A Royal Conundrum

The pod travels to San Francisco that weekend to buy replacement clothes for Olive, and their shopping trip strengthens their bond. On Monday, Monica reveals the elite force’s name: NOCK (No One Can Know), which is headed by the mysterious Anonymous. Their mission includes protecting the community, securing possessions, and preventing disorder. As “Youth Operatives,” their job is to infiltrate areas where older operatives would stand out. Monica admits that they previously attempted the program with teens, but it failed. Pod 101 is therefore an experiment, but they all have high hopes in its success. Olive confesses to feeing afraid during the splore, but Monica and Modest reassure her that fear is an advantage.

The team must select a code name. Olive unintentionally suggests “Misfits,” which the others immediately approve. Modest and Monica train the Misfits in teamwork and take them to their hidden training room. The entrance, which is concealed behind a painting of Dame Gloria, leads to an expansive library. The room was once part of the mansion’s prison days and holds the world’s largest collection of books on lawbreakers. It also serves as a panic room. A separate office contains computers for Phil to use as a workshop. Iggy names the library “the Laundry Room.”

Their first assignment requires them to write a paper under a different identity. Olive excels at this task due to her experience with Mimi. She also begins recognizing her teammates’ strengths: Phil’s tech skills, Iggy’s math and physics expertise, Theo’s knowledge of natural disasters and geography, and James’s encyclopedic memory of history and random facts. After library training, they move to the gymkhana for fight training.

Modest teaches the Misfits ballet, which frustrates Theo. Meanwhile, Monica watches a news report about a string of jewelry thefts by a thief called “The Bling King.” She turns off the news and explains that she teaches boxing, martial arts, and fight techniques, while Modest teaches ballet. These skills work together in combat. Their first lesson involves learning a controlled fall. After training, the exhausted Misfits head to dinner.

Olive enjoys her first month at RASCH, balancing classes, training, trips to San Francisco, and game nights. One day, she eavesdrops on Sunny and Yash discussing the school’s financial troubles. Sunny worries that if this year’s gala does not succeed, they will not be able to afford to keep running the school. Due to the Bling King’s thefts, Dame Gloria might not attend. If she refuses to come, other patrons might follow suit, leaving the school in financial ruin. Olive wants to hear more but has to head to class to avoid being late.

At the gymkhana, Olive finds that Modest and Monica have installed a tightrope and trapeze for her. During training, Modest teaches them to pick their noses to avoid detection when tailing someone. The Misfits ask about their first assignment, but Modest and Monica insist that they will get an assignment when they are ready.

Modest and Monica take the Misfits to the San Francisco Bay for the “Splish-Splash Splore.” Olive cannot swim and once nearly drowned as a child when she ran into the ocean unnoticed. When they reach the water, Olive admits that she cannot swim. Modest tells her that they already know and gives her an inflatable flamingo. Everyone enters the water except for Olive. When they return an hour later, no one speaks to her.

The Misfits head to the dorms, but Olive remains frozen on the dock. Zeke, a boy from their previous pod, checks on her. He asks if she likes RASCH, and Olive says she loves it. Zeke explains that his family has attended RASCH for generations on scholarships. He praises the school’s talent, making Olive feel like she does not belong. She confesses her inability to swim, and Zeke reassures her by comparing swimming to underwater acrobatics. They say goodbye, and Olive heads to the dining hall with a new sense of resolve.

Olive joins the Misfits at their table, and Phil offers to listen if Olive wants to talk about the day. The rest of the Misfits discuss rumors about the Bling King. That night, Olive sneaks out of her room for extra practice.

Soon, Modest and Monica send the Misfits on their first assignment to observe a San Francisco pier and its surroundings for suspicious activity. The Misfits immediately question whether this is a test mission. Phil wonders if they should focus on bigger threats, but Modest explains that gathering information is essential for any operative.

Modest shares part of Monica’s history. After Monica won the Women’s World Boxing Championship, Monica’s opponent took a cheap shot, leaving her deaf in one ear and with severe hearing loss in the other. Phil altered Monica’s hearing aids, allowing her to hear better than the Misfits. This inspired Phil to create communication enhancers for the team. Phil’s EarBuzzers amplify sound directionally, while the Communication Chomper, or ComChom, allows the team to communicate silently and mimic voices.

The Misfits board BoBu, with Theo running late because he is carrying a large bag of Butter Bakery pastries for the Bay Area Community Outreach Center. Yash drops them off a few blocks away, where they do some cardio before a group of four teen boys in football jackets interrupts them. One of the boys, Smote, mocks Olive for her Asian heritage, makes fun of Phil’s headscarf, and teases Theo about his freckles. Smote starts throwing the pastries, and on Iggy’s count of three, the Misfits launch themselves at the football players. Phil takes on Smote, wrapping him in the Time-Out String, a gooey rope that immobilizes him. The sound of the police interrupts the fight, and the three other boys scatter, leaving Smote behind. Theo reveals that there are no real police officers—he used the ComChom to fake the police sirens.

Phil calls the police and advises them to pick up Smote. Olive points out a security camera, and Phil relays this information to the police so that they can check the footage for evidence of Smote’s crimes. The team then goes to a dim sum restaurant, where the server speaks to Olive in Mandarin. However, Olive only speaks English. Theo responds in Mandarin, revealing that he is fluent. Like Olive Iggy only speaks English, but they discover that Phil speaks Farsi. Iggy lectures James about his reaction during the fight with Smote. Instead of helping the Misfits, James hid. James stops attending classes with the Misfits and pretends to pick his nose if anyone looks at him.

A few weeks later, Modest and Monica set up several kiosks labeled with the Misfits’ names in the library. Inside the kiosks, screens light up and welcome them to the Success Simulator. The simulator presents various scenarios that require extreme problem-solving. Olive emerges exhausted four hours later, and Iggy and Theo are equally drained. Phil joins them shortly afterward, also looking worn. However, when James emerges, he looks fresh and relaxed. He admits that he solved his first mystery in an hour and returned to complete more. Monica instructs them to run through simulations at least twice daily, sometimes working together. After they finish a second simulation, Iggy stops James before he leaves and hands him the homework that he missed as a form of apology.

The Misfits return to San Francisco for another mission. Phil leads them into an empty alley, where a van screeches to a halt. She introduces them to Vana, an autonomous vehicle that she has modified. Inside, several monitors display the camera feed from Bee, a tiny stealth drone with tracking abilities. Bee flies into the laundry room, where Modest and Monica brief the team.

Monica explains that the RASCH gala is approaching, and Dame Gloria has agreed to attend. The Misfits must gather information at Le Pas De Chat Cafe, where patrons meet. Olive and Theo change into suits and enter the cafe. The maître d’ stops them, but Theo speaks French and convinces him to let them pass. They find seats and adjust their hearing devices to eavesdrop on the patrons’ conversation. The patrons assert that the school is past its prime; three of them plan to boycott the gala out of fear of the Bling King. Olive relays this information, but an urgent call interrupts her. The team must head to Pier 45 immediately.