Synopsis of 1×04: In search of her sister, Grace and Arthur discover another dastardly plot carried out by Heart Enterprises – this one involving patients at Kane Hill and candy.

Rating:
This episode was the first that didn’t enthrall me and make me laugh until I cried. Maybe because it was a pretty straightforward take on the inmates running the asylum trope, without any of the twists or surprises that previous issues had provided.

Regardless, it starts out with a graphic advertisement for Smax candy, in which the friendly neighborhood truck driver is killed when he runs out of Smax. The warnings include its addictive properties and the side-effect of “racial intolerance” among other things. At Kane Hill, a trauma nurse is giving out that same candy to patients for Halloween.

Plan in place, Grace is thrilled to be getting away from Julian Slink and rescuing her sister from the very same hospital just seen. She has no further plans beyond picking Karma up, but the Scholar held up his end of the bargain and they were able to sneak away without punishment. Unfortunately, Julian still notices their absence and sends Rib Bone after them.

It’s a short drive and Grace wants to weapon up before heading inside, but Arthur insists on trying to simply sign her out at the front desk. Reluctantly, Grace agrees to try it his way – only to be told by the man at the front desk that Karma was transferred. She’s pissed and they head into the hospital to try to get more information out of Karma’s doctor. They narrowly miss him being attacked in a room off the hallway they’re exploring.

Poor Christopher is still restrained and now his fluids are being harvested for Aki in case Heart needs them for anything down the line. She’s got plenty of creative ways to get every kind of fluid he produces from him, much to his chagrin.

Grace asks after Karma’s doctor from some people who only want to put on animal masks and dance around. This scene is familiar enough to her that she flashes back to taking her sister to a party where she was searching out the past Primo of the Blood Drive. After adjusting her clothing and leaving Karma to wait around for her, Grace goes on the hunt for the Primo.

Unlike Grace and Arthur, Rib Bone realizes immediately that the inmates have control of Kane Hill and he locks it down from the front desk. Separated from Grace, Arthur finds the nurse from the beginning of the episode and she helps him assimilate in order to survive and escape in one piece.

In another flashback, Grace remembers how one of the guy’s at the party hassled her sister and she came to her defense. That brought her to the attention of Julian, who is DJing at the party, and the Primo himself.

With the help of the nurse, Arthur is able to move through the halls of Kane Hill without issue. They see more than a few of the staff being tortured by the patients, but she doesn’t think they can stop for any of them. She explains to Arthur that government funding dried up and Heart Enterprises kept Kane Hill open in order to run tests on the patients. They created sugar that doesn’t make you fat, which it doesn’t, but it also makes the people who eat it crazy violent. The Smax candy that everyone is addicted to is made of that sugar.

When she stumbles upon Karma’s doctor, Grace doesn’t get the chance to ask him much because another patient steps in and shocks him to death. She’s forced to struggle with the patient until she returns the shocking favor, setting the room on fire at the same time. Running out, she bumps into Arthur and the nurse in the hallway.

Rib Bone announces over the loudspeaker that he has Smax for anyone who can bring him the cop. Arthur is back in his cop uniform and fighting his way through the halls when Grace realizes the nurse is wearing her sister’s necklace.

Another flashback reveals Karma isn’t enjoying herself at the party after ingesting a bunch of Red, the drug that makes you feel euphoric. Instead of heading outside like Grace suggests, Karma takes more Red while Grace goes back to the Primo. In the present, she learns from the nurse that Karma left it when ‘they’ checked her out.

Together, they go after Karma’s paperwork to figure out just who took her from Kane Hill, but they’re interrupted by Rib Bone. While Grace is digging through the files, Arthur gets sucker punched and the nurse is asking for the Smax. Rib Bone starts to fight with Grace, ultimately giving her Red to subdue her.

A final flashback shows Grace signing Karma into Kane Hill because of how much Red she’d taken. Karma is upset and doesn’t want to be left behind, especially since Grace can only afford two weeks of treatment, but she still leaves her there. Outside, Grace discovers Julian leaning against her modified car. He tells her about the Blood Drive and the money in order to recruit her.

While Grace is down, the nurse attacks Rib Bone for more candy and is easily killed. Arthur gets back to his feet and gets into a brutal fight with Rib Bone. He’s outmatched in strength, but after he dumps a cooler of powdered chocolate on Rib Bone, the addicted patients tear into him for their fix and Arthur is able to escape.

He collects Grace, who is kind of out of it but still manages to rip a picture off the wall before they leave the building just as it explodes. They leave poor Caligula behind and make it back to the party where Julian makes it clear that the leashes are back on by shocking them. After he leaves, Grace reveals to Arthur the picture.

It’s Julian at Kane Hill in 1957 and she’s convinced that he knows where Karma is and what’s happened to her.

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