Heal Thyself
Episode 6 of Spectros begins with a typewriter spelling out information about the Japanese being kept in captivity back in the 40’s. This sees us return to another flashback with the detention camps as we see the Japanese living in horrid conditions. Zenobia is interrogated and tortured by the Warden, a man with a foul temper and holding a baton, threatening to kill her. Back in her cell, the warden listens in as she speaks to Celso about Sado Khan, this time from the Warden’s office as he writes down what she’s saying. As we cut back to the present we finally find out who the Necromancer is – it’s the Warden’s son. He struggles to control the spirits before him, watching as they dissipate before his eyes toward Zenobia’s temple. As he turns around, he sees our male cop (possessed by the Warden of course) arriving and giving his son words of encouragement, telling him to get to work. Meanwhile, Celso brings the group to the temple and they all take off their shoes as requested. He brings them into the depths of the temple where they see Zenobia lying on her death bed, clearly weakened from her ordeal with the spirits. Celso tells her he plans to train the others up as they need to protect the ashes before the Necromancer destroys them. With time of the utmost importance, she tasks each of them with a different mission, leading them into different areas of the temple to fulfill what she asks. The group all start to launch their missions, as we cut between them, concluding with Carla managing to mentally attack the Warden until Celso stops her and encourages her to control the powers for now. Meanwhile, Mila and Leo search through the books and find the familiar symbol from before and learn of its origin. With their training complete, the group head outside where Pardal and Mila wind up kissing and Leo talks to the popcorn vendor we’ve been seeing throughout the season. Only, as he he turns his back, the man knocks him down to the ground before heading over to Zeca’s truck and knocking him out, stealing the porcelain doll with the ashes inside. Another big cliffhanger sees the stakes higher than ever for the finale next time out. Most of the episode revolves around tasks for each of our group to complete and although interesting, does feel a bit like filler and an effort to make each of our characters feel useful in the grand scheme of things. Zeca though continues to be the odd one out here, while the reveal of the Necromancer was… disappointing to say the least. While it’s understandable that this man has ties to the past, the way this character has been presented over the past few episodes hinted at something a little more spooky or supernatural conjuring up the dead – alas it’s not. Ultimately this fight for the undead doesn’t quite live up to the expectations hinted at during the opening episodes, especially the way Zenobia has managed to control all the spirits for now. With the finale promising a climactic showdown, whether Spectros can end things with a big bang or not, remains to be seen.
