The Mighty Nein Season 1 Episode 5 Review

The Mighty Nein

Prime Video

Season 1 Episode 5

Little Spark

After the Mighty Nein break out of prison and subdue a Volstrucker assassin, Beau interrogates her brutally. But as the questioning ramps up, Beau’s suspicions turn to Caleb and his connection with the Empire and dark past are unraveled.

Most seasons of television, especially short seasons devote an episode to some of the most emotional, heart wrenching moments one or many of the characters can face. That episode is this one as it dives into Caleb’s (Liam O’Brien) backstory in the aftermath of the team coming together. First, I absolutely love the framing device used in this episode and how it adds so much emotional weight to not only the events of the episode, but also the final moments of it.

Young Caleb, also known as Bren is shown with his loving but poor family in their modest home in the fields. After showing a bit of magic to his father and one of the neighbors, the family is visited by Trent Ikithon (Mark Strong) from the Cerberus Assembly. I continue to love seeing the show distinguish between sorcery and wizardry by having Caleb use items and components for his magic. It’s a great character trait for Caleb and a wonderful nod to Dungeons and Dragons players who regularly play spellcasters.

The episode switches between Caleb’s flashbacks and the aftermath of the capture of the Volstrucker in town and her subsequent interrogation by Beau (Marisha Ray). It’s a wonderfully paced episode that switches between Caleb’s family, the family he develops at the Academy and his newfound family of the Mighty Nein and how each family both forges and changes him in different ways. The episode is very Caleb focused, but it also allows the other characters to have their moments as well.

Young Bren finds himself embracing his life at the Academy and finding that his ingenuity and talent are rewarded as he and two other students are given special assignments by Trent. Assignments that will not only help them prove their loyalty to the Empire, but to their teacher as well at the cost of something Bren never imagined he would sacrifice. This revelation sends Caleb down a dark path that is becoming more evident as the episode continues and I like that it raises alarms with Beau and the conflict that it leads to.

This episode is the darkest so far of the series and it culminates in some brilliant acting by Liam O’Brien. There is a depth of character throughout the episode as you see the wide-eyed, curious boy get beaten down by the consequences of his choices and the manipulation of others to become the sad, emotionally damaged man struggling with a growing darkness within himself that he desperately tries to hide, but cannot escape. I was wrecked emotionally at the end of this episode and that is all due to the performances and how the writers and creators have drawn me in as a viewer and given me reason to care about these characters.