‘Gen V’ Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: ‘Bags’

Warning: Spoilers ahead for season two, episode four of Gen V.

In the latest episode of Gen V, two Godolkin University students are pitted against each other as punishment, the supes get a lot closer to learning what Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater) is hiding, and Emma (Lizze Broadway) inspires some underdogs to become heroes. Here’s a full recap of what happened in the latest episode of Prime Video’s superhero satire series.

After Jordan’s (London Thor and Derek Luh) big confession at the end of episode three of Gen V, the supe is being accused of lying to protect Starlighters and contributing to “a woke plague” at the university.

Jordan and Marie (Jaz Sinclair) are pulled into Cipher’s office, where The Boys character Seth Reed (Malcolm Barrett) from Vought’s marketing team presents them with the concept for a live, pay-per-view fight between Jordan and Marie, aka “The Gender Bender Vs. The Blood Bender.”

Marie and Jordan are immediately opposed, but Cipher says they have no choice. The public hates Jordan, and Cipher wants Marie to beat them in the fight. If they don’t cooperate, he’ll send them, and Emma, back to Elmira.

Jordan And Marie Team Up With Cate

Desperate, Marie and Jordan seek out Cate’s (Maddie Phillips) help. But Cate tells them that she’s tried and failed many times to get into Cipher’s head. She suggests an alternative idea: maybe they can sneak into his house, find some dirt on him and blackmail him into stopping the fight. Marie decides she’s going to let Cipher train her for the match, keeping him occupied so Cate and Jordan can break in.

At Cipher’s house, they find a hyperbaric chamber with an old, severely burned man inside. Jordan quickly snaps a photo on their phone, and they run away after the man opens his eyes.

Cipher Reveals Why Godolkin University Was Created

During training, Cipher tells Marie to get out of her head and focus on connecting with the blood cells of her targets. His advice works and when she fully concentrates, she’s able to move several bags of blood to a nearby table using her mind, without causing them to explode. Then, Cipher brings out a real goat for her to levitate using her powers. Marie levitates the animal, and while doing that, she glances at Cipher’s neck veins and realizes he doesn’t have Compound V in his system. Unfortunately, that revelation causes Marie to lose her focus, and the goat explodes. Oops.

Cipher also reveals to Marie that he knows she found out about Project Odessa. He tells her that Thomas Godolkin specifically created God U to turn Marie into the most powerful supe. Cipher thinks Marie could be the most powerful supe that Vought has ever seen, maybe even more powerful than Homelander (Antony Starr).

After training, Marie reconvenes with Emma, Jordan and Cate. Cipher, seemingly always a few steps ahead, texts Cate and tells her that he has cameras everywhere and saw that she broke into his home, and they need to meet. Marie tells Cate to meet Cipher somewhere public and get him to admit he’s a human. Since she can’t sneak in a camera without getting busted, Emma offers to help with some friends.

In the locker room before the fight, Jordan is on edge. They talk to Marie about getting their powers at 6 years old and hiding them from everyone. That led to a recurring nightmare about being in public and seeing everyone point and yell at them, full of hatred. Now, that nightmare has become a reality. Marie reminds Jordan that none of this is real and that she loves them.

To carry out her part of the plan, Emma forms a side group with Harper (Jessica Clement), Ally (Georgie Murphy), and Ally’s brother Greg (Stephen Thomas Kalyn), whom she may or may not be crushing on. Harper uses her powers to mimic another supe’s phasing ability and enter a locked boiler room door at the fight venue, while Greg stays outside as the lookout. Harper and Ally (who has the power to manipulate her pubic hair, by the way) stop the flow of water through a pipe that leads to the VIP room, and Emma shrinks and begins walking through.

Cipher Finally Unveils His Powers

Cate meets with Cipher in the VIP box, and he tells her that the old man in the chamber is his father. Cate apologizes for breaking in and says she was just curious about Cipher and his power set. She bluffs, telling him that her powers returned and she learned something. Before she can continue, Cipher cuts her off to go to the bathroom.

After a minor hiccup, Emma reaches the end and winds up in the toilet bowl of the VIP box, climbing out just as Cipher squats onto the seat. Then, she sets up a tiny camera to record Cate’s conversation with him.

When Cipher returns, Cate says that she knows he’s a human. But Cipher’s still not pulling the plug on the fight. Cipher reveals that he spotted the tiny camera and knows what Cate is up to. He refuses to halt the fight because if Cate were 100% sure about him, she wouldn’t be trying to trick him into a confession.

As the fight begins, Cipher shows his real power: he has mind-controlling abilities that allow him to puppeteer other people, manipulating their movements and words.

Cipher demonstrates his power by puppeteering Jordan and making them beat up Marie. As Marie and Jordan fight, she uses what she learned in training to make Jordan levitate and get off her. Cipher stops his control over Jordan, and the real Jordan, who looks to be on the verge of death, pleads with Marie to stop. The episode ends with Marie dropping Jordan, the crowd chanting her name and Cate looking at Cipher in bewilderment.

New episodes of Gen V release every Wednesday on Prime Video, leading up to the season two finale on October 22.