The first thing we see is Eden College handing out those precious Stellas. I get why Anya, Becky, and Damian got one, but why Bill? Eh, I guess we do give out participation awards. Love it for Damian, though. The kid will always remember this achievement as the “I’m Gonna Crap My Pants” Stella. Why don’t I like Damian? ‘Cause c’mon, he makes it so easy. But on a more positive note, Anya’s easily the MVP and Becky is hella underrated. She had to transcribe her bestie’s chicken scratch into something legible, after all.

But I’m glad the story actually back things up a bit and shows us the immediate aftermath of the bus hijacking. In other words, it’s time for the aww moments as all the parents slowly arrive to pick their kids up. Speaking of which, Damian doesn’t think his parents care about him, so he assumes that no one’s going to come for him. I’ve seen a lot of people be confused about Melinda’s expression when she asked Yor for details about Damian. I don’t think her reaction is actually all that puzzling if you really think about it. If anything, she desperately yearns to be in her son’s life, but she has clearly been trained to fear even broaching the topic. So why can’t she be in her son’s life? Why does Donovan want to keep mother and son separate? Why does she have to sequester herself to a “villa” instead of raising her child? I dunno, this is one of the intriguing subplots going forward, isn’t it? Hopefully, we’ll get answers to each of those questions.

Right on cue, Melinda defies her son’s expectations. Thanks to Anya’s mind-reading, we know that she isn’t putting on an act. Unfortunately, Melinda does a complete 180 as soon as Damian mentions his father. She rebounds so hard in the other direction that she now wishes her son had died! That’s freaking insane! Clearly, she fears Donovan. She fears him so much that she’s willing to not only distance herself from her own son, but also harbor such strange, dark thoughts. But all is not lost, because her normal, maternal feelings are mixed in as well. She’s the textbook definition of a conflicted mother. Damian’s hesitance to show any sign of weakness only further confirms the disturbing reality about the Desmond household. Loid hopes that Melinda will become one of his patients one day. If this ever comes to pass, I know it’ll be “for the mission” and all that, but I sincerely hope that he can also help sort out the woman’s issues in the process of gathering intelligence. ‘Cause hoo boy, does she got issues!

Well, Yor is here too. In fact, she raced here on foot, but her insane physical feats shouldn’t come as a surprise to us anymore. But for others, I can’t believe no one even raises an eyebrow. We always half jokingly ask, “How come Loid isn’t suspicious of Yor when she does crazy shit?” One of the easy rejoinders to that question is simply, “Oh, Loid has a blindspot to people he cares about.” But what’s everyone else’s excuse? I guess you could argue that she’s a concerned mother racing to comfort her child. But still, the police chief and Henderson don’t even have a reaction!

We eventually learn that Loid is also here after all, but he’s too deep in one of his “for the mission” modes to go and comfort his own daughter. His excuse is weak; kind of a rare L-moment for him, kind of not. Why do I say that? Well, the next day, Loid is worried that his actions (or the lack thereof) might have adversely affected Anya. Granted, I do think he should’ve gone to her last night when she was crying into Yor’s arms. It’s not like either of them are smart enough to start suspecting him and asking questions, i.e. “Wait, how are you back already back from your trip? Are… are you actually a spy?!” But seriously, I think a lot of us tend to forget what our super spy is trying to do: literally create a world where kids don’t have to cry. He’s not supposed to be a family man, he’s only pretending to be one. So whenever we do get mad at him for not being a perfect dad, we kinda have to remember that his mission is bigger than all of them combined. Dads shouldn’t put work over their family, but when work equals world peace… I dunno, I think he deserves a little grace.

Every kid who got a Stella is now popular as the children swarm Anya, Becky, and Damian at school. Bill’s nowhere to be found, but he’s probably getting the same attention elsewhere. But like you would expect, Anya basks in the spotlight and begins to push it too far. She starts telling tall tales about her “commoner” family. Some of what she’s saying is true (Yor’s horrendous cooking), but some of it is just plain ridiculous (her supposedly 100kg toothbrush). Young children tend to do this a lot, don’t they? “Um, my uncle actually works at Nintendo, and he says, he says…” We’ve all had that kid at the lunch table or met them at recess. But I digress. In the end, all this popularity devolves into yet another childish spat between Anya and Damian. Kids can be fickle in general, so Anya’s newfound popularity probably won’t last. It’s just a bummer, because it’s cool to see everyone say hi to her this morning. Maybe that’s the one thing that can carry over into future episodes.

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Stray thoughts & observations:

• The secret police are totally going to torture the remaining members of Red Circus to death, aren’t they? Like I said last week, I don’t view this as a happy ending. It’s great that none of the kids got hurt, but the systemic issues in Ostania remain.
• I had completely forgotten that Becky’s mother exists. Have we seen her? Does she even have a name?
• I guess this is progress.
• Well, at least Anya can finally let down her defenses and be vulnerable.
• Again, Damian makes it so easy to dislike him. I know the Damian Defense Brigade, like the Yuri Defense Brigade, will make all sorts of excuses like, “Oh, he’s just saying that to hide his true feelings, he doesn’t have the best upbringing, blah blah blah.” Cool backstory, but still a brat. You don’t need to voice every dumb shit thought that comes to your head. That’s one of the first things every child should learn once they start socializing. The other lesson they need to learn — and probably the most important one — is how to empathize with others and thus not tear them down for no good reason.
• Huh, wonder what they’re eating? Considering how both parents are telling her to eat her bell peppers, I’m thinking the pie-like thing is a quiche. But it also looks like there are blueberries on the plate? I don’t know what else an edible, dark blue spheroid could be.
• Oh Anya, your father’s not going to get a new whip just because you would like a better ride.
• Again, this episode is the big denouement, so of course, we even see how the other teacher — the one that got tazed by the terrorists — is doing. Eh, can’t say I really care about this guy all that much, but I guess he’ll end up being one of Loid’s patients. Not sure what he can contribute to the mission, though. He’s just a random teacher.
• Is the butler telling the truth here? I wonder… I mean, it’s just a lot of work for one person. Beef wellingtons are annoying to make. On a lighter note, let’s nitpick the food. The butter is wrapped up in foil, so it doesn’t seem like she made that. Who churns butter just to wrap it up? Never seen this in my life. Also, why does the wellington come with what looks like a very small amount of mashed potatoes on the same plate, but then you also have an entire tray of scalloped potatoes on the side? Double potato for a meal? Are we hobbits now?
• Anya and Dandadan‘s Aira like to make the same face when they’re being smug. Maybe it’s something all pink-haired characters share.
• Jesus, what an unbelievably snobby thing to say. Plus, Damian’s mother literally just cooked for him… assuming their butler was telling the truth.
• Next week’s preview reminds me that we haven’t gotten much Loid x Yor moments. It’ll probably lead to nothing, though. Who will fall in love first? I guess you could argue that Yor has already developed feelings for her fake husband, but I’m talking about love love. Who will be the first to admit that they even have feelings for the other person in the first place? Probably Yor. Yeah, she isn’t afraid to love. That’s not a slight on Loid, by the way. Considering how he’s lost pretty much all of his loved ones to war, I doubt he wants to open up that can of worms again.