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Dispatch E 3 Turnover

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Turnover

Original Release Date: October 29, 2025
Directed by: Dennis Lenart
Written by: Pierre Shorette and Suzee Matson

Summary

Dispatch E 3 Turnover Recap
"The phoenix symbolizes redemption. It's what you're here for. It's what connects everyone in this room. To burn up who you were to become who you were meant to be."

"Your employment with the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) is on an "at-will" basis. This means your employment may be terminated at any time, with or without notice and with or without cause."
SDN Employee Handbook, pg. 6

It's sink or swim for Z-Team as Blonde Blazer gives Robert a tough choice: by the end of the day, someone's getting fired! Can the team at least get their shit together long enough to make it to closing time without killing each other first?

Tropes included in this episode:

  • Actually Pretty Funny: If Robert throws a chair at Golem and tells him to take a seat at the Z-Team meeting, during the subsequent shift Golem will tell Invisigal that he understood the "joke" and found it hilarious.
  • Bad Powers, Good People: Discussed when Invisigal contemplates straight-up quitting. She describes Blazer and Phenomaman as having "hero powers" that allow them to bask in the spotlight, with her ability to turn invisible being "villain powers" only good for petty theft and "watching famous people fuck", so it was always her fate to play the villain. By the end of the shift, however, with Robert's guidance, she can play this straight by using her powers to finally apprehend Lightningstruck.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Invisigal looks most likely to be on the chopping block, since she is at the bottom of her SDN branch's leaderboards. After apprehending Thunderstruck, however, she manages to get just the boost in her ranking needed to stay on the team. Instead, it's a choice between Sonar or Coupe.
  • Dare to Be Badass: Robert's speech to the members of the Phoenix Program. He argues that the Z-Team, much like The Phoenix itself, can rise from the ashes to become something better, but they have to actually commit themselves to it.
  • Exact Words: During the meeting with Z-Team, after Golem barges in and checks Robert, players can choose to "give him a seat", which entails throwing a chair at Golem. Golem will turn out to have found that to be Actually Pretty Funny during the second shift.
  • Failure Is the Only Option: Regardless on how well you did in the first shift, Robert will always get points docked thanks to the team's lack of synergy.
  • Firing Day: The news that someone in the Z-Team is going to get fired serves as the main source of conflict in this episode, because it causes the team to starts sabotaging each other to avoid getting cut off.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • Besides Invisigal, Coupe and Sonar are the ones who are most vocal about their anxiety over who is getting cut from the team, with Invisigal calling them desperate in a dialogue while dispatching. At the end of the episode, they're two of the choices you make to cut as they're tied for the bottom after Invisigal's successful dispatch.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration:
    • The tension of the Z-Team being aware that one of them will be cut for bad performance is reflected in the first dispatch of the episode, where they will actively sabotage each other (making it possible to fail a mission that they would have otherwise succeeded) and auto-selecting themselves without Robert's approval.
      • If the two guys sent are a Synergy Duo (like Sonar and Malevola), they won't sabotage each other.
    • On the second dispatch, Invisigal will refuse calls, training, and especially if Lightningstuck attacks again. At the end of the shift, she'll leave on her own. It later turns out that she was planning on quitting, explaining her difficult behavior.
  • Gimmick Level: The first shift has the Z-team actively sabotaging each other, forcing you to have to get them unstuck or send them out at careful intervals.
  • Hope Spot: After the disastrous first shift, the second shift has the Z-Team actually work together and do better at their jobs. Along with Invisigal finally taking down Lightningstruck after contemplating quitting altogether, it gives the player hope that the team has gotten their shit together enough that no one needs to be cut. Unfortunately, you are still forced to make the choice.
  • I Need to Go Iron My Dog: If you send Sonar to participate in the drug bust and it succeeds, he'll excuse himself briefly, stating "I need to go...powder my...cocaine." He will then immediately take a bump, to Malevola's frustration.
  • The Phoenix: The symbolism behind the phoenix, the namesake of the Phoenix Program, is discussed during the conference between shifts: like how the phoenix arose from the ashes renewed, so too is Z-Team to arise from their checkered pasts as something greater.
  • Sadistic Choice: Unfortunately, Robert will have to let someone go from Z-Team at the end of the episode: either Sonar or Coupe. Whoever he chooses is not going to be happy, and neither will their friend.note 
  • Sidetracked by the Analogy: When Flambe calls Pheonix, Arizona the ballsack of America, Chase argues that has to be Louisiana given the positioning with Florida before apologizing to Robert for derailing the speech even further.
  • Victory Pose On Person: After Invisigal foot choked Lightningstruck into unconsciousness, she can be seen still with her foot on his chest, leaning on the leg.
  • We ARE Struggling Together: During the morning shift, the Z-Team members will sabotage one another, including:
    • Sonar being subject to Sensory Abuse using high-pitched sound waves.
    • Invisigal getting tailed by a kid bribed to take pictures of her.
    • Flambae getting locked in a sensory deprivation chamber.
    • Coupe getting tricked and forced into participating in a water aerobics class for the elderly.
    • Punch Up's coffee getting spiked with laxatives.
    • Malevola getting lured into a cult that worships her and are trying to get a bit too handsy with her.
    • Golem getting pushed into wet cement.
    • Prism getting doxxed and swamped by rabid fans.
  • Wham Episode: Blonde Blazer reveals that she broke up with Phenomaman after the end of the previous episode. Later on, Robert is forced to let go of Coupe or Sonar without the player being able to Take a Third Option.

 
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Coupe Gets Canned

With Invisigal having managed to keep herself from getting cut, Robert is forced to cut Coupe from the Z-Team, leaving her seething...

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