Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion S1 E9

## Plot

A rich man tells a subordinate to go so far as to fire a man over the phone if he's still in the hospital, and then fires the subordinate as well. That sounds like an ACLU lawsuit or two waiting to happen. A man purposefully bumps into him to steal his watch. Ultra Violet shows up and tells him that she has to help everyone, even jerks. The thief has been working this neighborhood for weeks. However, a woman suddenly phases out of the wall, gives the watch back to the man, and tells him to run while she fights Black Scorpion. Ultra Violet is too in awe of the woman to react as she watches her fight. Black Scorpion thinks she's a rudo. She tells him not to assume and introduces herself as Cascada. Her name is Waterfall? Seriously? Yes, she has a blue costume and she can phase through anything, a bit like how water can get almost anywhere, but still. She also knows Duplico, because everyone does. That makes four masks that Violet knows about so far. Cascada's mask reminds me of a cat, and she's very much the Catwoman to Black Scorpion's Batman, or the Black Cat to his… Morbius? He's nothing like Spider-Man. In terms of powers, she's like Kitty Pryde. And Kitty can be short for kitten, which is a baby cat. She says that people who break the law aren't always criminals. Black Scorpion says they are by definition. If I were her, I would've pointed out that certain laws, and the people who make them, *and* the people who are supposed to enforce them, aren't always right. Especially since this series has a large Latino cast playing characters that are part of a racial minority in the United States. What if you're breaking the rules to help someone in need? Violet says it's wrong to steal. Cascada suggests that the thief might be stealing to feed his family… but she doesn't know for sure, so she could've just helped a selfish man escape his punishment. Look, I'm all for tons of reform, and maybe even a complete overhaul of many private and public areas in my country, including our incredibly flawed and ironically named "justice" system, but I also like to do my research and have as many facts as possible first, so I can make informed decisions. Violet thinks she's cool because she plays by her own rules and does whatever she wants… kind of like herself. Cruz dislikes her for those exact same reasons due to his strict superhero/lucha code of honor/rules. Violet is telling Maya about her, but she's not listening. She's nervous about a Families From The Front charity event. There is a real non-profit about "building strong military families" called Operation Homefront (https://operationhomefront.org/ways-to-give/). Maya always volunteers for the fundraiser, but she's worried that people aren't going to come. They haven't sold that many tickets. But it might help if Ultra Violet were there. She agrees to do it. Catalina tells Maya that she's done a great job. She's already made a donation. Violet is glad that she and her uncle are still dating. Nina has had a rough week and wants to do nothing after work tomorrow… but Juan already invited his cousin Pablo and his family over for dinner. He and Pablo are always trying to one up each other, and his wife Paloma always insults Nina. Violet tells Cruz that she can't make training tomorrow, because she's going to a charity event as Ultra Violet. However, he forbids her from going, at least in her superhero identity. They don't make public appearances and exploit themselves. That's for celebrities, which they aren't. She reminds him about what Cascada told them. Maybe it's okay to break the rules if it means doing something good. He still tells her that it's not how they can best serve the city. She tells Maya, but everyone already believes that Ultra Violet will be there. When they put it on their website, ticket sales doubled. No matter what Violet chooses, someone will think it's wrong. She decides to go anyways. However, it's the next night, which is also when everyone else will be at dinner, so she has to stay home. I mean, her power is super speed. Just leave through a window, super speed there, say a few words, and super speed back. That's a ten minute commitment, max. Paloma and Nina wore the same dress. She and Pablo didn't make their son Danny come. Their daughter Iris acts sweet in front of her parents, but she's actually sick of the family feud and plans on spending the whole night –except for dinner– in Violet's room on her phone. It turns out that Violet was able to easily slip out. However, there's a schedule. She doesn't go on for thirteen minutes, so she heads back home. Cascada talks to Black Scorpion again and calls him a tightly wound boy scout when he spits out food she gave him because she joked about stealing money to buy it. I mean, being compared to Superman himself is a pretty big compliment. She reveals that Ultra Violet went to the charity event. It's at the Gryphon Hotel. She's also heading there. Violet gets back in time. Maya is nervous about giving her speech. Her best friend since second grade tells her that she's beautiful and strong. She just has to tell her story, and she'll be perfect no matter what. Aw! While she's speaking though, Black Scorpion confronts Violet, but then Cascada shows up and reveals that she stole a necklace that was going up for auction. Black Scorpion goes after her and tells Violet not to go on stage, but she does anyways. Cascada gives the necklace back. She was just trying to distract Black Scorpion so Ultra Violet could speak. She didn't actually steal it from the auction. She stole it from a thief who stole it from a jeweler downtown. She can be a hero too. As a child, she grew up with a lot of rules, and she didn't have much use for most of them. She was a lot like Ultra Violet. Black Scorpion says she's nothing like her. That may be, but Cascada still doesn't think he's preparing her for the kind of world they live in. It's more complicated than good guys and bad guys. She thinks he's doing her a disservice. He yells that she doesn't know the first thing about what Ultra Violet needs. She leaves. Nina finally has enough and tells Juan and Pablo that until they learn to play nice, they'll only see each other during holidays and quinceañeras. If the competition is fun, then they have to do it on their own time, and not drag the rest of their families into it. They decide to go to a Dodgers game next week. That's when I originally figured that this show was set in L.A., but then I realized that they could've been talking about an away game. Also, I didn't think about it the first time I watched this episode, but the second time, I wondered how Cascada knew about Ultra Violet going to the charity event, and if it was either a plot hole, or if it meant that she knew Violet's civilian identity, but then I realized she probably saw it on the organization's website. Tiago tries to get Violet to come downstairs to say goodbye to everyone. When he opens the door, he sees that she's not in her room and knocks on the bathroom door. However, she comes back and opens her bedroom door soon after. She claims that she was hanging out in her closet. The next morning, around what looks like sunrise, Violet calls Maya. She doesn't know if she's okay. She felt like she understood right from wrong, but after meeting Cascada, everything is blurry. She went against Black Scorpion and lied to her family, which is bad, but she also raised money for charity to help other families, which is good. How is she supposed to know who to listen to when it comes to what's right and what's wrong? Maya suggests that it's time to listen to herself. She decides to go for a run to clear her head, without her mask. At the top of a building, Cascada removes her mask to reveal that she's Catalina. I knew beforehand because I looked at the cast list. The actress and/or character didn't even try to change her voice, and there were hints in episode 7. I felt like the "twist" was obvious from the character's introduction, but I love a good anti-hero, as well as the potential angst of her and Cruz finding out about their double lives.