This week, Dispatches From Elsewhere plunges deeper into the rabbit hole, as further hints of the game's intricacies and the truth behind its veil start to unravel. With Clara's storyline, the frequent fourth-wall breaks, and the kaleidoscope of visual styles on display, this series continues to impress with one of its most captivating episodes yet.
In Episode 5 of Dispatches From Elsewhere, the group descends into the basement where they find Clara, unblinking and smiling, but alas, it's just a painting. Fredwynn switches on the lights and examines a cabinet that holds a clue etched on the side of a torch: "Turn off the lights so you can see." The light on the cabinet is a UV light, and as they shine it on the walls, text illuminates with Clara's past.
We then travel back in time to witness Clara's journey from Fishtown, where she grew up with a determination to transform this dreary, mundane town into something fantastical and hopeful. Fredwynn clings to key moments in this tale as they reach the end of the words on the wall, involving a painted window Clara walked through. Using this clue, Fredwynn discovers their next lead in the bathroom.
The room smells strongly of chemicals, and Fredwynn uses a match to light up the next room full of words. Clara meets Mateo, Kimbra, and Sanjay in Fishtown, the trio she wants to be her best friends. As they talk, she pitches the idea of changing their story but berates their lack of faith given they don't see what she sees. She sets to work creating "The Idea," behind a large curtain on the side of a building, where she conjures up a strange painting/hologram that amazes the town. As the curtain falls and reveals a beautiful waterfall, this moment manages to bring the entire town together. She tells the ice-cream vendor (who crashes his truck and inadvertently allows free ice cream for everyone) that she's honing her Divine Nonchalance in a bid to create her Elsewhere Society.
Peter theorizes that Clara's obsession with art may be Simone's moment to shine. She heads up to the art gallery and decides not to re-enroll. As they talk, Simone realizes she needs to find her own Divine Nonchalance and leaves.
Peter arrives at the same conclusion in his workplace, fueled by Clara's voice in his head. As he plays 'Good Vibrations' on the PC from his playlist, different areas around the town illuminate and dance to the song, creating a magical spectacle. However, Peter's boss is not amused by his antics and dismisses him.
Meanwhile, Janice learns that a random text was sent to her husband's caregiver, while Fredwynn delves deeper into Clara's story and how she transformed the town by reading the text on the wall alone. It turns out that Fishtown's transformation attracted a shadowy figure who demands to speak to her.
As Peter and the others uncover the next clue hidden in yarn, they learn that Clara was recruited to work with Octavio at Jejune Institute. The catch? She had to go it alone and leave her friends behind. As she heads back to Fishtown, she tells Mateo and the others that she declined the offer and decided to stick with them. Unfortunately, this doesn't sit well with Octavio, who snatches her off the street in a cartoonish depiction of the event.
Fredwynn and Janice go their separate ways after the story, and as Simone and Peter talk, it turns out she has a message from her Professor regarding the mural – Clara's story is true. As the episode concludes, Octavio snaps his fingers, leaving us to ponder what really happened to Clara.
Dispatches From Elsewhere bows out with another strong episode this week, one that sees more development surrounding Clara and further clues around just what the endgame is here. Interestingly, Clara's development with her quartet of friends seems to echo that of Peter and the others, especially with the teasing glimpses that Peter may actually share more in common with Clara than he first thought.
We've seen this before with Peter in the past, where road signs changed and the streets brightened as he was given more hope. As Clara has the ability to give others hope and transform her community too, it makes sense that Peter has been stifled and given such a mundane, inconsequential life to prevent this from happening. Are the Jejune Institute behind this? Seeing Peter play 'Good Vibrations' (a nod to his hidden powers perhaps?), embracing the happiness and subsequently transforming everyone around him only reinforces this idea.
What the rest of this colorful puzzle box has in store for us remains to be seen, but it seems apparent that Dispatches From Elsewhere has plenty left up its sleeve, making it one of the more memorable and intriguing shows on TV right now.
