‘Gen V’ Episode 5 Recap: “Welcome To The Monster Club” 

Right from his introduction on Gen V, Rufus the mind reader and astral projector was understood to be an utterly despicable side character, a young supe eagerly using his powers in pursuit of sexual predation. He abducted Marie when all she did was ask for help with locating Emma, so it’s not like she was unjustified in channeling her blood power to explode his dick. But that encounter from Episode 4 (“The Whole Truth”) takes on new resonance here in Gen V Episode 5 (“Welcome to the Monster Club”), because Rufus and the nature of his powers are revealed to be a complete misdirect. In a campus community packed with supes of every stripe – a list that includes a mermaid, an invisible resident advisor whose girlfriend identifies as a llama, a forever young party animal, a young woman with a long sentient tail, and a gig economy shapeshifter – it would be easy to pin trouble on the kid with an infamous reputation and let all the other superpowered noise become static. But when everything faded to black during the group’s tense confrontation with Sam, when Marie woke up in bed with Jordan, when Andre decided to get stoned instead of considering the greater mechanics of how they all ended up at a party they don’t remember, having lost entire days of their lives – it might have become more obvious that Cate has always had the power to wipe any of their minds whenever she wants. And it was Cate, not Rufus, who was with them this whole time.

This could turn out not to be the case. But while Cate has definitely been working as a sleeper agent for Indira Shetty for at least three years, her role does seem limited to memory wipes by directive. She doesn’t seem to be complicit in the dean’s larger agenda, which involves complete control of supes at a chemical level. (More on that in a second.) Instead, Shetty’s been manipulating Cate with the same cooing motherly act she employed with Marie – tea parties at her home, jammies, big hugs, and “there there now, honey” platitudes designed to keep these young people off balance and their considerable superpowers in balance. No, Shetty’s true aims are further revealed during an argument with Dr. Cardosa in The Woods. “You know it’s just a matter of time until they find out about everything else we’re doing down here,” he tells her after Sam’s attack on his home. “I am this fucking close to perfecting the virus – a viable way to control them for good.” “Them” being young supes with abilities, and “control” coming under the presumed auspices of Vought International. Shetty has a handle on Cate’s back. We know that now. But at the end of the day, the dean’s a middle manager. She’s ordering memories wiped and dangerous research in The Woods because she answers to the demands of a corporate board and shareholders. Welcome to late-stage capitalism, Vought-style. 

The party nobody can remember was a wild one, though. And while the details are a blur, that they ended up sleeping together gives both Marie and Jordan the butterflies. A supportive Emma pushes Marie for more info on her “boyfriend/girlfriend…um, themfriend,” and she shares her feelings under cross-examination. Problem is, the attack didn’t end with memory wipes. During the time no one can recall, they were also fitted with subcutaneous tracking devices, which Marie can sense with her power. (Emma: “Why the fuck are you scratching your neck like Tyrone Biggums?”) But when Marie tells Cate, who promptly wipes her again, having no memory – again – of her feelings for Jordan makes it hard to share with them what she feels in her heart. 

(There’s one more piece of data from the party. Emma as Giant Pickle, chugging a keg of beer like it was a 12oz can, has become a trending topic and launched her into the top 100 of Godolkin’s ranking system. Even in their current peril, Emma has to allow that randoms calling out her “big supe energy” is fulfilling.) 

It’s Emma’s next visit with Sam that truly unlocks the Cate thing. After fleeing Cardoso’s and repairing to the relative safety of the Stardust Drive-In, his mental trauma returned, to the point that Emma herself appeared to him as a puppet, and this version of her taunted him just like Jason Ritter and his children’s show muppet of The Deep. “You said you were gonna save me,” the Emma muppet says, and pretty soon Sam’s experiencing a full psychotic episode, imagining the very real Vought security team that’s tracked him to Stardust as puppets and ripping all of them to shreds. Have you ever wondered what a muppet looks like inside out?

Sam and Emma have a real connection, and that’s promising, since they could both benefit from having someone who will respect and listen to them. It’s dicey, though. A rough tally puts the security guards Sam has killed at like 12. But maybe they were all terrible people, as is the entirety of Godolkin’s support staff, administrative, and executive levels? And they’ll all get theirs once our core crew of supes finally combines forces and fully takes the fight to them? Exactly how huge does the conspiracy they’ve uncovered get? We’ll have to see. Sam told Emma about Cate visiting his cell, and how she wiped Luke’s memory of him over and over and over again on orders from Shetty. Just as Jordan, Marie, and Andre are going to whale on Rufus for “mind raping” them, Emma calls Marie with the news. And Cate, in tears, touches her hands to Andre’s temples, allowing him to remember everything she made him forget. “I’m so, so sorry. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.” But Andre, shattered and angry over what she stole from him, just tells Cate that she’s a monster. For now in Gen V, it seems like it’s Andre, Marie, Jordan, Emma, and Sam versus all. 

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.