Deadly Class - Rise Above - Review

Need a refresher? Read my recap of the previous episode here.

Deadly Class returns with an uneven episode. Also an extremely dark and twisted one. I love the dark element of Deadly Class, it honestly feels more like a Netflix show than one you'd find on cable television, but I did feel this week was trying way too hard to establish itself as gritty and edgy, eventually it just became gross for the sake of being gross.

But moving on, the focus of this episode is set up. We're moving into the final few episodes of the season and therefore much of this episode is about getting the key players of the chess match into position for the climax. It comes off somewhat scatterbrained.

(Katie Yu/SYFY)

For starters, we do finally learn what happened between Chester and Marcus at the boys home. They get the animated backstory this week! The home was a squalid, abusive living situation for all involved. Chester frequently bullied Marcus as did his teachers. There were no adults for him to trust. Eventually Marcus rebelled against the system and began building a needle bomb (essentially a nail bomb but with needles). The bomb is what wrecked Chester's face, along with several guards. It was Marcus's mission to torment the people in power who had been torturing him and the other students for years, and set free the other boys.

But Chester didn't like that. He systematically massacred every last boy before the bomb could burn the school down, earning Marcus his reputation despite the fact he didn't actually kill the other kids.

(Katie Yu/SYFY)

Given Chester's ultimatum last week, it's not surprising we find a panicked Marcus trying to hunt him down and to do so, they decide to use another psychopath to catch Chester, or Mr. FuckFace as he's calling himself now.

Remember the weird psychopathy professor, Scorpio Slasher? Billy, Saya, and Marcus break him out and take him on the streets on a leash like a murderous dog. Honestly, this is a plotline that I didn't love. I found Scorpio's character more interesting in small doses. He does too much monologuing about fake-deep notions of murder for my taste.

They track Billy to an animal shelter, a place where you can abandon dogs without question. Given Chester's intense love of dogs, he finds people who abandon them scum of the earth and uses the area as a hunting ground. The gang stumble upon him just as he's about to murder another woman. Scorpio gets off his leash and disembowels Chester's accomplice Jimmy and sends him running for the hills.

Guess it's back to square one for Marcus.

(Katie Yu/SYFY)

As for Maria, the person who might suffer the most (or second to most) if Chester decides to tell the truth about Chico, she's not doing any better. Chico's father, the fabled El Diablo, is now in the picture.

He doesn't fully believe Maria's stories about not knowing what happened to his son. Maria is used as a weapon to take out Yukio, which she does in a crowded club. Diablo is clearly not going anyway any time soon and given the way he caresses Maria's blood-streaked face near the episode's end, I have a feeling things for Maria are going to get much worse before they ever have hopes of getting better.

At King's Dominion, Lin and his sister Gao continue butting heads. Apparently she's aware Lin has been hiding his daughter away in secret. Their family squabble is likely going to come to a head soon. If Lin doesn't hand his daughter over to the Guild, he risks all kinds of punishment. I can't see Gao letting go of this that easily. She clearly puts her duty and loyalty to the Guild above any affection she might have for her family. Though honestly, I don't think that woman has an affectionate bone in her body.

(Katie Yu/SYFY)

Odds & Ends

- Chester spends most of the episode talking to Chico's decapitated head, coming up with delusional dreams about how he came become a famous serial killer. This guy is totally off his rocker.

- So is Scorpio Slasher just casually running loose now since Billy let go of his leash?

- There was just too much Chester in this episode for me. He is truly vile.

A new episode of Deadly Class titled "The Clampdown" premieres March 7th on SYFY.