Title: Burrow’s End
GM: Aabria Iyengar  
Players: Brennan Lee Mulligan (he/him) as Tula (she/her), Isabella ‘Izzy’ Roland (she/her) as Lila (she/her), Erika Ishii (she/him/all) as Ava (she/her), Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as Jaysohn (he/him), Rashawn Nadine Scott (she/her) as Viola (she/her), and Jasper William Cartwright (he/him) as Thorn Vale (he/him)
Streaming Service: Dropout

If you missed it, catch our reviews of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh episodes!

We return to the Dimension 20 dome, and falling straight into a bit about Voila’s desire about a hat, the group makes light of Sybil running away in the aftermath of the death of the First Stoats. Siobhan, in full Jaysohn form, unexpectedly breaks the tension, asking about Tula being dead. Unlike Ava, whose heart isn’t beating and who is cold to the touch, Tula’s heart beats thanks to the Blue.

Many speculated about how she died and the particulars of her return, but while some suspected Tula died during the events which killed her husband, she reveals her death happened during the winter, but to no one surprise, her children inspired her to revive, sending her back to them.

With two resurrections, Jaysohn expresses hope that his father may be alive. Ava shuts that down, and Tula snaps. Viola breaks down emotionally on her sister’s behalf, weeping as the normally fearful Tula turns to anger. Thorn also rises to his sister-in-law’s defense, revealing he brought a group of hunters to the same field where the cloudless thunder killed many of them as well. As Ava struggles to confront her guilt over Kenji’s death, Lila comforts her grandmother, but the somber grave settles over them. They have killed the First Stoats. In doing so, they’ve taken on the responsibility of protecting Last Bast and all the stoats who reside within.

Still on high alert, Viola makes the mistake of attacking without identifying who approaches. This sets a confrontational tone with Bennett, who Sybil brought in hopes of helping them deal with the situation. Tula does her best to rationalize, but her sister’s actions as well as the words of Ava and Thorn only deepen Bennett’s distrust. Chaos ensues, but the players claw their way back to a sort of understanding.

Bennett reveals there are more recordings as well as explaining that the thunder without lightning is gunfire. They part ways, so Bennett can gather the people and items needed. Later, when they meet, the group listens as the heads of each department realize that they were individually stopped from disseminating information by the First Stoats.

In the recordings Bennett shares Dr. Robert Wenabocker speaks, panic rising as a catastrophic failure at Reactor Charlie forces an evacuation followed by a confrontation with “five weasels.” If those five can be traced to the First Stoats, we’re missing one. The First Stoats warned of someone’s return, and Bennett reveals the area in Reactor Charlie is also known as Phoebe’s Heart.

Despite an episode mostly spent in emotional catharsis, we’re left with more questions than answers at the end. There are only two episodes to close out this series, so odds have the humans coming into the mix next episode; however, fan theories for what comes next include human mech-suits with stoats controlling them as well as the missing fifth First Stoat disbursing radiation as a wider experiment. Unfortunately, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Highlights

From the very beginning, Rashawn and Brennan fall perfectly into sync, and when things grow more emotional, Rashawn immediately offers support. Throughout the series, they’ve worked together and supported each other, but when Viola weeps on Tula’s behalf, the power of their performance lifted the level of those around them, creating one of the most impactful scenes of the series.

Meatwolf’s devotion to Tula balances wonderfully with the comic absurdity of this giant wolf following around a little stoat. Brennan calling the mutated wolf Baby contrasted the horror with the motherly sweetness which has become Tula’s core. What the rest of Last Bast thinks of this, we don’t know beyond a few thrown away comments to screams.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

Though filled with fantastical science fiction horror wonder, Burrow’s End is a family drama at its core. These stoats have suffered. They have lost so much, and swept up in this grand adventure that has forced them to adapt against mounting odds, the group has little time to process, which makes this episode a unique experience to gathering the threads and allow for the emotional fallout.

Body horror and generational trauma aside, speculation abounds on the fifth First Stoat. Have a theory? Let us know what you think in the comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

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The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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