrous alternative to Arukenimon! 

 10/10.

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Chamblemon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Plant
• Attribute: Virus

I keep forgetting Mushmon is a Child-stage, mostly because it debuted quite late into the Digimon Adventures anime and there were a lot of smallish plant/fungus-themed Digimon like Vegiemon, RedVegiemon, Floramon and Woodmon that all could be Child-stages due to their small size. (Only Floramon is, by the way, out of that list). But Mushmon gets a brand-new evolution... and Chamblemon here is... just a pink Mushmon. That's a bit lazy! Even its official art is just recoloured, with it being in the exact same pose. 

Chamblemon (whose name draws from the Japanese pronunciation of champignon, French for mushroom) is noted to be particularly weak. They spread 'sweepore' spores and create parasitic mushrooms that drain prey of their energy... which Chamblemon then feeds on. Okay? Ghost Game actually features the animated debuts of a surprising number of 'repaint' Digimon from good old Digimon World, which I do appreciate, but I am surprised that they introduced a brand-new one?

A commenter had told me that Chamblemon is 'creepy for all the wrong reasons in Ghost Game'. At some point I will find out what this means. 

 3/10.

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Hiyarimon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby II
• Type: Lesser
• Attribute: None

We're going to close this off with a bunch of randoms introduced in various mobile games -- some of which made it into the newer anime and manga. I very much appreciate that unlike the glut of mobile game Digimon between 2010 and 2020, a lot of these feel more 'Digimon-like'. 

Hiyarimon here didn't impress me when I reviewed it in 2020, but I've since gained a new appreciation for it... for the simple reason that we don't actually have a proper snow-themed Baby II! We do have a YukimiBotamon (SnowBotamon) as a Baby I, and Penmon or YukiAgumon (SnowAgumon) tends to be the ice-themed Child-level. I guess the newer Blucomon works too, and this might be meant to specifically tie in with the Blucomon line... but it's not immediately obvious. I find that to be the best kind of Baby Digimon, where it's not just the disembodied heads of the Child-level! Little Hiyarimon gets its own identity, a rarity among honestly most Baby Digimon released after 02.  

It's an all-right baby. It's a little snow friend with chunky Mochimon arms, and a icy beak-mouth that's dribbling snot. Don't like the snot, but I do like the idea of what appears to be an icy creature covered in snow. 

 6/10.

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FrosVelgrmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Giant Bird
• Attribute: Virus

FrosVelgrmon, as far as I can tell, doesn't have anything to do with the original Velgrmon -- who was the Beast Evolution of Darkness in Digimon Frontier. There really isn't much in common, I don't think, other than being a giant bird. 

FrosVelgrmon is a bit prettier,  being a big ice peacock. The fancy tail gets all the attention, but I like that FrosVelgrmon has four wings, and a bunch of gems on its chest and a nice set of additional icy decorations around its head. It's not 'my thing' exactly, but it's a brand-new Ultimate that isn't just another dragon, knight, robot, or a combination of those three... so that absolutely gets some bonus points from me. 

Personality-wise, FrosVelgrmon is a rare Digimon that appears in snowy regions and rescues those stranded on snowy mountains... but if you're unworthy, you get a peaceful freezing death. Which is a nice little 'edge' that this beautiful bird has. FrosVelgrmon isn't a concept that's particularly novel, but it's also something that I realize doesn't readily exist in Digimon before... there has been so many super royal knights and super evil demons and olympus omegamons. 

 7/10.

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Wonder Man S01E08 Review: Lights Camera Action

Wonder Man S01E08 Review: Yucca Valley

And so, Wonder Man ends with a conclusion that, for once, doesn't force itself to have a big bad CGI battle with random bits of property damage and a 'final villain'. These sorts of 'final villain' fights have been the bane of many Disney+/MCU shows and movies, and I am very happy that the atypical, unconventional Wonder Man is allowed to end in its own terms -- with drama related to moviemaking. 

The ending is still an interesting one. With Simon Williams unleashing a huge ionic explosion at the end of the previous episode, the Department of Damage Control finally arrives on scene with damnable evidence to arrest Simon Williams as a metahuman. A depressed Simon just returns to his apartment, getting ready to be arrested. He calls up his mother and has a great heartwarming moment as his mother tells him how proud she is of him. However, the next call is from Trevor, who has a plan to make everything right. 

And showing how genuinely he is sorry for Simon and how much he values his brand-new best friend, Trevor dresses up again as the Fake Mandarin, releasing (with rapid editing speed, I must say) a video of him claiming credit for the explosion on the Wonder Man set, spinning a yarn about infiltrating Hollywood, America's seat of propaganda and whatnot. Agent Cleary, desperate for a win, ends up zipping in to arrest Trevor -- who plays up his capture for the camera by hamming it up. "Trevor Slattery was the mask all along!" 

Mind you, Cleary is a mighty idiot, and I think other than the vague handwave of the court of public opinion, there's no reason for him not to investigate the potential metahuman that is Simon Williams. I guess they took Trevor's bomb story at face value? 

Whatever the case, though, Simon is shocked and touched, but Von Kovak calls Simon back in immediately for shooting because Von Kovak never misses a day of shooting -- and tells Simon to channel all his grief into whatever he is feeling. And of course, the Wonder Man TV show goes on well. The role for Barnaby is recast to Joe Pantoliano (which we met earlier in the season) and we get to see Simon dress up as Wonder Man, inspired by the modern comic-book costume with goggles and whatnot. The movie is the Best Thing Ever(tm), and Simon and Von Kovak are made stars. 

I particularly love the shot of Simon and the people close to him watching the movie. Simon's mother reacting in shock over the third-act betrayal by Barnaby, and Eric and Simon sharing a quiet moment as brothers celebrating his success. Turns out Trevor's career advice from the previous episode worked well for him too, as Simon's agent congratulates him for having his pick of the roles in Hollywood. 

That's where the first half of the episode essentially ends. Simon gets his victory, and we get to see him climb his way up and get that role he always wanted. 

But then we slow down, and we get to see Simon arrive incognito in the Yucca Flats. He meets up with a doctor, under pretense that he's doing homework in shadowing and getting into character for another role. This actually goes on for quite a bit even in screentime that it felt a bit odd -- even if it's something that does also feel like a scene from a 'how actors work' show. I actually get the feeling that this is building up to a 'Simon Williams is moonlighting as a superhero' reveal, which wouldn't be bad but wouldn't match anything in the rest of the movie. 

Thankfully, it is a much more involved sequence than that. The dude that Simon shadows turns out to moonlight for Damage Control, and Simon manages to charm his way (Trevor's methods, charming people!) in as an intern to enter a Damage Control holding site. Having found out that this is where Trevor is being held, Simon walks up, uses his much-more-in-control ionic powers to short out the cameras, walk up to Trevor, and do the same 'taking the fall' thing that Trevor did to him -- and break his buddy out of jail by flying out surrounded in an ionic field. 

(Oh, he also gives the guard he shadowed -- who likely will be losing his job -- enough money to retire several times over, so that's nice)

End scene. 

That is a much more satisfying buddy-cop movie ending than what I thought the second half of the episode was building up to, and I am quite glad for it. Again, both Ben Kingsley and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II were both fantastic in their roles, really embodying Trevor and Simon perfectly. The writing is spot-on in conveying the difficulties of showbiz and character writing in general, and I can't believe just how much I enjoyed this very unconventional show. It's easily one of the most delightful Marvel experience I've had in a long, long while, as much as it doesn't actually feel like a superhero show. 

Marvel Easter Eggs Corner:

• Wonder Man's 'modernized movie' costume is based on his more well-known modern look, based on his most well-known appearance debuting in the 60's Avengers run. 
• At the end of the episode, Agent Cleary describes Wonder Man's powers in the same terms that the comic does -- he can transform his body into sentient ionic energy and manipulate it. 
• The logo that appears in Trevor's fake Mandarin video is the one from Iron Man 3, identified as a fake one by Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. 
• Trevor quotes himself from Iron Man 3, namely the 'you never see me coming' line at Agent Cleary. 

Reviewing 5E D&D Monsters - Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Pt 5 (Sorrowsworn to Vampiric Mist)

And finally, we enter the final stretch of monsters for Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, which brings my coverage of Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse to a close. This has been a really fun ride, going through and rediscovering my love for Dungeons & Dragons all over again as I talk about every single monster in the main bestiaries! I'll also go through all of the non-crossover 5th Edition monsters eventually, as well as the 'appendix' monsters that are just beasts or elite versions of a previously established monster. 

This final stretch contains two huge 'sets' of monsters -- the Sorrowsworn and Star Spawn -- always nice to talk about huge sets of monsters, although they also often tend to take more time for me to go through. That's just part of the writing process, I suppose. 

I do have a fair bit of newfound appreciation for Tome of Foes, which goes for breadth instead of depth in terms of monster variety compared to Guide to Monsters. I really, really love the segments in Volo's Guide to Monsters that covers the hags and goblins and whatnot, but Tome of Foes does really bring to us a lot more variety, which is much appreciated. 

Other than that, my next project is going to be a 'read-through' of the 2nd Edition AD&D Monstrous Manual... although when that will start will depend on how much content I can get written within a timely manner. 

• Click here for the previous part.
• Click here for the next part.
• Click here for the index.

[Originally published in June 2020; revised in May 2026]

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Sorrowsworn 

• 5.5E/5E: Medium Monstrosity; Neutral Evil; CR 13 (Angry), 11 (Hungry), 9 (Lonely), 7 (Lost)
• 5.5E/5E: Small Monstrosity; Neutral Evil; CR 1/4 (Wretched)

The Sorrowsworn has had a divergent evolution over the different editions. The name was used in 3rd Edition for a type of tanar'ri demon that preyed on emotions. 4th Edition's first Monster Manual then introduced the 'Sorrowsworn' as a type of monster that lived in the Shadowfell, the dark dimension of horrid emotions, shadow and death, and acted as 'fragments of death incarnate', drawn by emotions and grief and acted like a more fiendish-looking grim reaper working for the Raven Queen. 5E interestingly keeps some of this lore... but instead of making its Sorrowsworn part of a more organized hierarchy (that part, seemingly, has been all given to the Shadar-Kai), reinvents the Sorrowsworn as just incarnations of the Shadowfell's bleak nature. 

I actually like this a lot. The previous incarnations of the Shadowfell's nature itself has been either undead (which isn't special since they show up in the Material Plane) or the Nightshades, which are shadow-monsters but lack a certain... identity. The Sorrowsworn are reinvented not just as blobs of shadow, but blobs of flesh, bringing to mind enemies from the Silent Hill franchise. They look like mutated humanoids, but are really manifestations of dark emotions of those that get lost in the Shadowfell. I'm putting the 4E and 3E incarnations of the Sorrowsworn first as comparison, and while the art is certainly cool, they are 'just' demons:

And these Sorrowsworn have abilities and behaviour that represent their respective emotion. I like this gimmick, and I like this theming on negative emotions being literally represented by a set of in-your-face monsters. Tome of Foes calls them names like 'The Angry', 'The Lonely' and so on, which I found to be really cool, but Multiverse renames them as the more descriptive 'Angry Sorrowsworn'. Rather coincidentally, the alphabetic order that they are presented is also going down from the most powerful to the least powerful type of Sorrowsworn. 

Starting off with the most powerful is the CR 13 Angry Sorrowsworn on the topmost of this segment, who looks like a lumpy, misshapen human with hook-claws for hands, and two heads groaning and attached asymmetrically. The Angry Sorrowsworn, of course, represent anger. They are quite powerful... but if their opponents do not attack it, they gain disadvantage on attack rolls and becomes weakened by its confusion. In contrast, any time the Angry is attacked, they get advantage instead. It's a nice little gimmick of 'anger feeds the monster'. The two heads also bicker at each other, which probably drives it even angrier and angrier!

We then have the CR 11 Hungry Sorrowsworn, who is a long, stretched-out humanoid with a large, yawning mouth. The giant mouth representing hunger is obvious enough, but the Hungry also has webbed hands for some reason. Hunger is a rather obvious emotion for someone lost in the Shadowfell to have. They try to feed on their prey, and of course whatever they eat will never fulfill the hunger they have in their belly. The mechanical gimmick this one has isn't as thematic, I feel, triggering off of healing. I wished that there was something about them being drawn to individuals imbibing food and drinks in the Shadowfell or something, because everyone needs to drink, right? 

The CR 9 Lonely Sorrowsworn is born out of the sorrow of isolation. They just want a hug!  I like that their mishappen heads are crying black ichor, and all its limbs end in blades. Which double as sinewy harpoon guns. Whenever they see other creatures, they want to interact and launch their harpoon-like arms to draw people closer -- as the art shows, sometimes they pierce limbs and drag them in. The Lonely has an interesting gimmick where the more creatures are around it, it 'thrives on company' and gains advantage if it's surrounded by creatures but disadvantage when it's alone. It translates well to why it's also trying to harpoon your adventurers towards it!

The CR 7 Lost Sorrowsworn probably looks the most intimidating to me, with five claw-tipped arms sprouting out of its body. I like, again, that the arms are asymmetrical and one just grows randomly out of the side of the stomach. The Lost is created out of the anxiety and fear people experience when they get lost in the Shadowfell, and they are always desperate and panicked. They try to grab and embrace those that are nearby and grip them tight, but inflict psychic damage and the frightened condition upon them. The Lost also wants a hug! Thematically, I think this one is a bit less of a direct evolution of the emotion compared to the other three we've covered, and feels like a less-thematic repeat of the Lonely. 

And finally, the weakest is the CR 1/4 Wretched Sorrowsworn. The Wretched are smaller, and they look interesting. Just lumps of flesh with chicken feet, eyes and a mouth filled with lamprey teeth. 'Wretchedness' isn't really a thematic emotion or cause of sorrow like being lonely, lost, hungry and angry; but as the weakest member of the group that's just there to swarm around and dogpile the enemy. 

I actually didn't care for these guys too much when I first saw them, but the more I look at available 5th Edition Shadowfell monsters, the more I realize that the Sorrowsworn are probably the best 'mascot' to explain what the Shadowfell is. Dark, twisted creatures born out of unpleasant emotions? They serve as a nice contrast to the other Shadowfell examples, the Shadar-Kai, who are devoid of emotions. I do still feel like the concept is better executed for the three stronger Sorrowsworns, but otherwise no real complaints here -- in an edition that is a bit infamous for sanitizing their art direction, I do like that these Sorrowsworn have a bit more 'bite' to them at least.  

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Star Spawn / Foulspawn

• 5.5E/5E: Small Aberration; Neutral Evil; CR 1/4 (Grue)
• 5.5E/5E: Large Aberration; Chaotic Evil; CR 10 (Hulk)
• 5.5E/5E: Medium Aberration; Chaotic Evil; CR 16 (Larva Mage)
• 5.5E/5E: Medium Aberration; Chaotic Evil; CR 5 (Mangler)
• 5.5E/5E: Medium Aberration; Neutral Evil; CR 13 (Seer)

Oh yes. We have these guys! Now, 4E has monsters called 'Star Spawn' as well, but they are completely different reflections and heralds of Elder Evil that take the form of stars. Hands down, one of my favourite monsters in D&D. These are all tied to specific Elder Evils, each of which are heralds and aspects of the true dread Elder Evil they represent. The Herald of Hadar, the Maw of Acamar, the Scion of Gibbeth and several more powerful aberrations exist to challenge the most powerful warriors, with the most powerful Star Spawn being Allabar, Opener of the Way -- a fully sentient planet made up of writhing eldritch flesh and eyeballs. 

But the 5th Edition 'Star Spawn' is actually an adaptation of previous editions' Foulspawn, which are humanoids that are mutated by the influence of the eldritch energies of the Far Realm; or just smaller heralds or forms taken by entities in the Far Realm. Both the 4E Star Spawn and the 5E Star Spawn/4E Foulspawn are related to the Far Realm, but very differently! For the purposes of this review, I'm going to refer to these creatures as what 5E calls them, but I want to note the difference. The picture above are the artwork for the Foulspawn from 4E.

Also notably, in the original Tome of Foes printing, only the Larva Mage got artwork -- despite five variants (that correspond to all 4E Foulspawn!) being described. Monsters of the Multiverse finally remedied this by giving all the Star Spawn new artwork, probably the most important and biggest graphical upgrade. Frankly, it was kind of silly that it's demons and Star Spawn -- unique creatures -- that were missing artwork, but every single Abishai got brand-new art!

In 5th Edition lore, Star Spawn are named such because they usually appear or are summoned by cults when an ill comet passes through, signalling a breach between the Material and Far Realms. Going in alphabetical order, we first start off with the Star Spawn Grue. Zork jokes aside, the Grue is the weakest of the Star Spawns, a CR 1/4 creature that resembles a humanoid with chalky skin. It actually looks like it might be a cultist that has been driven insane and transformed, since it still has pants. The Grue is grinning, its lips torn apart to reveal fanged teeth, and random spikes of rocks poke out of its body. The Grues just shamble and scuttle around stronger Star Spawn, making chittering and shrieking noises that confounds enemies with its 'aura of shrieks'. This is flavoured with those that hear the shrieking experiencing flashing colours, hallucinations and waves of hopelessness. It's not the most memorable design visually, but it is the weakest variant.

A bit more distinctive aberration is the CR 10 Star Spawn Hulk, a large aberration that resembles a humanoid with translucent purple skin and muscles. You see a jaw lined with way too many teeth; visible skeleton; and internal organs within the body. It's like a sinister version of Glob Herman from X-Men, if you know who that is. The Hulk is noted to mostly just appear alongside Seers, acting like mindless bodyguards. Its thoughts and location can't be discerned by magic, and if it takes psychic damage, it reflects that damage to all creatures around it. This means that in addition to being a massive psychic threat, the Hulk's use in the battlefield is to be a prism to enhance the psychic attacks that its Seer or Larva Mage masters are doing. That's cool. 

The CR 16 Star Spawn Larva Mage is kind of interesting. An analogous monster is the 'Worm That Walks' from 3.5E, a creature associated with good old Kyuss. I suppose since Kyuss has ascended to an Elder Evil, this manifestation technically counts as one? The Larva Mage is obviously my favourite of the Star Spawns in 5th Edition, and it was the only one to receive artwork in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. The Larva Mage is a massive mass of worms that have a roughly humanoid body shape within a cloak, holding on to a porcelain mask. Love the artwork showing worms dropping and writhing around, and how one hand has worms making 'fingers', while the 'hand' holding the staff is just a clumped mass. 

A Larva Mage is created when a warlock or cultist contacts an 'emissary of an Elder Evil', merging and transforming into a wholly new form. Of course, none of the cultist's original personality remains. Only worms. Only worms, the Age of Worms, and the Arrival of Kyuss. The Larva Mage is the 'boss' of the Star Spawn presented here, being a powerful spellcaster, having legendary actions, unleashing swarms of worms and even being able to break apart into a swarm of worms to reform elsewhere. 

In addition to the five Star Spawns, Monsters of the Multiverse also gives us five additional spells and abilities to give to cults worshipping the Elder Evils of the Forgotten Realms setting. Atropus, the World Born Dead is one of these Elder Evils that is spotlighted and I always have a soft spot for Atropus. We'll maybe talk about him if we ever delve into 4E monsters!

The Star Spawn Mangler is a very simple fighter, a CR 5 creature with stealthy abilities. Pretty cool artwork, though. It's a blue-skinned humanoid whose upper body is stretched out -- almost like a centipede. In addition to a mass of centipede claws, it's got three pairs of bestial claws, and its head is stretched out as well. The Mangler's number of arms, of course, is variable. They stick to shadows and make use of their strange anatomy, which reminds me of the Chokers we described earlier in the book. Not the most interesting creature and I really wished that it didn't have a bipedal body and could've been something more twisted-looking, but I suppose the Star Spawn's creepiness is how they resemble humans. 

The CR 13 Star Spawn Seer is often encountered as the leader of one of these cults worshipping the Elder Evil, being the one in charge of creating the insane dire rites and rituals to breach the planes and summon emissaries of the Elder Evils. The Far Realm entity that would become the Seer usually comes disembodied, then merges with the cultist and ratchets up whatever insane motivations and beliefs the cultist leader has that leads it to worship the Elder Evils. This one is perhaps the closest in adapting the 4E Foulspawn art, although a lot more 'partway-through-mutation' than the straight-up flayed-men of 4E. It makes it a bit creepier!

The Seer has almost natural-looking extremities, but you can see that bulbous tumours and tentacles, with whorled patterns, have taken over his arms, legs, and every part of his torso and abdomen up to the lower jaw. I like how the mass of patterned flesh and writhing tentacles are poking out of the center of his cloak, as if like the Larva Mage, it's just 'trying' to pretend to be a humanoid. The Seer holds a strange staff of 'flesh, bone, and star-staff', and in addition to the aforementioned strategy of using its Hulk minions to amplify its damage, Seers warp reality by existing. They can phase through objects and creatures (and deal psychic damage to them), can teleport, and the coolest ability is to 'collapse distance' and essentially 'delete' space and hurt enemies -- similar to 'The Hand' ability from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

I really like the new artwork for these guys, which gives them a lot of personality. Eldritch monsters take the throne of my favourite type of monsters, and while I still do think that these are a bit too humanoid for the liking, I like the artwork and the theme of these guys as once being 'mere' cultists who have been taken over and mutated by the mere essences of the heralds of something even greater. I do like 5E art design compared to the 4E one, though, which could very easily be misconstrued as something like ghouls or demons .

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Steeder

• 5.5E/5E: Large Monstrosity; Unaligned; CR 1 (Female)
• 5.5E/5E: Medium Monstrosity; Unaligned; CR 1/4 (Male)

Giant underground spiders! The Steeders are domesticated by the Duergar to act as mounts both for travel and war. Just generic spiders before, 5th Edition's art direction takes one of the prettiest spiders in the world, the Spinybacked Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis) with its distinctive, multi-spined orange abdomen as an inspiration. Pretty cool art.

There is a bit that the prose talks about, noting how female Steeders are larger than the males, which is true for many species of real-life spiders. This translates to two different stat blocks! The Duergar thus use the domesticated females as war steeds, while the males are used as draft animals. Steeders are extremely territorial and will even attack other Steeders... something that's quite true for most spider species, actually. This leads to the Duergar needing to keep the Steeders separate from one another, and place blinders on them to keep them from attacking one another. I really like this bit of worldbuilding. 

Interestingly, Steeders don't spin webs, which feels like a way to prevent the Duergar from having access to the very useful 'Web' spell. Instead, the Steeders move around by secreting a viscous substance from their legs, using this quasi-web to grapple prey instead. They are also able to leap extraordinary distances, similar to real-life jumping spiders. It's a nice little way to differentiate the Steeders from other regular giant spiders, and one that adapts different types of cool spiders from the real world. I don't have a whole ton to otherwise say about these guys, but I'm happy they exist.  

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Steel Predator 

• 5.5E/5E: Large Construct; Lawful Evil; CR 16

I think I would be more impressed with the Steel Predator if it didn't come in the same book as the Marut and the Retriever. Just like 'big monster dogs' were a bit prominent in Volo's Guide to Monsters with the Barghest, Yeth Hound and Shadow Mastiff all showing up, it's a bit strange that we've gotten three extraplanar, relentless robot hunters in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. And out of all of those, the Steel Predator is probably the least thematically memorable. The Marut has all the Inevitable lore tied to it, with a great motivation and a stark redesign. The Retriever is tied to the Drow and has cool lore implications with how it's powered by a fiend.

The Steel Predator... it visually is a well-drawn but a bit of a generic steel feline or canine with no eyes and made up of metal. Its 3E art has a Xenomorph-esque gait to it. Not terrible, but it's also not as memorable. The Steel Predator does have a unique bit of lore, where it was created by a rogue Modron that now lives in the multiversal hub-world of Sigil. This Modron created the Steel Predators and turned them against its kin, before being exiled. Now it opens a shop selling these things. It's a neat story, but it's neat because of the pscyho Modron shopkeeper, and less that the Steel Predators are memorable. 

Steel Predators can dimension door and plane shift, can track its prey through any small identifier, and can unleash a stunning roar. Again, it's basically the Retriever. After finishing its mission, it returns to Sigil and is recycled for parts for the next Steel Predator. If it malfunctions, is just lingers and kills anything nearby.

Again... there's a feeling that I've seen this exact concept done in a much more interesting way earlier in the book. Sorry, Steely, I am just not too impressed with you. Maybe if you had more ability or visual ties to the Modrons it'd be something, but otherwise, sadly overshadowed. 

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Stone-Cursed 

• 5.5E/5E: Medium Construct; Lawful Evil; CR 1

The Stone Cursed are... an interesting creature? As far as I can tell, it's another one that is original to 5th Edition. Stone Cursed are created when a ritual is done on people that are turned to stone -- by the likes of Medusae, Basilisks, Cockatrices, Gorgons and probably a bunch of others that's not coming to mind. The spirit of the trapped victim gets dimly animated, turning the Stone Cursed into a guardian. Essentially, it is a 'golem' style enemy with some extra steps. Their hands turn into claws that ooze gray sludge that also causes petrification.

There are a bit of extra details to the Stone Cursed that makes it a bit more interesting. A fist-sized obsidian skull apparently is formed deep within the Stone Cursed's torso, which can be recovered to extract memories of the original victim. It's something, at least. Again, this does feel more like accessories to a Medusa encounter more than anything. You could imagine some of the statues in her lair turn out to be minions with a variation of the petrification gimmick. I do like that some of the less prominent monsters get a bit of an expansion, but it's not the most interesting thing in the book, nor the most immediately the thing that jumps tom mind when you want to expand a Medusa or Basilisk or Cockatrice encounter.

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Sword Wraith 

• 5.5E/5E: Medium Undead; Lawful Evil; CR 8 (Commander), 3 (Warrior)

We've had regular Wraiths in the Monster Manual, which are the sentient incorporeal shadowy undead driven by hatred and negative emotions. Sword Wraiths are presumably a sub-type of Wraiths, then? Although you never really know with these undead spirits. The statblocks at least doesn't really have much to do with each other save for being undead. The Sword Wraith's resistances and immunities are a much simpler version of the ones afforded to other incorporeal undead like Wraiths.

The Sword Wraiths are noted to be created when warriors die in battle without honour, causing their spirits to rise up and haunt the site of death as Sword Wraiths. They will haunt battlefields, attacking anyone who questions their valour, but looking kindly at those who sing their praises. This makes it feel more like a weaker version of the Ghost than the Wraith, I suppose, if we want to be pedantic about which incorporeal undead spirit is closest to it. In older editions, Sword Wraiths will bow and follow the orders of those that are ranked higher than it in the military, having a vague sense of still being a soldier. 

Combat-wise, the Sword Wraith is a simple warrior with the undead species's resistances. The stronger Sword Wraith Commander has resistance to turning magic, and can summon the lesser Warriors. I really don't have much to say about them. There's just enough of a backstory to contextualize the origin of these undead, but there's not enough of a hook or mechanical difference from the many other types of undead that I feel like they deserve a slot in a mainline bestiary... at least other than to fill in a specific niche in a CR bracket. Not much else to say, really. 

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Tortle 

• 5.5E/5E: Medium Humanoid; Lawful Good; CR 1/4 (Tortle), 2 (Druid)

The Tortle is one of the breakout races in 5th Edition. Previously debuting as minor inhabitants of the jungle of Chult -- setting of Tomb of Annihilation -- the 'Tortle Package' introduced the Tortle as one of the first non-traditional non-human race, and became extremely popular among the fanbase. The personality of the kindly old-man turtle artwork, as well as a clear demand for more non-human races, ended up making the Tortle quite popular! While the humans and elves will always be the 'face' of Dungeons & Dragons, I feel like 5th Edition's been really nicely shoring up Tieflings, Dragonborns, Tabaxi and Tortles as a nice batch of secondary playable characters.

The design of the Tortle is quite simple -- a humanoid tortoise! The 5E redesign isn't content on going Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like the older incarnations, which isn't bad -- but does make it seem like 'just' a tortoise on legs. The 5E Tortle goes for a more unique feel, more Kung Fu Panda's Master Oogway. With the rugged shell, the longer arms, the large feet and the kindly old-man face really pushes the Tortle over the edge in getting a distinct presonality and identity compared to the other non-traditional playable race. 

Tortles are described as being a gentle people that goes around to see how other folk live. They have their 'home' on their back, able to store items within their shell, so they don't really view their original settlements as much of a home and tends to leave for long durations of time. They have a vague sense of being connected mystically to the natural world, and happily wander the world, going through life day by day. It's a really nice combination of wanderlust and an aged perspective. I've seen the Tortles described as 'elf meets tabaxi', having the tabaxi's catlike curiousity but the elf's long life without being jaded. 

They are a culture that leans more towards druidism, hence the 'Tortle Druid' statblock being included in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Tortles as playable characters have interesting abilities. They can breathe underwater, they have natural weapons in claws... and uniquely, they have 'natural armour'. A Tortle always has a very reasonable AC (a stat that measures how easy you are to be hit) of 17, at the cost of not being able to wear traditional armour. Tortles can furthermore increase this AC even more by retracting their heads and limbs into the shells... at the cost of not being able to cast spells or attack during the duration that it's hiding. 

Very cool set of abilities that really sell the fantasy of wanting to play as a tortoise person. Some of the playable races don't exactly deliver what you want when you select them, but the Tortles manage to deliver both flavour and sensible utility, while giving a drawback that makes sense and doesn't 'feel bad'. And besides... look at these guys! Can you bear to say that you don't like them? They're just old turtle folks! 

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Vampiric Mist 

• 5.5E/5E: Medium Undead; Chaotic Evil; CR 3

And we close off the unique monsters in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes with a creature that debuted in the 1st Edition's Monster Manual II -- the Vampiric Mist, also known as the Crimson Death or Crimson Mist in some editions. The Vampiric Mists are the remnants of wretched vampires that are prevented from finding rest. It's an interesting concept -- vampires in D&D are intrinsically tied to their coffins or burial grounds. What happens if these coffins are destroyed while the vampire is escaping in the form of a polymorphed mist? The Vampire isn't exactly dead, but it can't go back to its coffin to regenerate anymore. 

The end result is this Vampiric Mist, depicted in previous editions as a roiling cloud-specter. 5E gives an interesting take of a giant blob of cloud with arteries and veins running through it like spiderwebs. Vampiric Mists are no longer sentient, driven with the sole focus of hunger. They masquerade as part of regular mists, before ambushing prey and causing blood to ooze out of its pores or spill out from its orifices. Even more creepily, this blood extraction doesn't hurt the person during the process, allowing the Mist to strike even when the victim is asleep. 

A properly sated Vampiric Mist will turn so red that it rains blood wherever it flies. The prose does compare the Vampiric Mist to sharks; being drawn immediately towards blood. Being able to surreptitiously extract blood also reminds me of ticks or mosquitoes. Interestingly, despite being reduced to such a wretched form, Vampiric Mists still observe forbiddance, unable to enter a house unless expressly invited -- which is quite funny. One can accidentally invite an immortal undead Dracula, sure, but inviting a mass of veiny mist is probably less likely to do without realizing what you are letting in.  

But more importantly, I do like that we're getting a nice little monster variation that answers an interesting 'what if' question. With so many magical and wonderful monstrous creatures running around, there inevitably arises questions about 'what will happen if this monster does that when it's using this magical ability? 

Wonder Man S01E07 Review: Secrets Revealed

Wonder Man S01E07 Review: Kathy Friedman

Yeah, again, while this isn't really a typical superhero show, I do find myself quite invested in the acting storyline for Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery. I do still think that the two episodes in the middle could've been cut with little fanfare and would've done the show wonders in terms of pacing and focus. But that's besides the point. 

After the trials and tribulations of the callbacks on the previous episode, Von Kovak has offered Simon and Trevor the roles that they want. And we do spend a chunk of this episode showing the two of them enjoying stardom and the Hollywood life, and Von Kovak's team is even receptive to Simon's extremely in-depth reading of scripts and character. It's probably an underappreciated part of this episode that I truly love, where instead of yelling at Simon for being so hyperfocused and autistic about the character that he is supposed to embody, Von Kovak instead entertains him fully and goes into a discussion about maybe rethinking the main theme of the movie. 

Trevor is also basically become Simon's sidekick, even being allowed to sit in on important business deals and making decisions for him -- with one decision in this episode turning down a Netflix role for Simon. 

The titular 'Kathy Friedman' shows up, however, and she is a harsh, biting Hollywood journalist. Friedman is a journalist that has been so scathing and biting on her pieces on other Hollywood stars that they have essentially become character assassination. For whatever reason, they decide to go through with it, and Simon bends over backwards to change his behaviour on set and learn about the crew and whatnot. That isn't super interesting, to be fair. More interesting, however, is the revelation that Kathy Friedman has interviewed Simon's family -- people who we've seen earlier in the show. Simon panics, but as we find out one by one, neither Simon's mother, his ex-girlfriend, or even the asshole brother Eric sold Simon out. Eric in fact gives nothing but glowing accounts of Simon, which actually tracks -- Eric's problem with Simon in this show has been that Simon's wasting his life, and now that he's actually doing something with his unconventional career choice, Eric's fully on his side. 

Unfortunately for Trevor, however, it is him that Kathy digs up dirt on. While Trevor has been nothing but transparent about his whole gig as the Mandarin back in the events of Iron Man 3, he has been keeping on a lid the fact that he got arrested in the airport by Damage Control. Now I feel that there is a world where Trevor could've kept his cool and tried to at least charm his way out of that, but Trevor ends up blowing up on Kathy, walks out of the interview... and this finally gets gears in Simon's brain clicking. Particularly the stuff about Kathy talking about a 'plea deal'. 

Simon confronts Trevor, and Trevor is torn between his actual initial meeting as someone sent to betray Simon and his newfound friendship with Simon. He ends up confessing and blabbering all about his deal with Damage Control, and this causes Simon to simply... walk out of the trailer. As we've seen before, Simon loses control over his ill-defined powers (in the show, at least, I know Wonder Man's deal in the comics) and blows up the thankfully empty movie set of Wonder Man. End episode. 

This is a great break-up that the show has been building up to. And I do like how it was presented to us, how everything seems to be going well. There was even a sense that Trevor has gained enough pull with his situation next to Simon that he could do what he wanted -- finish filming this movie with his new best friend -- before having to deal with Damage Control. But conflict inevitably arises, and I do like that it's Trevor that ends up being the crack between the two characters. I also love that Simon actually gets closure with so many things in his life here. His method as an actor is validated, his brother and ex-girlfriend actually sees good in him, and everything seems to be on the up-and-up until the one person he keeps closest to him ends up betraying him. Great conflict setup, and it builds things up nicely for the finale.