TV REVIEW: Mentopolis Episode 3

Title: Mentopolis
DM: Brennan Lee Mulligan (Dimension 20)
Players: Hank Green (he/him) as The Fix, Danielle Radford (she/her) as Anastasia Tension, Alex Song-Xia (they/them) as Conrad Schintz (he/him), Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as Imelda Pulse, Mike Trapp (he/him) as Detective Hunch Curio, and Freddie Wong (he/him) as Daniel ‘Dan’ Fucks
Streaming Service: Dropout

Dimension 20 begins the third episode of Mentopolis in the thick of the horrifying realization that Elias Hodge may well be plummeting to his untimely demise. Brennan Lee Mulligan also reveals that the board moves, measuring the rising pressure inside the brain of Elias Hodge.

^{Mentopolis Pressure Gauge (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

As they move to a pressure of 80, they’re solidly in the yellow, meaning all Moxie costs are doubled. The higher pressure goes, the harder it will be for our Prefrontal PIs to act.

Editor’s note: Be sure to check out our reviews for the first and second episodes.

F for Freezer

Feeling guilty, Conrad Schintz blames himself for Elias’s big fall, and as the rest focus on Wilton’s message from the balls, hoping that the Big Guy had a plan, he attempts to sneak off to turn himself in.

Dan Fucks suggests splitting up with Conrad and the Fix distracting the conscious mind, so Imelda Pulse can use her key to guide the Big Guy.

As our Prefrontal PIs attempt to parse out the best next step, they review the file that Curio and Pulse obtained from the Hippo Campus. Pressure from the higher ups and military personnel push Elias Hodge into creating a device not just meant for diagnostic purposes but capable of mind control within field uses.

^{Mr. Henry – Boss of Elias Hodge (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Despite Elias’s attempts to put safeguards on the project and push for diagnostic use, he discovered a frequency capable of influencing thoughts. This white key likely caused the damage seen at the switchboard. The how and why remain unclear, but Elias Hodge is undoubtedly a victim of his own invention.

Luckily, there is another switch at the station that can be accessed with two keys, meaning Anastasia Tension has to bring hers out from the freezer.

The party splits up once more, sending Detective Hunch Curio off with Dan Fucks to find other keys to increase the strength of the impulse while Imelda Pulse and Anastasia Tension outsmart the police and chisel the Tension key out of the ice.

Conrad goes with Dan and Hunch, hunting down the reflexes (Fawn, Flight, Fight, and Freeze) which could help them push their desired impulse in the right direction.

^{Four Trauma Responses (Image Credit: Valenta Online)}

They manage to track down Fight. Nobody could’ve expected the confrontation between Conrad and Fight to go the way it did, but there are definitely old grudges relating to the ice skate incident which scarred Elias.

^{Fight’s New Alias (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Despite Conrad managing to get the key, our curious detective is already in the ring managing a difficult victory. Ivanna ‘Fight’ Popov joins the crew, heading to the station.

The Fix, all on his own, heads to City Hall. He presents the skates to Mark Bition, working to intimidate the district attorney to get answers. Bition reveals the white key exists inside Mentopolis as a concept all its own. We’re left on the lovely cliffhanger, not knowing if The Fix will survive the key’s attack.

^{The White Key (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Highlights

Conrad’s repeated desire to put himself in danger grew old quickly, but this gave us The Fix’s speech about eagles and letting go, so I’d a say the 40-some minutes of self-sacrificing disaster child proved worth it.

Mike Trapp absolutely killed it in this episode. His one liners are always gold, but he was in top form, not only catching the clue in the mess but also helping others build up their situational comedies such as when Danielle describes Anastasia’s apartment. Even better, his back and forth with Self-Doubt is brilliant.

Danielle and Siobhan perfectly bounce off each other. They have all the awkward comedic tension generally felt at family reunions.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

Though the pacing drags in the beginning, the Prefrontal PIs get back on track once they split up. Alex Song-Xia, Mike Trapp, and Freddie Wong were a delight to see, bouncing off each other in a mix of one liners and pun-tastic splendor.

Do you think The Fix will survive? Of will the White Key manage to take over our beloved hit man? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

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