Recap / Scarlet Lady S2 E3: Reflekta

Episode 13 - Reflekta - Tales of Juleka the Goth

Collège Françoise Dupont is having their Picture Day, and much to Adrien's pleasure, the man in charge is Vincent, his favorite photographer. When Adrien notes that he's looking forward to getting his photo taken with his friends, Nino quickly pulls him in to take a selfie. Meanwhile, Chloé is unhappy to see Vincent.

Rose tries to cheer Juleka up. The latter believes herself to be cursed because every time she tries to have a photo taken, something goes wrong—like that time with the pigeon, which Rose admits was a really bad one. However, Marinette encourages the goth girl to do it.

Vincent begins to organize everyone in rows for the photo; much to Chloé's displeasure, she's sent to the back row, away from Adrien; she ignores, though, how Adrien clearly doesn't want to be next to her. Vincent, however, is unmoved, still remembering her from the park photoshoot. As everyone else moves into place, Juleka stands to the side—but most of the others encourage her to join the group for the photo, much to her joy.

Throwing a temper tantrum at not being allowed to stand next to Adrien, Chloé attempts to push Juleka (who is next to Adrien) out of the way, but with Marinette's encouragement, Juleka pushes back, and Adrien calls Chloé out on her entitlement. Unfortunately, this is enough to cause Vincent to run out of battery for his camera, and Juleka asks for permission to go to the bathroom. Chloé orders Sabrina to make sure Juleka doesn't come back, but for the first time, Sabrina tells her she won't do her dirty work. Thus, Chloé simply blocks the door of the toilet Juleka's using herself, expecting the girl to be akumatized in the process, which will give Chloé another chance to show off as Scarlet Lady.

Chloé forces her way next to Adrien and calls for the photo to be taken, even though Juleka still hasn't returned. Adrien snaps and pushes Chloé off of him just as Vincent takes the photo in spite of Marinette asking the photographer to wait. The students try to request a retake, but when Chloé points out that there are still several classes waiting, M. Damocles orders the next class to proceed, something that Adrien is clearly angry about.

Rose frees Juleka and tries to reassure her they can just retake the class photo, but the goth girl is not willing to try again, thinking the curse is still on, which Rose complains about to Marinette and Alya. Marinette has an idea: if they manage to erase the first photo, then the photographer would have to retake the photo! Chloé hears this and decides to stop her. Much to her surprise, though, Sabrina chooses to stay away—she's suffered enough from doing Chloé's bidding and tells her "friend" to handle things on her own this time.

During lunch break, Marinette sneaks into the principal's office to retrieve the camera while Chloé films everything. As the students return, though, one of them is akumatized. Juleka has become Reflekta, and she makes her intentions clear: she will make it so everyone looks like her, now. After hitting several people, she tries to zap Sabrina, but Rose dives to push her classmate out of the way before begging Reflekta to stop attacking people who didn't hurt her. Reflekta says Rose is right... she should go after Chloé first!

When Adrien arrives, Rose tells him what happened, and Sabrina mentions how Chloé is trying to stop Marinette from erasing the class photo. Adrien quickly sneaks away to transform into Chat Noir. When he finds Reflekta going to the principal's office (where Marinette and Chloé are) he calls her attention away, only to find her relentless in going after him. Taking the ring off, Adrien asks Plagg to quickly take the Miraculous away right before being zapped by Reflekta, much to Hawk Moth's ire.

Chloé confronts Marinette with the video she just took of Marinette snooping through M. Damocles's office, but Marinette (after palming the camera's SD card) threatens to erase the class photo if Chloé doesn't hand over her phone. When Reflekta comes knocking, Chloé gets distracted, allowing Marinette to erase the incriminating video and run away before Chloé can react. Reflekta attempts to attack Chloé, who unironically complains about an akuma showing up now before transforming into Scarlet Lady.

Marinette watches as Reflekta tries to find Chloé, only to get shocked when a tiny floating cat-mouse speaks to her. The creature introduces himself as Plagg and gives her Chat Noir's Ring; as his usual holder is now compromised, Plagg hopes Marinette will be able to replace Chat Noir and return the ring after the crisis passes. Putting on the ring, Marinette sings out the magic words: "Plagg, Claws Out!"

Scarlet Lady confronts Reflekta, who's not very interested in witty banter—particularly when Scarlet Lady claims she's taken Chloé to safety. Reflekta attempts to turn the Ladybug heroine into a copy of the akuma, but suddenly, a new heroine—clad in the colors of the Black Cat and armed with a baton—strikes Reflekta, much to everyone's shock, particularly Adrien's.

Reflekta's victims attempt to overwhelm the akuma with numbers, but Reflekta flies away in order to find Chloé. Adrien steps forward to speak to the newcomer, who realizes he's Chat Noir, much to her and Scarlet's amusement. However, when Scarlet Lady mocks him further, the newcomer (who later christens herself "Maotif") defends him: he's smart enough to deal with akumas without any powers—she does it herself all the time, after all. This allows Adrien to realize Maotif is Marinette.

While Reflekta goes to city hall to ask the mayor where Chloé is, Scarlet Lady sends a message through TV to request that everyone put on costumes as part of Maotif's plan to lead Reflekta into a trap. When Reflekta arrives at the TV studio with the mayor as bait, Adrien turns off the lights, allowing Maotif to quickly deal with the akuma.

Adrien quickly hides so his real identity won't be revealed as the Miraculous Cure does its work, and Juleka recovers from akumatization. Maotif quickly greets the girl, introducing herself as just a temporary hero: when Juleka asks if she can take some photos for the Ladyblog, Maotif agrees—and quickly brings Juleka in for a joint selfie, much to Juleka's shock. Marinette then takes off the ring and returns it to the hidden Adrien, who compliments Marinette while gently kissing her hand, causing her to blush with embarrassment.

Back at school, Marinette gives the SD card to Vincent and (with Adrien's secret help) convinces him to take another photo of the class. Chloé chooses not to join them, as she already has the previous photo, but Alix convinces Sabrina to be part of the picture with the class, and they finally have their photo taken.

Rose congratulates Juleka on having her curse broken; the latter thanks Adrien and Marinette for making it possible before joking with Alya about having photos of Maotif. Adrien compliments Marinette, who thinks about being a superhero—while Fu watches from afar, clearly planning to give her another Miraculous...

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This episode has examples of the following:

• Actually Pretty Funny:
  • When Adrien calls Chloé's "crisis" an oversized temper tantrum, Sabrina is clearly corpsing in the background while Nino is snorting off-panel.
  • Both Scarlet Lady and Maotif laugh when they see Chat Noir after he's been transformed to look like Reflekta.
  • Adrien and Juleka can't help but snicker when Marinette sheepishly admits to having stolen the photographer's SD card; Juleka even calls her a "criminal cutie."
• Adaptation Name Change: Marinette picks "Maotif" as her Black Cat persona.
• Adaptational Intelligence: As he's fleeing from Reflekta, Chat Noir gets the idea to detransform and remove the ring while hidden in a locker. He's immediately zapped by the akuma, but the ring is already safe with Plagg, who then lends it to Marinette. Adrien's subsequent reactions also imply he planned on using the ring to transform over his Reflekta form.
• Badass Bystander: Reflekta's many transformed victims all attempt to help the heroes by attacking the akuma, forcing her to flee.
• Big Damn Heroes: Maotif shows up just in time to save Scarlet Lady.
• Born Unlucky: Juleka believes herself to be cursed because she's never been able to be in a photograph without something going wrong. Fortunately, by the end of the episode she gets to have her picture taken with her friends.
• Call-Back: Sabrina refuses to help Chloé stop Marinette from deleting the class photo due to getting her hand trapped in a box in "Darkblade" the last time she was roped into one of Chloé's schemes.
• Comically Missing the Point:
  • When Marinette points out that they would be able to get a retake if the first photo disappeared, Rose asks why the photo would disappear—not realizing Marinette intends to erase it personally.
  • As Chloé films Marinette sneaking into the principal's office, Tikki laments that without her influence, Marinette is becoming a criminal.
• Continuity Nod: Chloé and Vincent still remember their encounter from "Stormy Weather"; the latter even remarks how the former is still wearing white pants, which he'd previously mocked her about.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: When the heroes turn off the lights, Maotif makes short work of Reflekta thanks to the heroine's Innate Night Vision.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Sabrina gets a good one on Chloé:
    Chloé: [learning Marinette plans to delete the class photo] I won't let her ruin my picture with Adrien!
    Sabrina: The one where he pushes you off of him?
  • Tikki drops one gem soon after:
    Chloé: [staring at Sabrina after she refused to help] What's with her?! Completely ridiculous.
    Tikki: Came to her senses, if I had to guess.
• Death Glare: Adrien gives Chloé one when she prevents the others from convincing M. Damocles to retake the photo.
• Didn't See That Coming: Adrien was seemingly hoping that Plagg would bring the ring back to him after Reflekta went away. He didn't expect the Kwami to take the ring to someone else (though he's fully on board once he realizes that someone is Marinette).
• Didn't Think This Through: Chat Noir realizes too late that catching Reflekta's attention does have a few consequences—such as Reflekta going after him until he's transformed.
• Diving Save: Rose does this to prevent Sabrina from being zapped.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • After getting increasingly frustrated by Chloé's antics, Adrien hits his Rage Breaking Point and outright shoves her away right as the class photo is being taken. Despite this moment of rejection being immortalized on film, Chloé still views it as "her picture with Adrien" and proof of their bond.
  • Sabrina refuses to do Chloé's dirty work for her anymore, having grown tired of her "friend" taking her for granted. Chloé utterly fails to comprehend this and just dismisses it as weird behavior.
  • Rose attempts to reason with Reflekta, telling the akuma she knows she's really Juleka and that the people she's attacking didn't do anything to her. Reflekta agrees with Rose... and decides to focus on Chloé, the one who locked Juleka in the bathroom, first.
• Engineered Heroics: After trapping Juleka in the bathroom, Chloé gloatingly hopes that her classmate gets akumatized, which would allow Chloé to be praised for humiliating her even more as Scarlet Lady.
• Everyone Can See It: Vincent notes that Adrien's clearly got something for Marinette.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Rose confronts Reflekta and begs her to stop, the akuma doesn't do anything to her (though this may be more because Rose is her girlfriend).
• Flipping the Bird: A transformed Adrien does this when Scarlet Lady mocks him as he kisses Maotif's hand.
• Foreshadowing:
  • After the second class photo is taken, Marinette muses that being a superhero would be pretty cool while Master Fu watches her from behind a nearby tree.
  • Juleka gushes about her picture curse being broken by Marinette to a figure whose face isn't shown. It's heavily implied to be Juleka's brother Luka, though.
• Funny Background Event:
  • When Adrien calls out Chloé for having an oversized tantrum, Sabrina can be seen struggling not to laugh out loud.
  • As Adrien and Marinette discuss Maotif, Juleka is in the background laughing and running away from Alya.
• Godzilla Threshold: When he realizes he can't get rid of Reflekta's attention, Adrien takes off the ring and has Plagg hide it.
• Gone Horribly Right: Chloé locks Juleka in the bathroom, both so that she can take Juleka's place next to Adrien in the class photo and so that Juleka gets akumatized, which would allow Chloé another chance to show off as Scarlet Lady. It works on both counts, alright... much to Chloé's dismay when it interferes with her attempt to get Marinette into serious trouble for messing with the class photos.
• Grew a Spine:
  • Sabrina tells Chloé that she won't do her friend's dirty work for her anymore and even mocks Chloé at one point.
  • Adrien gets fed up with Chloé's Personal Space Invader antics enough that he roughly pushes her off of him when he cracks.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Chloé trapped Juleka in the bathroom in the hopes that her classmate will get akumatized. Reflekta then comes for Chloé just as Marinette is erasing the incriminating video from Chloé's cellphone, allowing Marinette to do so while still making off with the SD card containing the class photo.
• Hypocritical Humor: When Reflekta tries to attack Chloé, the latter complains about why an akuma had to show up now. She was the one that trapped Juleka in the bathroom, hoping that the latter would become an akuma.
• I Kiss Your Hand: Adrien does this twice to Marinette: first when they plan out how to stop Reflekta and second when he compliments her on being a heroine whether she wears a mask or not.
• I Reject Your Reality: Chloé is determined to prevent her picture with Adrien from being deleted—the one where he is seen roughly shoving her off of him in anger. She later decides not to join the second photo, proudly declaring she already has her photo.
• It's All About Me: Chloé complains about people making a big deal over Juleka when she's the one having a "crisis"—one that, as Adrien points out, is little more than a temper tantrum.
• Jumped at the Call: Marinette doesn't hesitate to wield the Black Cat Miraculous when she hears Chat Noir's unable to do his part.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Sabrina's reputation with her classmates isn't the greatest due to how she's acted as Chloé's Beta Bitch. However, her refusal to help Chloé sabotage Juleka ends up helping protect her from Reflekta, who after some beseeching from Rose decides to go after Chloé, the person who actually wronged her, before dealing with her schoolmates who didn't do anything to hurt her. Later, Alix convinces Sabrina to participate in the retake.
• Meaningful Echo: When Chloé is literally crawling all over Juleka in an effort to force her out of the way, Adrien angrily asks if she has no shame, only for Chloé to look blankly at him and echo, "Shame?" After Chloé ruins the class photo and nudges the principal to focus on getting the other classes' photos taken, Adrien fixes her with a Death Glare and repeats, "Shaaaaaaame!"
• Mythology Gag: Marinette's exclamation when Plagg surprises her is pretty much the same she had in canon when meeting Tikki for the first time.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Reflekta hitting Adrien with her transforming ray before opening the closet door means (a) she now can't get the ring and (b) she can't even find out Chat Noir's real identity.
• Not So Above It All: Juleka decides to mess with Alya a bit regarding the former's Maotif photos.
• Oh, Crap!: Reflekta's face when Chat Noir turns off the lights and Maotif drops behind her with her Innate Night Vision.
• Rage Breaking Point: Adrien hits his with Chloé when she goes beyond the usual in her Personal Space Invader attempts, ending with him very roughly shoving her off.
• Rule of Symbolism: Chloé not joining the second class photo shows her growing separation from her classmates while Sabrina choosing to join the rest of the group marks her growing split from Chloé.
• Seen It All: Plagg doesn't bat an eye at Marinette's initial panic when she sees him; he notes that he's had worse.
• Shout-Out:
  • Chat Noir distracts Reflekta by calling her "Harley Quinn."
  • Marinette calls Rose "sweet summer child."
• Silent Snarker: When Chloé complains about an akuma showing up in the worst moment (when she was the one that caused said akuma), Tikki gives her a glare that says much.
• Something Only They Would Say: When Scarlet Lady mocks Chat Noir for being useless now that he's given his Miraculous to someone else, Maotif rushes to his defense, declaring he can fight akumas without powers and remarking she does so all the time while giving Chat Noir a Secret Message Wink. This causes Adrien to realize Maotif is Marinette.
• Spoiled Brat: Chloé throws a tantrum because she's not allowed to stand next to Adrien in the class photo.
• Talking the Monster to Death: Rose attempts this with Reflekta, pointing out that she's attacking a bunch of her schoolmates who didn't do anything to her. However, all she does is convince Reflekta to prioritize going after Chloé before dealing with anyone else.
• Wall of Text: Reflekta's monologue covers the background of two consecutive panels.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Reflekta's only power (apart from flying) is to make people look like her.
• When She Smiles:
  • When everyone encourages Juleka to join them in the photo at the beginning, she shines in happiness.
  • As the second photo is being taken, Alix telling Sabrina to join the class causes the girl to happily smile.
• Zerg Rush: Everyone tries to rush Reflekta when Maotif shows up. Reflekta manages to avoid them by flying away.

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