Main cast: Indira Varma (The Bride), Sean Gunn (GI Robot, Weasel), Alan Tudyk (Dr Phosphorus), Zoe Chao (Nina Mazursky), David Harbour (Eric Frankenstein), and Frank Grillo (Rick Flag Sr)
Director: Sam Liu
The Tourmaline Necklace refers to a necklace that the Bride is searching for when she and Nina Mazursky ditch the team to explore the ruined castle of Victor Frankenstein. You know, like you do. Just two gals on a field trip to a creepy castle, nothing weird about that.
Yes, if you couldn’t tell from her appearance by now — the stitches, the general “reanimated corpse” aesthetic—the Bride is the Bride of Frankenstein. Well, almost.
Here’s the backstory: the Monster, named Eric (because even reanimated abominations deserve normal names like they’re going to work at a Starbucks), wanted Victor Frankenstein to create a bride for him. Standard Frankenstein lore, right? Alas, the Bride — creatively named “the Bride” —took one look at Eric and said “pass”, then immediately fell for and had sex with Victor instead.
Oh, don’t expect graphic sex scenes — James Gunn just wants you to know that his cartoon characters are totally doing it because he’s so edgy and mature. It’s very important that you understand that even his animated corpses are sexually active.
Eric catches them in the act, murders Victor out of jealousy, and now the Bride spends centuries defeating Eric every time he tries to make advances. Why? Because girl bosses only fall for hot men and beat the crap out of ugly men who dare to think they’re worthy of her.
So that’s basically the entire “plot” of this episode. The Bride wants her necklace. We get a flashback explaining why Eric is obsessed with her. It’s tragic! It’s violent! It’s… a story we’ve seen variations of approximately 847 times!
Oh, and Princess Ilana — the princess these people are supposed to be protecting— seduces Rick Flag Sr and they have sex too, because edgy. Everyone’s having sex! It’s like a Frankenstein-themed swingers party but with more murder and worse lighting!
Finally, Circe and the Enemies of Gunnscyra catch up with the Bride and Nina and beat the absolute crap out of them. Naturally, Nina immediately tries calling Rick for help because — and here’s where it gets REALLY progressive — when push comes to shove, girl bosses need to ask a man to get them out of a mess they created for themselves.
The best thing about this episode — and honestly, the only thing worth mentioning is the earnest portrayal of Eric as a violent, psychotic man-child with rage issues and an inability to handle rejection. His temper tantrums are genuinely unsettling, his obsessive entitlement is chilling, and his complete inability to process the word “no” is… uh… definitely not reminiscent of anyone’s social media meltdowns.
So… that’s it. That’s the episode.
It’s a filler-ish episode that may or may not lead to better things, like that awkward dinner guest who shows up two hours early and you’re not sure if they’re staying or leaving. There are some interesting developments here that may or may not get proper treatment later on, so one can’t help but be cautiously, reluctantly, barely intrigued.
