Review: Red vs Blue “A Fistful Of Colors”

Mirror, mirror.

Spoilers Below:

Simmons gives his interview to Andrews and Jax, saying how with all the things he does, he’s surprised he’s not more popular on the team. He says that he and Griff weren’t friends because they had absolutely nothing in common.

They arrive at the origin of the signal: A replica of Blood Gulch. Sarge finds it suspicious, and everyone agrees with him, for once. Before they can decide who should go forward as a sacrifice, Caboose calls out, and someone responds. Caboose ventures forward, and meets his lookalike. They have a conversation, and both of them speak in the exact same manner. Caboose’s lookalike, Loco, blows the other group’s cover, and they are forced to come out. The group is revealed to be the Reds and Blues lookalikes. Church’s lookalike also appears, but Caboose instantly is able to tell he isn’t actually Church.

Church’s lookalike, Temple, explains that their team is just like the original team: a collection of sim-troopers stationed there as part of Project Freelancer. They call themselves the ‘Blues and Reds’. Tucker demands to know what’s going on, but Temple is worried about staying above ground. Andrews demands an answer, and Temple reluctantly tells the truth; that the UNSC is killing off everyone involved in Project Freelancer. He’s not sure who’s giving the orders, but the only reason why they dared venture outside is because the Reds and Blues were nearby, and they had to get the word out. He thinks that Church is the UNSC’s prisoner, and built the relays to get in contact. Tucker asks Andrews is they’re the same people who tried to attack her on Sidewinder, but she believes that they are. The team reveals that they ended up shooting at Andrews due to a misunderstanding, and they were trying to defend themselves from a bounty hunter. Andrews points out that thanks to their actions, Chorus is paying the price, but Temple says that the peace talks worked, and Chorus is fine. Before they can speak more, four enemy ships appear and start firing.

The two groups team up and manage to take down the four ships. Temple says the UNSC is going to be sending reinforcements, any minute, and they all retreat underground. Caboose eagerly explores, but Temple stops him when he comes close to a device. Andrews asks what it is, and Temple nervously explains that it’s a cloaking device for all of them to stay hidden. He invites them all to dinner and walks off.

Overview:

The Blues and Reds are suspicious, and it seems a little too early to trust them. They’ve also revealed that the UNSC is the mastermind behind the Freelancers falling, but not who is pulling the strings, or why. The UNSC has been shown to be secretive and willing to sweep unpleasant situations under the rug before, so this isn’t too shocking. Without a reason, it’s still unclear what the UNSC is trying to accomplish by erasing all evidence of Project Freelancer, but after the huge scandal it caused, it’s likely to not be anything good.

Interestingly, the Blues and Reds don’t have a Grif lookalike. This is probably not a coincidence, but what exactly that means has yet to be revealed.