Score: A-

This was a good episode to show how far Monica has come and also how fragile she presently is. Progression isn’t always easy or without hiccups. Monica is becoming a better and stronger person. The bonds she’s forming are becoming her strength and foundation. But that made this whole situation all the more brutal and gut wrenching for her to deal with. Monica doesn’t handle this sort of thing well and even by the end of the episode she’s nowhere near her best condition. Have to hope there are no more assassination attempts until the Silent Witch pulls herself together.

Things worked out as best as possible for her

Casey’s betrayal really hurt. Even though Casey honestly tried to make it as easy on Monica as possible. In the end Monica can’t hate her and doesn’t want to. Casey was still someone who reached out to her and is someone who Monica treasures. That made for interesting scenes where everyone kind of had to work around Monica falling apart emotionally. It’s kind of funny how the assassin had to be the one to explain that she was an assassin since Monica wasn’t ready to lead that conversation.

That was all the more interesting a position since Casey’s situation was no joke. If Monica hadn’t basically begged for some mercy it would have been a terrifyingly dark future waiting for Casey. Brutal interrogation where she’d be forced to give up every accomplice she had would be one thing. But beyond that she’d likely suffer from mind manipulation and executed once every bit of usefulness was drained from her. Death would be the end result no matter how much or little she resisted the process. I don’t think Casey had truly appreciated how dark her future was looking.

He was fair in this episode

I think it reflects how kind Louis is that things worked out so well. Monica did try to play the political game with him to be sure. But I think if Louis wanted Casey dead then he wouldn’t have let that get in the way. But I do think he was trying to be considerate to a colleague that was having a hard time. So he let Monica mostly have her way and had Casey set to still be interrogated, but sent to a convent after. Her public life was over in that moment. But it’s a better fate than being brutally used and executed. I am fine with all this. Actions have consequences and Casey wouldn’t get away without suffering at all for her crimes.

The moment of Louis sharing his handkerchief says it all though. This man loves his wife more than anything. If he was willing to share that handkerchief with Monica then it shows how he does care about her. He has no problem picking on her when she’s in good shape. But seeing a magically weakened and emotionally fragile Monica left him rather calm. He might have also been sulking a bit that Monica was able to relatively easily deal with the defenses he spent a long time setting up. Monica’s talents are just absurd and he knows that.

Tough times for Cyril

The Cyril side of it was good too. I love that it shows how actions have consequences. Monica never imagined that Cyril would take blame for that “accident.” Because she prioritized protecting Casey’s reputation that left Cyril to take the blame. I’m sure the guy will be fine, but that realization hit Monica hard. She can’t do anything about that situation since the truth wouldn’t set them free. Casey’s family is only ok because everything is being handled quietly. There’s nothing really that Monica can do and she hates herself for the part she played in Cyril having any sort of tough time. I’m sure he’ll manage, but it’s rough that he has to.

Was a bit of a brat

There were a lot of good little moments in this. Elliott had some interesting focus. We both got to see the guy he is right now and who he used to be. There’s no doubt he was a stuck up kid and kind of a brat. But through his mistakes he learned some humility and how to better conduct himself. To the point where he did feel ashamed of himself for how he handled that first game of chess against Monica. He didn’t cheat and even went into the game with a handicap. But his fear of getting shown up when he expected an easy match made him go all out. And he still felt bad enough about it to apologize to Monica here. But it didn’t bother her and certainly no harm was done. But it did give Elliott some insight regarding Monica and Felix.

Felix is an interesting enigma himself. His personality as a younger kid and his personality now are pretty darn far apart. There has to be way more going on with him than we know. But regardless of all that I did enjoy his downright fanatical obsession over the Silent Witch. He and Isabella really are a perfect pair! They both are absolutely crazy about Monica. Of course I can’t imagine that Felix is aware of the truth there. He appears to just be focused on Monica due to the similarities between her and his past self.

Keep working on the horse thing

This was a solid episode when it comes to Monica’s character arc. She had a tough time here and honestly was shaky for much of it. I don’t even think she’s exactly ok by the end of the episode. She’s emotionally and magically drained. A new crisis might be tough for her to handle at this point. But life keeps rolling on no matter what you’re dealing with. So I’m sure Monica will have to pick herself up and keep pressing onward.