Depends on the Wagon

The Mysterious Benedict Society
Season 1, Episode 3

Air date	July 2, 2021
Written by	Chelsey Lora
Directed by	Glen Winter
Episode Guide
previous Carrying A Bird	next A Whisper, Not a Shout

Depends on the Wagon is the third episode of the first season of the mystery adventure television series based on the young adult book series by Trenton Lee Stewart. It premiered on July 2, 2021 on Disney+.^[1]

Synopsis[]

The kids of The Mysterious Benedict Society come to a grim realization about Dr. Curtain's methods of keeping secrets. They also learn the dire consequences to the mission if they were to slip to the bottom of their classed: they would be kicked out. After receiving a message from the children, Mr. Benedict and his crew investigate his possible connection to Dr. Curtain. The children resolve to learn more about the elite Messenger program at the school.^[2]

Plot Summary[]

In one of the classrooms at The Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance meet Mr. Curtain. Initially the children think that Mr. Benedict has a split personality and is showing his other side as Curtain, but they quickly settle on the idea that Curtain is a long-lost twin brother.

The classes at the institute and the workload are bothering Kate. She wants to act by investigating the tower in hopes of finding the transmitter which is broadcasting the subliminal messages. Unfortunately, the only way the kids will ever get inside the highly restricted tower is to become Messengers. To do that, one must have excellent grades in class.

While the news of the aforementioned twin brother is shocking to the children, Rhonda and Number Two are just as puzzled by the revelation. Benedict shares his family history and tells his associates of his long-lost twin brother Nathaniel. They were together in an orphanage and while Mr. Benedict was adopted, his brother was left behind. Having fled the orphanage, Mr. Benedict never saw his brother again, until now.

As the kids make peace with the idea that Mr. Benedict’s motives are pure, they struggle with adapting to the class expectations. With discussions about “The cola with the quinine is a favorite of the jet set”, Sticky sums up the feelings of the kids by declaring the classes are crazy. The four kids learn that the students with the lowest weekly scores who fall into the red zone get booted out of the institute and sent home on a barge with their memory wiped.

While Constance and Kate fall into the yellow warning zone, Reynie and Sticky are near the top of the group. Summoned to meet with Mr. Curtain, Reynie learns that he is close to becoming a Messenger faster than anyone else in the history of the institute.

Fearing the loss of Kate and Constance, the group seeks guidance from Mr. Benedict about what to do. Mr. Benedict advises the kids to cheat. The idea of cheating is an anathema to Sticky and Reynie. The two kids debate the ethics of cheating. But the moral quandary of cheating is not a concern for Kate. She has been sitting around for too long and wants to get active, so she sets out to investigate the tower. Were it not for a timely save from Constance, Kate would have had a written report about being out late at night and straying from the path by Jackson and Jillson

Later, Milligan returns from retrieving important documents from the mansion while carefully avoiding Curtain’s goons, and Reynie is still struggling with how and if they should help the girls cheat on their tests. Whereas, Mr. Curtain is rapidly advancing his program with ominous pronouncements to his underlings, and an unexpected visitor appears at Mr. Benedict’s campsite. Ms. Perumal has determined that Reynie is not enrolled in the Boatwright Academy, and wants to know where he is.