Spiral

Spiral is the seventeenth episode of Red vs. Blue: Season 9 and the 190th episode overall.

Characters[]

Plot[]

At Blue Base, Tex is seen working on the tank until Church comes up to her and notes that it still won't start. Tex reveals that she knows about Epsilon making her. Epsilon is surprised by this but states it wasn't him but the Director. Tex states she doesn't know why the Director brought her back and that he never asked what she wanted. The tank suddenly comes back online and Tex asks "See what happens when you treat something right?" Epsilon, thinking about Tex, replies "Yeah. As a matter of fact I think I do."

Hornets chase Team A 2 — Team A make their escape.

Meanwhile, in the Freelancer backstory, Maine, who has obtained the briefcase, gets into the Warthog with York and Carolina. After York notes that response teams will probably be on the way, Team A begins to leave the city. Unfortunately, as they leave, they are followed by two Insurrection Hornets. Three Insurrectionists with jetpacks hop off the Hornets and attack. A sniper lands on a truck and uses a laser sight to take aim at the Carolina's back. Maine spots the red beam of light and intercepts the sniper's shot, rendering him temporarily unconscious.

Throat Injury 2 — Insurrectionist fires at Maine's throat.

Meanwhile, Tex follows Team A on her motorbike. She takes out a Warthog pursuing her with a rocket launcher, speeds up a ramp, and takes out the Hornet attacking Team A. Carolina battles against two of the jetpack soldiers for the briefcase on top of the Warthog. York then suddenly brakes, sending Carolina and the soldiers flying onto a truck loaded with barrels. They continue to fight, and the jetpack soldiers throw barrels at the Warthog. York rams the truck, knocking the sniper off. Maine, who had been woken up by the movement, punches the sniper against a bridge wall, taking him out. Maine then jumps onto the truck to assist Carolina. York catches up to them and tosses Carolina the Brute Shot, with which she uses to stab the soldier she's fighting. However, the solider manages to toss a pistol to her companion, which he uses to shoot Maine in the throat.

He then knocks Maine down and empties the rest of the clip into his throat. Horrified, Carolina defends him and continues to fight both of the soldiers while a dazed Maine gets back up and picks up his Brute Shot. He attempts to fire it at the soldiers but misses and hits the rear of the truck, causing it to spin off course and send them flying. Maine is hit by a truck and is knocked off the edge of the bridge; the suitcase is taken by the sleeveless soldier. He boards the hornet again but Tex goes after him. Carolina tells York not to let her get the briefcase first.

Carolina's Helmet Falling Off — An injured Carolina tries to stand up after smashing against a wall.

As the two approach a tunnel, York bails out just before the Warthog is crushed by the roadway tunnel's closing doors, but Carolina makes it through. She activates her speed unit, catches up to Tex and the two race for the Hornet. Tex takes out the Hornet by launching her motorcycle to collide with it. She lands on the ground and Carolina chases the soldier, who had avoided being killed by the Hornet's explosion. Carolina leaps off the bridge after the soldier, chases him above several high-level buildings and manages to pin him down against the highway as they continue to slide against the road. The soldier is knocked off the bridge by a truck, but Carolina manages to tuck herself into a ball and avoid injury by sliding under it. However, she then collides hard into a tunnel barrier and her helmet falls off.

She stands up and spots the briefcase but Tex takes it. Tex calls Command, telling them that she has obtained the briefcase, after which the Director commends her for, much to Carolina's dismay. Tex disdainfully tells Carolina "Better luck next time," before jumping off the highway. The rest of the Freelancers, minus Maine, come to pick up Carolina in a Pelican; York, standing next to the hatch, offers Carolina his hand, which she takes.

Transcript[]

Fade into Blood Gulch. Church walks up to Tex, who is working on Sheila.

Tex: (muttering) Come on, damn it. (sighs)

Church: Still won't start huh?

Tex: No. But it's getting there.

Church: Did you uhh... try checking the starter?

Tex: (sarcastically) Oh, what a brilliant idea. Next you're gonna' ask me if I tried the keys.

Church: You have keys?

Tex: No.

Church: How do you know so much about vehicles?

Tex: Well, during the training. We had to learn to care for our equipment. Plus, I've always liked cars.

Church: Uhh... training huh? Was that before...

Tex: Before what? Before I was killed? Before you brought me back as, whatever I am now?

Church: Oh. You know about that?

Tex: Well, of course I do. I know what you know. You made me.

Church: Well...no, not me.

Tex: Whatever. Him.

Church: Why did he do it? I...don't even remember when you first came around, you were just...kinda' there one day. It was like uhh... a training session or something like that.

Tex: (sighs) Yeah, Wyoming and Maine. Big dummies.

Church: Well, why did he bring you back?

Tex: You know what Church, I don't know? You tell me. He didn't exactly ask me what I wanted, I just kinda' came along for the ride, I didn't get a vote.

Church: But you were there when Alpha was there. Nobody else was.

Tex: I don't know. What can I say? I guess we were inseparable.

Sheila suddenly activates.

Tex: There you go! Tank's fixed! See what happens when you treat something right?

Church: Yeah. Yeah, as a matter of fact I think I do.

Fade in to Maine carrying a white suitcase back to Team A's Warthog.

Carolina: Nice work Maine.

Maine: Thanks.

York: Yeah, subtle as always. Response team is probably on the way.

Carolina: Let's get the hell out of here.

York: Hold on!

York drives the Warthog down the highway, swiftly passing by several random cars. Two Insurrection Hornets are in pursuit.

York: Comin' through! Excuse me! Look out!

Carolina: Here they come!

The Hornets close in on Team A. Three Insurrection soldiers (a muscular sleeveless soldier, a sniper soldier, and a female soldier) with jetpacks hop off their Hornets and flank the Warthog.

York: Behind us!

As Team A battles two of the Insurrection soldiers, the Sniper Soldier speeds ahead and takes aim on a truck in front of Team A. The other two Insurrectionists continue to fire.

Carolina: Maine! Protect the briefcase!

Maine notices a sniper laser pointing at Carolina's spine and looks behind him. The sniper fires a shot at Carolina, but Maine intercepts the shot, causing it to hit his chest and render him unconscious.

Carolina: Maine? Sniper!

A sniper bullet whizzes past Carolina's head, impacting into the turret. Cut to Tex riding on her motorbike being pursued by some Insurrectionists in Warthogs. Tex narrowly avoids the chaingun rounds and swerves around. She grabs her Rocket Launcher and shoots the Warthog. She spots the Hornets chasing Team A.

Tex: Gotcha!

She jumps off a ramp, fires her rocket at the Hornet and throws the rocket launcher away. She then brings out her SMG, and fires at some Insurrectionists on Mongooses.

Cut to Team A still fleeing from the Insurrectionist. Carolina ducks down.

Carolina: Punch it!

York: It's punched!

The female Insurrectionist lands in front of the Warthog and has a brief battle with Carolina. Maine stirs, but the female Insurrectionist plants her foot on Maine's back, knocking him out again. She steals the briefcase off Maine's back but Carolina manages to retrieve it back. As the briefcase flies in the air Carolina struggles to get a grip of it; eventually she manages to.

Carolina: Got it.

The sleeveless Insurrectionist kicks Carolina down to the front bumper of the Warthog and retrieves the briefcase. Carolina attempts to climb back on the Warthog, while the sleeveless Insurrectionist prepares to execute a still-unconscious Maine.

York: Hold on!

York swerves the Warthog to the left, flinging Carolina & the sleeveless Insurrectionist off it, rousing Maine in the process.

They land on a nearby truck platform with oil drums, with Carolina grabbing the briefcase in the process. The female Insurrectionist begins to fire at Carolina, forcing her to take cover. At the same time, the sleeveless Insurrectionist tosses an oil drum at Team A's Warthog, knocking off its turret.

York: Would you quit throwin' shit! On your left! On your left!

The sniper soldier fires at York and Maine from a neighboring truck. York rams the Warthog into the truck, knocking the sniper off. The sniper uses his jetpack to gain back his balance and accelerates towards the Warthog, until Maine punches him in the face, knocking him down to the road. York and Maine speed up next to the oil truck.

York: Watch it! Watch it!

Maine jumps out of the Warthog and onto the oil truck platform, in order to assist Carolina. Maine battles the female soldier, but is kicked back with Carolina. As Carolina and Maine are back to back the two switch opponents (Carolina fighting the female soldier & Maine fighting the sleeveless soldier) with Maine now in possession of the briefcase.

York: On the right!

York tosses the Brute Shot to Carolina. Carolina Matrix jumps in the air, dodging incoming bullets. She stabs the female soldier with the Brute shot.

Carolina: Come on!

The female Insurrectionist tosses her pistol to her sleeveless companion, who catches it. The sleeveless soldier battles with Maine, even managing to shoot Maine's throat. He then throws Maine to the floor and shoots his throat repeatedly.

Carolina: NOOO!

Carolina quickly tackles the soldier and nearly stabs him with the Brute Shot. The sleeveless Insurrectionist kicks Carolina off and the two battle. As Carolina begins to overcome the two soldiers, Maine loads his Brute Shot, with blood pouring down his throat. He aims at the two Insurrectionists, but the female Insurrectionist fires at Maine, causing his aim to go awry. Maine fires at the truck's rear, causing it to swerve. The truck hits a car and the four soldiers fly through the air, the female Insurrectionist flying off the highway. Carolina reaches for the briefcase, still on Maine's back, but fails to reach it. She lands in the Warthog. Maine, however, bounces off the road twice and is hit by a speeding truck and is completely knocked off the road. The sleeveless Insurrectionist retrieves the briefcase and flies up to his Hornet. Tex appears on her motorbike & fires at the Hornet. The Hornet enters a tunnel and damages the tunnel door controls. Tex follows in pursuit.

Cut to Carolina and York

Carolina: Don't let her grab it first!

York: Who cares who gets it first!

Carolina: I do!

The doors slowly begin to close.

Carolina: Bail out!

York: Bailing!

York hops out of the Warthog and rolls down the road. Carolina rides on the Warthog and is catapulted into the tunnel before the doors close, wheels of the Warthog flying every which way. She activates her speed unit enhancement and zooms off.

Cut to York on the road.

York: Man, I've got to quit jumping off stuff today.

Cut back to Carolina, who has spotted the Hornet. Using her speed unit to avoid multiple cars, Carolina manages to catch up with Tex, and the two begin to race for the Hornet in order to obtain the briefcase.

Tex: Fall back Agent Carolina. I've got this!

Carolina: You fall back!

Tex accelerates. The Hornet exits the tunnel and begins to ascend. Tex leaps off her motorbike and launches it towards the Hornet, managing to take it out. The sleeveless Insurrectionist uses his jetpack to escape. He gains his balance and flies off with the briefcase.

Sleeveless Insurrectionist: Woah!

Tex lands on the road and Carolina sprints past her. She leaps off the road and uses her grappling hook to keep up with the sleeveless soldier. She lands on a building and quickly jumps off of it. She lands on another building and sprints towards the soldier. She tackles the Insurrectionist in midair and the two land on the road. She punches the soldier and the two begin to tumble all around the street, with Carolina sliding on the road. The soldier hits a truck and the briefcase detaches from his back. Carolina sees a car coming and curls up to slide underneath it. Part of her armor scrapes against the underside of the car, and she is sent flying through the air and her back hits a wall on the street. As Carolina stands her helmet detaches. She sees the briefcase across from her, where Tex picks it up.

Tex: (over radio) Command, the package is secure. Headin' home.

Director: (over radio) Excellent work Agent Texas.

Tex: (over radio) Thank you sir. (to Carolina) Better luck next time, Carolina.

Tex hops off the road. A Pelican approaches Carolina and descends. The back hatch opens where the other Freelancers are seen inside. York lends out his hand to Carolina in which she takes.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

This episode reveals the cause of Maine's throat injury.
This episode marks the fifth time a character's face is revealed; in this case Carolina. It also marks the third time a female character reveals her face.
This episode is in conflict with the Season 9 Trailer, where it is stated by Wash that Maine was injured in the throat by Simulation Troopers. But in this episode, Maine was shot by an Insurrectionist.
- However, it was confirmed by Monty Oum that the conversation between Wash and the Director from the Season 9 Trailer has been confirmed as non-canon.
During the scene where Carolina tells York not to let Tex grab the briefcase first, York's left shoulder pad is silver rather than tan.
The time frame between 2:46 and 4:21 is all one continuous shot.
The helix jump Carolina performs is a direct reference to the slow motion shots seen in the 1999 film, The Matrix.
On the Season 9 DVD, Monty Oum revealed that this episode is called Spiral because he felt that the chase sequence would spiral out of his control and the camera would go all over the place.
Oddly, despite being stabbed by the blade of the Brute Shot, the Female Insurrectionist's chest plate shows no signs of damage.
In a deleted scene for the episode, after Carolina hits the wall, she battles the Sleeveless Insurrectionist on a subway using her Humbler Stun Device while he uses a knife. The battle ends with Carolina using her grappling hook to pull the Sleeveless Insurrectionist's head off. Although the scene was cut, the knife/baton fight animation was recycled into the Season 10 episode C.T., in which Carolina fights C.T. instead of the Insurrectionist. Another recycled portion of the deleted scene is where Carolina crawls away and the Sleeveless Insurrectionist picks her up by the throat; this was inserted into the Season 10 episode Party Crasher. The subway fight was recycled for the monorail fight between Carolina and Sharkface in Armonia, Part 2.
In the end, when Carolina stands up after crashing into a solid upright object only to see Tex steal the briefcase as her own victory, there is nothing on Carolina’s left she could have hit, as she has ended up in the middle of the highway.