Counseling
Directed By: Miles Luna
Written By: Miles Luna
Written By: Miles Luna
The Reds and Blues attempt to stop the tension between the Feds and Rebels with a group therapy meeting between Kimball and Doyle. Meanwhile, Locus questions the Counselor on the Meta.
This episode has examples of:
- Call-Back: At the end of the episode, Sharkface and the Space Pirates fall from the Tartarus to Armonia much like how the Freelancers did the same so as to get the jump on the Insurrection in Season 10.
- Character Development:
- Chew-Out Fake-Out: It seems like Doyle is giving Kimball a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how she is always too eager to throw her life away for her causes, only to then compliment her on her courage and lament that he doesn't have the same bravery she does.Doyle: Do you know what your problem is, Vanessa? You're far too eager to die for your beliefs. When you felt your government had betrayed you, you stood against it. When your leaders fell before you, you took their place, and now when we are at our most vulnerable, you want to fight. I can honestly say... that... I've never met a more courageous individual in all my life.
- Cliffhanger: The episode abruptly ends with the pirates launching a direct attack on the capital.
- Comically Missing the Point: When both Kimabll and Doyle concur on the counseling session being a waste of time, Doc cheerfully takes it as proof that they're already starting to agree with each other and "the system works!"
- Easily Forgiven: After being forgotten by the Blood Gulch Crew and driven insane in another dimension, Doc immediately agrees to help them make peace between Kimball and Doyle just because he is happy to be included.Doc: So, you think you can just send me to another dimension, forget my very existence, and then expect me to help you when you're in trouble?
Sarge: Yes.
(Silence passes for a moment)
Doc: Finally! All I ever wanted was to be included... - Epic Fail: When the tension between Kimball and Doyle becomes too much, Doc decides to remedy this by setting up an "honest and down-to-earth counseling session"... Between the leaders of two opposing armies. Who have been trying to kill each other for years. In an odd subversion, though, it actually ends up working in an unintentional way when Doyle genuinely admits that Kimball is the most courageous woman he's ever met and is everything he aspires to be.
- Exact Words: When Locus first asks the Counselor how the Meta was defeated by a group of incompetent simulation troopers, the Counselo explains how he died via drowning from the puncture wounds in his suit left by Tucker's sword. However, Locus explains he is aware of how he died, what he wants to know is how he was unable to prevent it when he had every possible advantage.
- Flat "What": Wash's reaction to learning the Reds and Blues plan to resolve the looming threat of another civil war with an "honest, down-to-earth counseling session!"
- Funny Background Event: The "speaking ball" is actually a giant soccer ball and can be seen in the background of the counseling session.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Doyle again laments his own cowardliness, sharing how if he had a fraction of the bravery Kimball always does then maybe he would have made a better leader and he would be able to help his people.Doyle: I wish — (sighs softly) I wish I had tenth of the courage that you possess. Maybe if I did, I'd have made a better General. But, I don't. And I'm afraid. Not just for myself, but for my people.
- Hidden Depths:
- Ignored Epiphany:
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Doc agrees to run the counseling meeting because he's happy to be included. O'Malley is quick to mock him for it.
- Martyr Without a Cause: Discussed; Doyle claims this is Kimball's Fatal Flaw, since she is always too willing to die for her beliefs. However, he also admits that all of this makes her the most courageous individual he's ever met and wishes he had a tenth of the courage she does.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Doc gives a cruel one to Grif in his O'Malley personality, going as far as to insulting his family.
- Revenge Before Reason:
- Running Gag: "Wait, what?" appears yet again when Donut eagerly calls being a police officer when Doc proposes they start their counseling session with some role-playing.
- Stealth Insult:
- When Locus claims that Maine's actions should have been influenced by blindly following his orders and nothing else, the Counselor responds that such a mentality would only have made him feel like a slave, indirectly calling Locus one as well.
- Kimball gives a downplayed one to Doyle when Doc begs the two of them to just say anything nice about the other. Kimball says she originally pictured Doyle as a tyrant, a "mad man bent on absolute control". Now she sees she was wrong, and he's just a "stubborn, incompetent man", and she doesn't know which is worse.
- Stunned Silence:
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- Worf Had the Flu: When Locus and the Counselor talk about the Meta's defeat, the Counselor makes a point of noting that at the time, Agent Maine had lost the AI he needed to run his equipment, and without Sigma's influence his actions became less controlled and more impulsive.
