This episode consists of three separate short films grouped together. The three are technically considered two episodes (Episode 9 and 10), broadcast by The CW as an hour-long program instead of the usual half-hour.
Ma
"I love you," I whispered, hugging Mom close.
Since she died, I haven't been able to let her go.
Since she died, I haven't been able to let her go.
Mona, a young woman who lives with her single mother, becomes attracted to a girl next door, but is insecure about a dark secret that she hides.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Accidental Murder: During her psychic episode, Mona accidentally stabs Erica with a knife, killing her. Her murder of her mother (if that is indeed what happens) is also this, since she does not actually mean to do it.
- Butch Lesbian: Erica fits this, being a tomboyish, lesbian woman with a deep voice.
- Dead All Along: Another interpretation of the twist ending is that Mona’s mother has been dead since sometime before the beginning of episode, and Mona has been nursing her mother’s long-dead corpse out of a sense of obligation and/or guilt.
- I Wished You Were Dead:
- Mona says this to her mother when she berates her for being a freak kid. Her powers interpret this literally, as Erica later finds her in front of her mother's levitating and decayed corpse.
- Another interpretation is that Erica is seeing what has been actually going on this whole time: that Mona’s mother was dead since sometime before the start of the story, and Mona was talking to her mom’s dead corpse - pretending it was alive.
- Mummies at the Dinner Table: After she unwittingly kills Erica (and possibly her mother, who may have been Dead All Along), Mona refuses to let them go. The episode ends with her having dinner with their corpses at the dinner table.
- My Beloved Smother:
- Mona's mother is extremely possessive of her, which might have turned her into an introvert, even without the baggage of having supernatural powers.
- If one goes with the interpretation that Mona’s mother was Dead All Along, this may just be how Mona envisions/remembers her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After she is snapped out of her psychic episode, Mona breaks down after realizing that she has just killed Erica (and possibly her own mother).
- Psychic Powers: Mona has an unspecified psychic ability, which allows her to move objects and things. When she is emotionally distressed, she can also kill people.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- When Mona rebels against her mother by going out on a date with Erica, the latter starts ranting about how her father left because she is a psychic, then finishes by saying that nobody will ever love her the way she is.
- This could also be a case of Heroic BSoD if Mona is just talking to herself while levitating her mother’s long-dead corpse.
- Shout-Out: The story is rather similar to Carrie, minus the school prank.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: It may just be through Mona’s POV that we see her mother alive and well instead of a long-decayed corpse.
Guilt Trip
I keep my eyes on the road, heart pounding.
Getting into this stranger's car was a bad idea.
Getting into this stranger's car was a bad idea.
Michelle gives a ride home for Jayson, a black man who was racially profiled by the police. But Michelle is not doing it for free, as she has a nefarious motive for it.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Michelle. She deliberately targets Jayson because he is an easy target for her to frame up for her murder of Mary Renton.
- Frame-Up: Michelle kills Jayson, then plants evidence about her earlier murder of Mary Renton on him. This is made easer by the fact that Jayson is a black man with a prior criminal conviction.
- Give Me Back My Wallet: Michelle steals Jayson's wallet, causing him to tail her so he can get it back. It turns out he doesn't care about the money, but the photo of his daughter in it.
- Police Brutality: The episode opens with Jayson being beaten up by police for a criminal conviction.
Singularity
Out of the corner of my eye, I see my own shadow.
I don't know who the second shadow belongs to.
I don't know who the second shadow belongs to.
Trans woman and hacktivist Nala undergoes a procedure to implant a computer chip into her arm to achieve technological singularity. However, she soon learns that she may have got more than what she bargained for.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Nala indeed connects to the internet, allowing her access to many things, but is driven miserable by the vast knowledge of things that she wasn't supposed to know.
- Gone Horribly Right: Nala's procedure allows her to connect to the internet, yet it somehow also gives her the ability to see spirits, including those who have been dead for years.
- Hikikomori: Nala's obsession over transhumanism turned her into a recluse. Only George is still on speaking terms with her, and even he is on his last nerves.
- I See Dead People: After undergoing the surgical procedure, Nala begins seeing spirits of dead people.
- Self-Surgery: Nala implants the computer chip into her arm without help or anesthetic.
- The Singularity: The focus of the episode, the protagonist attempts to achieve singularity by implanting a computer chip into her arm.
- Trans Tribulations: Downplayed. Nala mentions that she had a rough upbringing as a trans woman, but she is currently happy, and her best friend George accepts her transition as well. She does receive threatening messages that she interprets as transphobic, but they do not actually have anything to do with her transition.
