When we last left off, Red Circus terrorists hijacked two Eden College buses full of students. Their demands? Freedom for their captured comrades and safe passage to another country. Eden College has informed the police of the situation, but not the kids’ parents or guardians. I honestly would not know how to handle a situation like this. On the one hand, it feels like the parents have a right to know. It’s their damn kids we’re talking about! But on the other hand, the ensuing panic might do more harm than good. Rash, desperate parents would certainly do something that triggers the terrorists and thus endanger the kids even more than they already are.

A good chunk of this week’s episode is devoted to Loid fending off his jealous superior. Y’see, everyone wants a piece of Loid. It’s all for the mission. Not only is he popular enough to potentially get VIP clients, you can’t get turned in for being suspicious if everyone loves you. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite manage to charm everyone. The chief director of the hospital is incensed that Loid is hogging all of the attention. As a result, he tries to pull all sorts of childish pranks. Naturally, our spy deftly avoids all of the negative consequences, so in the end, the fool of a director resorts to the most heinous thing he could do: accuse Loid of being a spy. Oh, if only he knew how right he was. And sure enough, Loid is already fifty billion steps ahead.

When we begin this week’s episode, Yor again wonders if she’ll ever fit in with normal people. Well, I’m no expert, but I feel like her worries are so overblown. The only people who think she’s weird are the ones who are close to her, i.e. her family and her coworkers. Her family, which includes Loid, Anya, and Yuri, all love her. As for her coworkers, they started off as bitchy mean girls, but even they’ve been warming up to her (and thus the audience) these days. So from an objective standpoint, it doesn’t seem like Yor really has anything to worry about. She’s just in the throes of her insecurities again. Don’t get me wrong, ’cause Yor definitely is weird. I just don’t think that’s how most people perceive her. Like those gossipy housewives she bumped into as she was leaving her home. They probably don’t think Yor’s weird at all.

After Loid’s heavy-hitting backstory, we’re back to one-off stories that can be wrapped up in about half an episode, i.e. this is normally what we’ve come to expect from SPY x FAMILY. For now, this is fine; the show is giving viewers a bit of a breather, especially if last week’s episode hit you in the feels. It certainly did for me. But now that we know the heights that the show can achieve — deeply personal drama in the flashback or pure hilarity in the movie — it would be disappointing if another major chapter doesn’t surface soon. For instance, I think the second season suffered from waiting too long before giving us the arc on the cruise ship. It also had nothing follow up Yor’s intense mission, so the last few episodes fell flat. In any case, it helps that this week’s first one-off story gives Sylvia an opportunity to reflect back on her experience training Loid. In a way, we’re getting a very minor, light-hearted extension to his backstory.

Are we just here to suffer? Sometimes, it really does feel that way.