Episode six of Warrior Nun, “Isaiah 30:20-21,” opens with an injured and limping Sister Mary searching for Ava who phased away to part unknown after the battle with the demon who took Sister Lilith’s life, leaving JC behind.  She finds Ava and tries to talk her into doing the right thing but, it isn’t until she walks away that Ava follows her and they have a heart to heat that might be the key to getting Ava back on board or maybe giving up altogether, especially when Sister Mary causes Ava to take a fall.

Backstory Bonanza: We find out a lot more about the enigmatic and awesome Sister Mary. Like how her mom is in jail for killing her abusive dad and how because her mom was black she didn’t get off on self-defense. We also learn that not all of the sisters are nuns or devout and Sister Mary’s vows only include the 5th and 8th commandments and Father Vincent gave her something to fight for. I love how Sister Mary gives the best version of tough love and real talk to the woe is me Ava and I’m so here for it and learning everything I can about this “nun” with a shotgun.

The More You Know: While Mary and Ava try and sort their situation out, the sister leads Ava to a safe place that the OCS, lead by Mary and Shannon, saved after an evil eruption. We also learn that Mary and the OCS have eyes, ears and people everywhere but, so do evil forces and Ava’s lack of faith in others might still spell salvation because of her faith in herself. Sister Mary is still anti-Cardinal and doesn’t trust him or his motives and, Ava is tired of only getting the half of the story, especially since the Mary thinks he had a hand in Shannon’s death because he would want a Warrior Nun loyal to him because, (GASP) the Pope is dying! And if that isn’t enough… Dr. Salvius is still on the hunt for Ava with a full team and endless resources. All of this means it’s a good thing that Sister Mary is on hand to show Ava how to remove a demon from a person without killing them because it’s something she should know.

All You Need Is Love: Sister Mary’s driving force is still finding out how Shannon died and doing her best to avenge her and bring whoever is responsible to justice.  This drive is what keeps her on task and allows her to keep trying to protect and teach Ava just how much she’s needed in this fight. She also tells her how to do the job on her terms, as she does and that there is more than one path to being the Warrior Nun so, she should choose hers, or none at all if that’s what she desires. While others would try and make Ava come to heel with power, force, and intimidation, Mary uses empathy, compassion, and love which is why she’s the one who can get through to her.

Best Scene: Watching Ava go toe to toe with her first real demon to save someone using the same cognitive reconditioning that Black Widow used on Hawkeye in the first Avengers movie but, with a big ass slab o’ meat, while Sister Mary shouts spiritual mumbo jumbo for the benefit of the very religious townspeople that are watching.

Overall: This episode is a hero’s journey with Ava and Sister Mary (as her guide & equal instead of the usual stereotypical magical negro)  as they both come to terms with their place in this whole battle. I like that the writers put as much emphasis on each of them and the path they are going to take going forward.  The magical religious imagery is beautiful, the directing is amazing, the cinematography is thoughtful and leads the viewer’s eyes to where they need to go to follow the story. The thing that I love about this episode is that it is a filler episode in the middle of the season’s story arc, any other show would have rested on the goodwill gained by the previous episodes and done something useless or fun but, Warrior Nun and its team chose to add another layer of depth to the characters and their stories. Every episode so far has had a purpose and fulfilled it before the end credits rolled and this one was no exception by the end of it, I felt even closer to Sister Mary than I did at the beginning of the series and I like that no layers are left unpeeled in this show and this is the Buddy Cop Road Trip story that does the series justice.

Rating: 8.8

After Ava’s escape from the convent, in her attempt to live her life, she heads out to find JC and her new “friends” unaware that Arq-Tech is after her and they might just turn her in. The squatters are heading to a new, new home and while the others are happy she’s safe and back,  Zori and Randall are not okay with her tagging along causing a fight between Zori and JC that ends with them finding out one possible reason why Dr. Salvius is looking for Ava and since there is no honor among thieves, this leaves Randall with an opening and fully on board with turning Ava in without the rest of the group’s knowledge.

I Need A Hero: In the early moments of the episode Ava attempts to save a drunken young woman she thinks is about to be assaulted by a man in an alley but, it turns out that she was leading him into a trap and Ava ends up stabbed and collateral damage which sours her, on the whole, being a hero thing.  But, it comes full circle when she decides to run off to anywhere with JC but, can’t bring herself to do it when she remembers that if she didn’t kill herself what else could the nun be up to? So, she sets off to save her only friend, young Diego who she fears will meet a similar fate to her original ending if she doesn’t step in and save him.

Called It: In flashbacks, we see how Ava became a sassy badass that she is today and it wasn’t all a bed of roses, more like a crown of nails bestowed upon her by the cruel and sadistic nurse nun who claimed she committed suicide. It’s heartbreaking to watch but, character building and filled to the brim with clever writing and acting. The confrontation leads to admissions that are far more sinister than we might have originally thought and as the nurse attempts to kill Ava again she ends up accidentally dead at Ava’s hands and she embraces Diego who truly believes now that Ava is an angel sent to save him and others.

All You Need is Love: JC risks it all and decides to go on the run with Ava because she has it bad for her and it’s kind of nice and organic. Normally these scenarios lean heavily on damsels in distress and white knights but, their budding romance is more about adventure, attraction, and getting to know each other. Whether they make it through the season or not, I really like how real they keep it and how much agency they give Ava who now has control over her body AND her life.

He Moves In Mysterious Ways: Sister Mary realizes that Sister Shannon may have feared for her life more than she let on and might have something hidden behind the wall in her room, meaning she had to phase to get there, so it must have been something pretty important. The power-hungry Sister Lilith is made a side deal with the double-dealing cardinal who wants her to kill Ava for the halo and the other sisters begin to question the Cardinal’s motives and way of doing things when he sends them on a Dividium heist at Arq-tech.

Overall: This was an amazingly choreographed episode where all the pieces feed into each other and set up things to come perfectly. There were action-filled moments, tender moments that could bring you to tears, romantic moments that seemed authentic and filled with hope, funny moments that bring you joy, and none of these moments, packed into this 45-minute episode, felt out of place. I believed Dr. Salvius’ declaration of war on the church and was concerned by the “Only I know what to do with this power” level of cis white male privilege that the Cardinal exuded in every scene. When Lilith came to call on Ava and tried to take the halo by force at his command in the final seconds of the episode, I couldn’t wait to hit play and get to the next episode!

Rating: 8.9

When we last left our heroine, she had been left at a party in a lab by her new housemates and kidnapped by the catholic churches league of demon assassins, Ephesians 6:11 is all about Ava learning about the power her new body mod holds and what is expected of the bearer of the halo.

In The Beginning: Ava wakes up, unable to move and overhears Lilith and Beatrice talking, with Lilith plotting to take the halo out of her even if it means killing her.  The halo makes Ava float above, then phase through the bed she was sleeping on alarming the sisters. As Father Vincent takes Ava on a walk through the churches archive he gives her a history of the halo bearers and their sacred mission, from God, with the help of the angel Adrial’s halo.

The Order of The Cruciform Swords (OCS): So, up until now the badass nun posse has been going by simply “The Order”, in this episode we finally get their full name. Father Vincent shares his theory that the angel Adrial has chosen Ava to wear his halo and the Cardinal agrees to give him one chance to prove it. Ava begins training and Sister Lilith, being super petty, is her sparring partner since abilities are unique to the bearer weapons phase through her and the ones that land she can’t feel which infuriates Lilith and makes me wonder if the person the OG bearer was warning Sister Mary not to trust was Lilith.

History 101: Throughout the episode, Father Vincent teaches Ava about the history of the Order, the Sisters, the halo, and the battle which gives the viewer a very firm dose of the mythology that the series is built on. Considering this a show rooted loosely in Catholic mysticism I liked the push back from Ava, like when she questions why there is no statue of Areala but, there is one of the first priests who had Vincent’s job. I also liked her questioning if she is like Areala, as Vincent keeps saying, then maybe she never wanted any of this either, and maybe having someone else’s will thrust upon her and a foreign object thrust inside her without consent. It is quite possible that, as Ava suggests, that she too was OK with dying, was done fighting, was ready for it and, didn’t like being pulled back to the world of the living.

Didn’t See That Coming:  I wasn’t expecting the Arq-Tech CEO to show up at the squatters next summer home and ask them to rat out Ava if she contacted them. The pop up was unexpected and there was something simultaneously charming AND sinister about her sitting at the dining table eating while waiting for them to essentially break in.

Meet Cute and Deadly: As Ava heads to Father Vincent’s office to learn more about Areala and the Tarask (the demon form that killed the first Halo Bearer) she meets Sister “Shotgun” Mary and immediately likes her, her badass name and her kick-ass vibe.  I see a partnership looming and I am here for the two warriors with the dirtiest mouths and the least amount of f***s , kicking ass, and taking names in the near future. Even

Overall: This isn’t a straight action show, there’s a real story here with good, thought out characters and three episodes in I’m pretty drawn to the show. The writers give us a slow burn that’s worth the fire and while the show isn’t the typical binge-able Netflix fare, from what I’ve seen so far, it is well worth the watch. The religious overtones and explorations of faith and duty are all over the episode but, they’re not heavy-handed nor overreaching. I really like the way they handle the religious aspects of the show by giving both sides and allowing viewers to examine for themselves what they believe. The acting is subtle and at times you forget you’re watching a show because of how well written and expertly acted everything is. There are no weak links or one-note performances in the whole show, no one is a place holder or a stereotype, everyone is nuanced and every performance can hold it’s own against the others making it a technical masterpiece.

Rating: 8.6

Ava is settling in nicely with her new squatter friends and trying to enjoy her new chance at a mobile life. She’s trying to navigate all of these new feelings and experiences and There’s a demon cutting, literally with his fiery talons, his way through town in search of Ava and the halo.  Sister Mary is on a quest for vengeance that opens her up to possible fall out.

I Can See Your Halo: Ava wakes up in bed and is pleased to discover that she’s still alive and can still walk, she spends another day enjoying all the things couldn’t before, like the feeling of sand between her toes and fingers. After an incident with a too cold shower and flirting with J.C.,  the cute boy who rescued her from the pool, she learns that she has a scarification-like body mod on her back. We also learn that Cardinal Duretti’s ring glows bright blue when in proximity with the halo so, when JC, Ava, and the squatter brigade sneak into an Arq-Tech party there’s a hint of intrigue.

Meanwhile, Back at the Convent: Mary is more concerned with finding out what happened to her mentor and friend than she is with tracking down Ava and retrieving the halo, which causes tension between her and Sister Lilith, the next in line to bear the halo. The top priests of the secret order, are trying to figure out how to contain the fact that they lost the halo and it is now residing in the body of someone untested and not ready. The priest handling the day to missions is starting to rethink retrieving the halo and wonders if the artifact is where/with who it should be.

New Players on the Field: This episode introduced Arq-Tech and it’s benevolent CEO who Ava knows because she “creates superpowers”. At the event where Ava and her new friends are party crashing, the female CEO, Dr. Salvius,  announces that she can now “Higgs Field for a full minute” and create a quantum portal (because what could go wrong with that) unbeknownst to her guests, except for the cardinal, she infuses her tech with found, possibly angelic/demonic artifacts (again, what could possibly go wrong) .

It’s Going Down: Ava sees a child in a locked room in one of the Arq-Tech labs she was exploring and believes that it is a key to discovering what happened to her. while JC urges her to run, she goes back and tries to free him. While attempting the rescue, an alarm goes off, and while attempting to run from the guards she finds herself face to face with the demon and her back all aglow. Luckily the badass army of sisters shows up to save her with the father in tow, she attempts to escape but, is drugged.

Overall: Inbetween Mary going medieval on people, Ava enjoying and trying everything and a corporeal demon hunting the halo, this episode manages to slip in a lot of talks about ethical dilemmas and ownership of history, artifacts, and relics. The Cardinal debates if Arq-Tech should have the artifacts in the first place and whether or not they would use them properly, while Dr. Salvius questions who owns the artifacts and believes they should be an open market.  The priest debates with another nun if Sister Lilith should get the halo when this is all said and done, simply because she feels entitled to it and has waited for it, or if Ava should keep it and maybe her getting the halo was in itself an act of divine choosing. So far the showrunners and writers seem to be masters of leaving on a perfect cliffhanger that feeds seamlessly into the next episode and the writing makes it so each episode peels back another level that seems crucial to the season’s endgame.

Rating: 8.3

Netflix‘s latest trek into comic book adaptation series brings us the divine supernatural/action hybrid Warrior Nun. The series starts off with the funeral rites being performed over the lifeless body of a quadriplegic teenager, under the watchful eye of a cruel nun and a sympathetic priest. In an adjacent chamber of the burial catacombs a wounded warrior and her team rush in.

Origin Story Extraordinaire: Ava is resurrected from the dead when an attack happens in the tomb next to where she was being prepared for burial and a fearful nun, in an attempt to save the “halo”, injects the sacred object into her lifeless corpse. Ava is brought back to life with some pretty awesome powers and no idea that the demons that attacked the adjacent tomb are on the hunt for her and the great power that she now possesses. The second in command of the demon-fighting team is tasked by the priest to remove the halo from Ava, even if it means killing her so that they can put it into a worthy vessel and continue their fight.

I Really Liked: Ava visiting her only friend, a young boy named Diego who lived at the orphanage where she grew up and him encouraging her to do everything she wanted to before she died again. She takes his advice to heart and does everything from running, just to run because she can use her legs again to jumping into a pool, taking molly and hitting a night club.

Overall: I found the pilot really compelling and super interesting, even people with no knowledge of the comic book can catch up and take the ride. The premiere episode doesn’t try to shove the mythology behind the story into a single episode, instead, it gets you to learn more about Ava, speculates about how she died, I really don’t trust that nun from the orphanage and get sucked into her new life. The pacing makes it so you find yourself worried about her safety when you realize that the supernatural nun army AND demons are looking for her and she is so caught up in the bliss she has with her newfound, active, life that has no idea about what is coming.

Rating: 8.5