Note: There are some minor spoilers in this review. You have been warned.
The fun ends and the consequences are mounting up in this follow up episode. A student died—due to “unknown circumstances”—and Kings Dominion is investigating because the family of the student wants to know what happened, which is understandable. However, no one is talking and the school, and the student’s crew, is losing patience.
The school administration conducts the investigation into how and why the student was killed off campus and why the body has not been found (a change from the graphic novel). In addition, the investigation observes the conduct of all of the classes and since it’s being done subtlety, some of the instructors find themselves in a position of compromise. One class in particular may or may not get a new instructor.
Maria, feeling both guilt and relief, decides she doesn’t need her medication anymore. This is a bad idea for several reasons the most obvious being that her behavior keeps changing and everyone at the school is watching her. A combination of emotions and mental health, including trauma, is not good for Maria. At the same time, Marcus’ former roommate, who survived the fire also, continues his desperation to gaining what he believed Marcus “stole” from him. Now, that someone outside of the school knows about the events in Las Vegas and the school’s existence, Marcus and his friends have to figure out a way to make another problem go away.
In all, Stigmata Martyrreminds viewers that there are rules, consequences and conduct associated within a school, even ones for assassins. The fighting sequence on the school grounds was one of the episode’s highlights as well as Billy’s temperament in one of his classes. Marcus, Saya, Maria and Billy handle the circumstances in their own way, which makes us realize that they’re slowly becoming desensitized to murder. Yet, the friends will need to be desensitized in order to be ready for what’s about to come.
