Deadly Class - Snake Pit - Review: The Other White Meat

Need a refresher? Read my recap of last week's episode of Deadly Class here.

The animated backstory this week goes to Billy. You know, the mullet-wearing-psychotic-goat-banger from the end of the last episode who has it in for Marcus? That Billy.

There is a sinister undertone to their relationship we don't understand yet. Mostly we just learn Billy is way too fond of dogs and he has tormented Marcus, who is seen holding a nail bomb before we cut to the title screen.

Willie and Marcus have become close enough friends to hang out and play video games together! Except, they still have to keep their relationship secret since Willie can't afford to harm his reputation. The second Shabnam enters, Willie flips the switch and shakes Marcus down for money instead.

Pictured: (l-r) French Stewart as Scorpio Slasher, Benjamin
Wadsworth as Marcus -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

More importantly, Marcus gets the rundown on the week leading up to his first school dance, the Sleeping With the Fishes dance, to be exact. Rats (students who are first in their family) aren't invited and instead can look forward to a week of hazing from the legacy students. For instance, Billy gets his hand trapped in a surprise locker mouse trap.

Ever since their night together, Viktor is relentless in his pursuit of Petra. She's not interested, even after he invites her to the legacy dance. Brandy makes sure Petra knows she isn't welcome at the dance and implies that if she goes, things won't go well for her. Ugh, could Brandy be any more unlikable?

But Brandy's words have the opposite effect, she accepts Viktor's invitation out of spite. She tells him that too but apparently he really does have feelings fo her since he doesn't mind the reason so long as she's there.

Marcus also gets revenge for the hand-rat trap in poison lab by dumping a dangerous concoction into the perpetrator's lap. Jurgen warns him about playing class clown, and also to learn what he needs at King's Dominion and get out before finals.

Pictured: Lana Condor as Saya -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Jurgen's warning doesn't sit right with Marcus. He tries to talk to Willie about it but it's in public and Willie blows him off because his crew is around, watching his every move.

Also wow, these kids do not mess around when it coms to hazing. Billy, Lex, Petra, and Marcus have the maximum displeasure of learning they ate rat for lunch. Squirmy tale and all.

Lex and Billy are ready for an all-out class war after their impromptu rat-tatouille. They dispense packages to all the legacy students, each one packed with a potent ink bomb.

Then we're on to a class about psychopathy. This professor is a new one. He's shackled and constrained in his wheelchair, a hooded figure leads him around and keeps tabs on him. Rumor is he's a cannibal, 40 kills yet not bodies found. So likely their teacher is a literal serial killer with psychopathic tendencies, as the class title suggests.

Pictured: Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria --
 (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

He asks about their hatreds, the lesson is on resentments and Marcus has no problem telling him how much he bullies, "people like you", straight to his face. Does Marcus ever stop and think about the amount of enemies he's making? Or maybe, in a school like this, that's impressive.

Jurgen wants out of King's Dominion. He doesn't agree with what the academy has become. Apparently there is something extra sketchy about the final exams. He hands Master Lin his resignation letter and Lin walks away in silence.

Marcus finally nails a class! Mainly out of sheer luck. He, Saya, and Maria are paired together for an assignment from Master Zane. They need to kill him in the scenario and Marcus immediately messes up but then comes out on top when he finds a telephone and uses the cord as a strangulation device.

Neither Saya nor Maria are happy about this since they actually did the fighting and stealth correctly. But the class is called atypical combat techniques, not perfectly coordinated ones.

Pictured: (l-r) Liam James as Billy, Sean Depner as Viktor,
Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Lin heads straight to a weird kink dungeon with human beings playing furniture pieces and elevator music to add atmosphere. There, he hands over Jurgen's letter of resignation and advices replacement but not death. He trusts Jurgen's silence. But that's not how they do things here at King's Dominion. Why do these people stand around for 12 hours in an unbearable position? Because they made a commitment. Jurgen isn't honoring his. She implies that Lin must kill him, or risk his own position.

More Maria and Saya! I love this relationship. They talk about their lives, their goals, Saya wants to be a party queen and rule the world whereas Maria wants to own a home and settle down. Neither of things are immediately attainable though so they entertain themselves with what is: a liquor store. A curmudgeonly shopkeeper gets way more than he bargained for with these two but hey! Master Zane would be proud of Saya kicking a jar of pickled eggs (I think that's what those were) at his head to escape. Doesn't get more atypical than that.

Pictured: (l-r) Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus, Maria Gabriela de
 Faria as Maria, Lana Condor as Saya -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Willie shows up in Marcus's room to hang out, but Marcus isn't having it. He just got through journaling about his need to harden himself, to not let anyone get to him and he's not in the mood to put up with Willie's back-and-forth nature. He doesn't want to be friends with someone who is ashamed of him, especially not after what he did for Willie.

It's finally time for the legacies dance and it looks like a pretty fun time, even Petra seems to be warming up to Viktor and the rest of the rat pack is hanging out on the roof and letting off fireworks to entertain themselves while the party rages on below.

Maria and Saya are dancing and having a blast themselves until Chico crashes the party. He is obsessed with keeping tabs on Maria and Saya calls him out on it, until he unsettles her by informing her that story Maria told was just a ploy to work her and allow Chico to know what's up to. I guess he sees Saya as competition - he should, I'd put my money on her in a fight.

Pictured: Lana Condor as Saya -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Well, I admit I was beginning to think Viktor and Petra were cute but turns out, he's as much of a massive jerk as he looks. He lures Petra into the bathroom under false pretenses and hands her over with pleasure to Brandy and her posse to do with what they please and their plan is to truss her up like a debutante with ridiculous hair and everything, humiliating her on stage in front of the crowd.

Petra finds respite on the roof with the other rats and seeing her upset helps Marcus make his decision. He's picked his battle and this is it. He's ready for revenge.

If I'm shipping anything on this show right now, it's definitely Maria and Saya. The two of them bounce out of the dance (and just in time) to go drink strawberry wine and spend the rest of their night together.

Pictured: (l-r) Michel Duval as Chico, Maria Gabriela de
Faria as Maria -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

Back at the dance, the rat pack rains down havoc on the legacies by bringing blow darts and mellow yellow into play, sticking the main conspirators of their hazing with a stinger of poison. But of course, Chico gets violent immediately and enters an altercation with Marcus and surprisingly, Willie has his back! But ultimately Master Lin is the one who breaks it up and ends the dance. This whole mess is the epitome of "this is why we can't have nice things." Can't everyone they all just get along?

In the wreckage of the dance, Billy and Petra share a sweet dance together. And speaking of sweet, Willie admits Marcus is his people! Marcus's smile says it all. He really just wants a friend, he wants to have his own community, like Willie said. Guys, I smiled SO big at this moment, it's so pure.

Pictured: (l-r) Lana Condor as Saya, Michel Duvel as
Chico -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

The time comes for Lin and Jurgen to face-off. Lin advises he take a sabbatical and come back with a clear head but Jurgen knows that won't make a difference. He has accepted the possibility of his death but that doesn't mean he won't fight tooth and nail to stay alive. Lin has him in a chokehold but ultimately cannot follow though with killing his old friend. "They will come for you." I have a feeling they might come for you too, Lin! But Jurgen escapes and I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of him.

Another end-of-episode stinger, thankfully no beastiality this time. Instead, a kid we haven't met before opens a package and finds a picture of Saya plus a lot of cash. Uh-oh. It looks like a professional hit assignment. Might someone be gunning for the party queen of the world? I can think of a few suspects.

Pictured: (l-r) Maria Gabriela de Faria as Maria, Lana Condor as Saya -- (Photo by: Katie Yu/SYFY)

ODDS & ENDS

- The "eye of Sauron" bit in the beginning between Marcus and Shabnam was equal parts hilarious and traumatizing.

- Something about Benjamin Wadsworth is so familiar to me but I can't quite put my finger on it. I haven't seen his other projects but I think his voice and mannerisms remind me of Tyler Posey.

- Billy: I hope Viktor's balls taste like goulash. Petra: All balls taste like goulash.

- I'm kind of obsessed with Maria's fan of hidden blades.

- Marcus saying, "It's not my first rat stew" really reminds you of the sadness he's come from. But it also means he is much harder to break than some of the other students.

- Student: Find one thousand dicks and suck 'em. Marcus: ...So many?

- The students are forced to list what they despise in their Principals of Psychopathy class and Viktor's answer is capitalism, the professor's response? "Yeah, that's hard to argue.

- At the end of the day, Marcus seems like a really loyal friend to have.

- Petra getting to aim a blow dart at Brandy's forehead and say "I do declare!" was so vindicating.

- I LOVE the classroom scenes. It's kind of like when I watch Harry Potter movies and get invested in the Hogwarts classroom scenes. I find it so interesting to see these class exercises and what they have to do as "assignments" in each one. I'm definitely going to have to read the graphic novels of this series at some point.

A new episode of Deadly Class titled "Mirror People" airs February 6th on SYFY.