Disappearing Inque

  A love-struck guard frees Inque from her cryo-cell.
  Original Airdate: May 8, 1999
  Episode # 12
  Rating: * * *

A shapeshifter suffering from physical trauma is aided in the search for a cure by a love-sick accomplice, only to be defeated in a deluge of water. Does this sound like the plot to "Mudslide"? If so, why doesn't this episode work as well as that one?

Clayface was a monster unreconciled to his loss of humanity, and "Mudslide" revolved around the tragedy of a figure who sought to regain what he actually deserved to lose. But Inque suffers no equivalent tragedy, and so her quest has no resonance. Absent that resonance, the emotional burden shifts to the accomplice. Stella was a subsidiary figure in "Mudslide," but Aaron is (or should be) the center here. He is in love with Inque, and in his sad, sick way seems to think that if he becomes like her she will reciprocate his feelings. The irony of someone trying to imitate an imitator is never developed, however; nor is Aaron's aberrant psychology explored. His betrayal at the end is brutal, but it is presented so slackly that it barely registers.

All that being said, there are some pretty sick and sadistic twists in this story. It never bores.

Inque appears to have died at the end of this, her second episode. But then, so did Clayface at the end of his sophomore outing. And if we know anything about shapeshifters, it is that appearances are deceiving.

Related Episodes
   * Black Out
   * Inqueling
   * Mudslide
   * Mad Love
   * Birds of a Feather

What Others Are Saying ...
"My only real problem? Ends too quickly! That's it...everything else is good." –Tim Leighton for World's Finest