The fourth episode of the Disney+ series, The Mysterious Benedict Society, sees the show jumping into high gear. While previous episodes have teased out details and clues regarding the various mysteries of the Institute and what its head, Mr. Curtain (Tony Hale), might be up to, nearly every scene in “A Whisper, Not a Shout” features an exciting revelation…
The kids discover just what Curtain’s been writing in his journal, thanks to deception, a mirror, and Sticky’s (Seth B. Carr) extraordinary sense of memory recall, although it’s in some sort of cipher. Number Two (Kristen Schaal) discovers that Rhonda (MaameYaa Boafo) has been sneaking out at night to deface billboards regarding the Emergency. Sticky attempts to help Kate (Emmy DeOliveira) cheat, as suggested by Mr. Benedict in the episode previous, is caught using Morse code, and is placed in The Waiting Room. Benedict and Milligan (Ryan Hurst) climb a cliff to spy on the island with a telescope and find Curtain going into a hidden entrance. Reynie (Mystic Inscho) and Sticky are named as new Messengers. Constance (Marta Kessler) deciphers Curtain’s journal. Finally, just as Kate is to be “barged” and sent from the Island, she bests Martina (Saara Chaudry) in a game of tetherball and is able to stay, provisionally.
That’s a lot to take in under an hour of program, and it fairly races by. Every character has a chance to interact in new, intriguing ways, however. Benedict and Milligan get some time to themselves, as do Number Two and Rhonda, and we see their relationships further develop into something more. Additionally, placing Sticky and Kate into interactions outside the group of four children – with Curtain and Martina, respectively – means they get to grow, as well.
This is an episode which features all manner of environs, as well. We see a bit more of the town of Stonetown, thanks to Rhonda’s nocturnal adventures, Sticky’s time in the Waiting Room is a nightmarish change of perspective so drastic that one feels just as pent-up and confused as the boy himself, and the hike through the woods is so very Wes Anderson-y, it almost owes him residuals.
All in all, the action readily furthers the plot and those within it so well, one hardly notices just how quickly it’s all raced by until the credits are rolling. With four more episodes to go, it looks to be an exciting adventure all the way to the end.
