Episode Recap: Rise Above

Marcus is in big trouble, and he needs Saya’s help to get out of it. She’s pissed at first: Maria killed Chico, and now they’re all scrambling to save their own lives. But when she hears what F*@kface AKA Chester did to Marcus when they were in the boys’ home – hell, what F*@kface did to everyone – she’s down for the cause. They’re going to find that psycho before he outs them all. Besides, he’s been “making a name for himself” by killing people in gruesome ways and advertising his handiwork. He must be stopped!

As a wise person (or was it just a good copy writer?) once said, you need to think like a psycho to catch a psycho. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) they have one of those on campus. Saya hates the idea of busting the Scorpio Slasher out of his cell and trotting him around the streets of San Francisco, but time is running out. They scoop up Billy and go get burritos. Weird, sure, but it was the Slasher’s requisite for helping them.

In happier climes, Willie has been spending a lot of time with the girl from the comic book store. He’s emotionally vulnerable with her in a way that he can’t be with anyone else. They know they have something special, but when Willie gets a page from his family and leaves the paradise of her bed, she wonders if he’ll ever truly be free to be with her. 

If Willie’s in paradise, Maria is in hell. She’s been getting heat from her lieutenants for not taking out a member of the Kuroki syndicate suspected of killing Chico, and now El Diablo is in town to keep the pressure on. She’s already having a nervous breakdown every day without the added eyes watching her every move. Diablo’s henchman surprises her in her bedroom to tell her she has 24 hours to find results – or else. She understands the threat and, though she knows it’s wrong, she finds the Kuroki suspect and slits his throat. Diablo is pleased – for now.

Maria isn’t the only one with family troubles. Lin’s sister Madam Gao is increasingly disturbed by how he runs his school, and increasingly suspicious of his grief after losing his wife and daughter (who, if you hadn’t noticed, are alive and well and living in a cute Victorian home on a hill, kind of in plain sight). She gets to the bottom of his deception and lets him know she knows – but what will become of this knowledge?

So now let’s catch up with Marcus and the psycho, who have indeed found the OTHER psycho. Mr. Slasher leads the teenagers to a dog rescue shelter, and who should arrive on site other than Chester? He’s about to get stabby with a lady abandoning her dog when Sir Slash does his fine work on Chester’s cousin. Mr. Face and his other cousin climb back into their truck and speed off. The KD students chase after the vehicle, but Face and co. are once again in the wind – and so, it seems, is Professor Slasher.