Welcome back Wolf 359 friends and fans to another installment of Wolf 359 Daily! We’re back again on this lovely March 12 for Mission Day 657 and Episode 24: “Tactical Brain Damage.”
Today Eiffel, Minkowski, and Hera launch their plan to counter Lovelace’s one-track revenge plot against Goddard, which unfortunately includes blowing up the Hephaestus station (and Hera along with it). While Eiffel keeps Lovelace busy in the shuttle, Minkowski will be inflicting the eponymous “tactical brain damage” on Hera in the hopes that they can fake some kind of emergency that convinces Lovelace to get rid of the incredibly unstable nuclear reactor strapped to her shuttle. Unfortunately nothing can go smoothly for this crew, and the “tactical brain damage” starts to veer into... potentially catastrophic damage, as Hera suddenly loses access to some systems... like pressurization. Meanwhile, despite Eiffel’s lifelong preparation for this moment of calculated incompetence, Lovelace is constantly vigilant and massively suspicious. After all, she did invent being paranoid on this station.
First off, gold star for Eiffel! Someone made an effort to talk about their problems instead of immediately reaching for knock-out gas today! Sadly, doesn’t seem to have much effect, though. Lovelace is firm in her decision that this shuttle is the only way off the station. Which, at this point, she’s not wrong, considering they don’t have any method of returning other than Goddard, and we’re not yet desperate enough to try that. Granted, Eiffel may have made a better case if he raised their true concern, about not letting Hera get blown up. And perhaps, even more than not talking to each other, the crew’s real problem is not listening to each other. But hey, one step at a time.
Back on the station, Minkowski and Hera are having a grand ol’ time. I love that Minkowski can doggedly throw herself into hunting a space mutant plant monster through the ventilation systems for weeks, no problem, but gets incredibly worried about moving some wires around in a circuit box. Alright, that’s a bit of an over-simiplification, moving these wires around does almost leave Hera without control of, y’know, the air in the station which is a significant problem. But at the end of the day, the solution ends up being “have you tried turning it off and back on again?” which honestly I love. A little higher stakes than the average tech support response, but still.
Eiffel also has another little coughing fit near the start of the episode. Our old pal Decima is getting ready to rear its head again any day now, and unfortunately not by way of a controlled experiment. At this point it has been 76 days since Hilbert was locked up and no longer able to keep tabs on Eiffel’s condition, and we’re about to hit the breaking point. These are some of the times I enjoy in doing this timeline project—I mean, not Eiffel hurtling toward a near-death experience, but getting to put the episodes in a clearer temporal perspective. By the time I got on Wolf 359, this season was already entirely released, so I heard these at binge-listening speed, while folks listening on the initial release would’ve had weeks between each episode, even when they happen just days or hours apart.
I also wonder if the bit near the beginning of the episode when Minkowski sarcastically asks if Eiffel needs a weather report is a hint at things to come next week. Hera begins to say her sensors are picking up strange readings, but Minkowski cuts her off again before she can finish. Possibly Wolf 359 is warming up for its extra spectacular light show, just a week and a half away. Maybe the crew’s real problem really is not listening to each other even more than not talking to each other.
This episode ends with an interesting interaction, as Minkowski decides to recruit Hilbert to their cause. Wolf 359 loves to make the enemy of my enemy into my begrudging ally, after all. And it impresses how much of a problem Lovelace is to Minkowski, that she’d risk loosening the leash on the guy who tried to kill her like two months ago. But we definitely need the bad doctor back in the mix for what comes next: We’re looking at a double-header with “Lame-O Superhero Origin Story” and “Do No Harm” coming up in just two days. We hope you’ll join us again, things are about to get fun.
Today’s rejected Pryce & Carter tip:
Nose goes. Specifically your nose goes first in the event of a severe station-wide pressurization malfunction.
Wolf 359 Daily is written and recorded by Rina Cerame.
Wolf 359 is a product of Kinda Evil Genius Productions. More information on the show can be found on their website at wolf359.fm
We hope you’ll join us again on March 14 for Episode 25: “Lame-O Superhero Origin Story” and Episode 26: “Do No Harm.” Thanks for listening!
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