Princess Principal Episode 10 Review – “Case 22 Comfort Comrade”

(Spoilers in this review) Summary: Ange, Dorothy, and Beatrice are sent to see if Prez, a former classmate from spy school, is a double-agent. Said classmate was always second best at spy school and she had always admired someone. It turns out she was caught by the Kingdom and that she was poisoned and now forced into working for them so she could receive a long-term cure. Dorothy is powerless to stop her from offing herself right after she admits she had always yearned for Dorothy. When the two girls report back to Control, they find that L has been replaced by a man named General. The episode ends with General ordering Ange and Dorothy to assassinate Princess for their next mission.

Review: I’m just going to list some of the thoughts that popped into my head after this episode.

• So we get to see another team besides Team White Pigeon…sort of. Remember back in episode 4 when Dorothy thought more experienced spies should handle the mission? That implied that there are other spy teams. It’s just too bad that Prez had already switched sides. Maybe we’ll see other teams since Prez brought them up when she expressed shock that Team White Pigeon was the one who received the C-Ball.
• Speaking of which, we never got to hear Prez’s real name. That’s definitely a spy thing, I guess. My apologies, her name is Eleanor.
• For a while I was led to believe Prez wanted to be like Ange since Prez seems uptight and fixated on results. In actuality, she was tired of having to be like that and she actually wanted to be more like Dorothy, who she considered to be wild and easygoing and free.
• Nevertheless, there were hints as to who Prez actually admired. I mean, she muses that Christmas reminds her of her role model. And as it turns out, she had actually spent Christmas with Dorothy instead of Ange several years ago. The framing subtly placed the two girls side by side on several occasions, as well.
• For once it seems like Ange had messed up, but she actually was trying to be considerate of Dorothy’s feelings, who considered Prez to be a friend. Ange is a nice girl despite her lies.
• The implication behind Dorothy saying that Control has high hopes for Ange and not for their team as a whole is interesting. I wonder if Control consider the other members to be more expendable.
• That’s shown in how the team receive missions, too. Dorothy is always the one to receive the orders, but Ange also accompanied her during this episode. Beatrice is an amateur, Chise is in a hazy spot on the team, and Princess is under scrutinity since Control thinks she’s possibly a double-agent.
• Unfortunately, while L was the one calling the shots in Control and was wary about Princess, his replacement, General, outright thinks she’s a double-agent and has ordered Ange and Dorothy to kill her. In other words, here comes the climax!

All in all, it was an interesting episode that establishes Ange is a good girl, Dorothy is smooth with the ladies, and that Team White Pigeon is a lighter shade of grey compared to their opponents (blackmail via poisoning is really terrible). Unfortunately, Control is a darker shade of grey as they seem to have kicked off Operation: Changeling. Ange will have to choose sides and the results will definitely be messy.