'Creature Commandos' Episode 2 Recap & Ending Explained: Did Circe Capture Bride And Nina?

While the first episode of Creature Commandos occasionally felt like it was retreading the roadmap of The Suicide Squad with a different set of characters, the second episode is where the series finds its own identity and differentiates itself from its predecessor. As the sordid origin story of the Bride comes to light with a flashback to her past, one aspect becomes quite clear: the series will highlight how humanity has created or shaped these individuals into monsters—and how their worldview has been founded upon the neglect and exploitation they have faced from humans.

Previously, under Waller’s command, Rick Flag Sr. took his team of misfit monsters to protect Princess Ilana Rostovic of US ally state Pokolistan, which was under attack by Amazonian sorceress Circe and a militant group of incels known as the Sons of Themyscira. While Flag and Dr. Phosphorus have a tussle in the royal palace as the latter tries to escape, Nina follows Bride, who snuck out of the palace to reach her birthplace—Victor Frankenstein’s dilapidated mansion. The second episode, titled “The Tourmaline Necklace,” offers a look at Bride’s tragic origin and brings Circe into action, which leaves the titular team facing an unexpected setback.

Spoilers Ahead

Parallel to the central narrative set in the present, the second episode shifts its focus to the past timeline beginning in 1831, when genius scientist Victor Frankenstein was implored by his creation, the undead corpse-formed monster, Eric Frankenstein, to make him a female partner in his image—a bride. Eric might be a freak stitched together from human body parts, but he is a sentient being who feels emotions just like anyone else and speaks in poetic verses, which adds a comedic yet profound depth to his character. Standing next to parts of cadavers in his experiment chamber, Victor appears hesitant to create yet another abomination, but Eric is adamant—he isn’t a soulless creation who doesn’t need the warmth of love and continues to persuade his ‘father’ to make him a life partner. Also, the dark, violent nature of Eric is perceivable in the way he gets his emotions worked up by Victor’s refusal and threatens to kill his wife if he doesn’t fulfill his request. Eric seems to already take a liking to his future bride seeing the severed, decomposing head, which will be attached to her patchwork body. 

After creating Bride by following similar procedures to the ones that led to the birth of Eric, Victor teaches her language and mannerisms as Eric continues to grow restless to find her acceptance. However, Bride doesn’t seem to be fond of Eric and is too freaked out by his appearance to even communicate with him. Facing her rejection, Eric gets disheartened and leaves the mansion. In the following days, Bride and Victor become close; Victor gifts her the tourmaline necklace she had taken a liking to, and soon enough, the paternal relationship turns carnal, as Victor is seen having sex with his newest creation. Eric witnesses this, and it doesn’t need to be stated how his mental condition suffers in the aftermath, as one day he returns to the experimentation chamber to murder his ‘father,’ his creator. Bride, who was totally ignorant about the exploitative nature of the relationship her ‘father’ shared with her, is horrified to see the only person to whom she had any emotional attachment getting viciously murdered by the person she fears and despises. As Bride attacked Eric in grief, their scuffle resulted in a fire breaking out in the mansion, and Bride escaped from the place for good, leaving Eric behind, who continued his pursuit to find her love and affection. A unique montage shows how, through the centuries, through different eras, Eric and Bride have been entangled in a cat-and-mouse chase. Bride will not reciprocate his feelings, and answers him with her fists, while a desperate, persistent Eric will not lose hope. Their relationship, in the context of their connection with their creator, Victor Frankenstein, creates a morbid, tragic outlook that the series is aiming for—something which fans will most definitely like a lot. It should be mentioned that Shaggy made a cameo during the montage sequence, a reference to James Gunn’s connection with the character, as he had written the screenplays of the first two live-action Scooby Doo movies. 

On the other hand, at the palace, in the aftermath of the scuffle between Flag Sr. and Phosphorus, Ilana once again tries to approach Flag Sr. with romantic intentions, and this time, the former army colonel doesn’t hold back. As Flag and Ilana get it on, Phosphorus, Weasel, and G.I. Robot stand guard outside to stop Ilana’s chief of security Alexi from interrupting, and it’s a hilarious scene to say the least. The team is blissfully unaware of the fact that Circe’s boy band has already spotted Bride and Nina snooping around Victor Frankenstein’s mansion and is on their way to capture them. 

Bride has returned to her birthplace to search for the necklace Victor had given her, the only memento of her creator, which she wants to retain to remember him by. Returning to the mansion, she remembers her harrowing past, and the broken-down mansion only makes her feel more miserable than ever. Unlike the naïve newborn she used to be, a lifetime spanning two centuries has led Bride to develop a jaded, bitter worldview, but in her heart and mind, she still wants to reconnect with her past self. Nina eventually manages to find the necklace, but almost at the same time, Circe arrives at the mansion with her troop and launches a vicious assault on the duo. 

Nina Mazursky, with her fishbowl helmet, is a fish out of water when it comes to combat situations on the surface world, and Bride basically has to carry Nina with herself to protect her. It might initially seem that against a powerful sorceress like Circe, Bride won’t pose much of a challenge, but her superhuman strength more than makes up for it as Bride delivers a solid beatdown to Circe. However, eventually Circe manages to get an upper hand and knocks down Bride, and Nina gets incapacitated as well as her fishbowl helmet is shot and broken. Flag and co. learn about Bride and Nina’s fate way too late, and by the time they arrive at the mansion by locating their tracker, Circe and Sons of Themyscira will already have taken the imprisoned duo to their lair. 

Even before the mission reached its initial phase, everything was thrown into disarray, and Flag Sr. needed to prioritize retrieving his team members instead of protecting Ilana at the moment. With Eric Frankenstein being aware of the Bride’s presence in Pokolistan, Flag might get additional help, but it doesn’t seem the two parties with their differing motivations will get along anyway. The upcoming episode will focus on the past life of yet another team member, and taking a look at the third episode trailer, the candidate is revealed to be the Nazi-killing G.I. Robot.