[Review/Recap] Miraculous Ladybug Season 3 Episode 4: "Backwarder" (SPOILERS) · 11:57pm Feb 12th, 2019
A glimpse of Master Fu's past ties into an Akuma wreaking havoc in the present as Marinette tries to figure out what to do about Adrien and Kagami both attending the Royal Wedding in London.
The episode opens with a flashback to World War II France, where Fu is on the run with a woman named Marianne. The two of them are trying to keep the Nazis from getting the Miracle Box. Fu wants to escape to safety in England, while Marianne wants them to use the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous to stand and fight. In the end, Marianne is determined to stay, so Fu gives her a distinctive Chinese brooch and flees with the Miraculous.
In the present, Marinette has an epic Adrien crisis: Adrien and Gabriel are attending the Royal Wedding in England, and so are Kagami and her mother. Marinette is freaking out about the possibility of Adrien falling in love with Kagami, and gathers the girls to come up with another "Secret Garden" plan--of course, this is a bit out of a group of middle school girls' league. When Marinette sees Wayzz hovering outside the window trying to get her attention, she shoos the girls out abruptly.
Wayzz says that Master Fu needs Marinette urgently, so she rounds up her things and heads for the Metro, reminding Tikki that Master Fu has occasionally summoned Marinette for rather less than world-shaking things such as locking himself out of his flat, and that despite having a smartphone, he has somehow not learned how to send text messages. (OK...)
While on the train, Marinette starts writing a "thinking of you" letter to give to Adrien before he leaves. She dictates her letter out loud to herself as she writes, and a couple of jerks on the train make fun of her, but she ignores it. When she arrives at Master Fu's place, a doctor is there examining him, and it turns out he just has a stomach bug and is being a tremendous baby about it. But he also has something important for Marinette to do: a letter for her to deliver to the woman with the Chinese brooch.
Using Ladybug to get around fast enough, Marinette heads out to take care of three errands involving three letters: her letter to Adrien, Master Fu's letter to Marianne, and the prescription for Master Fu's stomach medicine, all of which she needs to do in under 20 minutes.
Yeah, we can ALL see where this is going...
Marinette ends up giving Adrien the stomach prescription, Marianne HER letter to Adrien, and the pharmacist Master Fu's letter. Oops. Marianne misinterprets Fu's letter as a sign that he doesn't love her and she's pined away for him for decades for nothing.
On the train which is just about to depart, the Butterfly Miraculous flashes, and Gabriel throws a diva tantrum to force the conductor to hold the train until he's "feeling well" so he can lock himself in the bathroom and transform. (Uhh...okay, there was ALWAYS the chance of something like this happening, but REALLY, Hawk Moth? REALLY?! 
)
So Hawk Moth Akumatizes Marianne, creating Backwarder--who's basically Timebreaker 2.0, except instead of the freeze-and-fade Timebreaker did, Backwarder's victims are thrown into reverse.
This battle is one of the duo's most dangerous yet, because if Backwarder is able to touch Ladybug, she'll lead her straight back to Master Fu, giving Hawk Moth a total victory--he'll have the Guardian, the Miracle Box, and ALL the Miraculous!
Ladybug comes up with the most batshit insane plan EVER with her Lucky Charm, to use Backwarder's power against her. Ladybug then delivers the right letter to Marianne.
On the train, Hawk Moth takes time to gloat, even unleashing an evil laugh as passengers line up outside to use the bathroom. Gabriel and Adrien come out of opposing bathrooms at the same time and return to their seats, neither the wiser, as their train finally gets underway. Back in Paris, a recovered Fu meets up with Marianne on a park bench. Because of the new information Hawk Moth gained from Backwarder, Marianne now has to go into hiding because her presence endangers Fu and the Miraculous, so despite wanting to finally be together with her old love after all this time, she can't. (;_;) Master Fu tells her that he's confident Ladybug and Chat Noir will defeat Hawk Moth soon, and they can finally be together.
Oh, and as to the...other little issue in this episode?
Well, when the girls go back to school on Monday, Marinette is too embarrassed to tell them about the mix-up, but then Adrien comes along and...
That ridiculous boy...
He spent all weekend going around London trying to find the constipation capsules from the prescription Marinette gave him. 
This is my favorite season 3 episode so far.
So we learned some more about Master Fu in this episode, and also learned that he plans to make Marinette the next Guardian of the Miracle Box (called it!!).
Best moments of the episode:
* Hawk Moth in a train bathroom. "Uh--OCCUPIED!"
* CONSTIPATION CAPSULES and Adrien isn't even the LEAST BIT weirded out by it XD
Here's my biggest question, having not seen the episode: Where did Hawk Moth get a pre-akumatization butterfly in a TRAIN BATHROOM?!
And let's be real, Adrien has dealt with weirder shit than constipation pill prescriptions.
And I know that the show writers want to milk the Adrien/Black Cat and Marinette/Ladybug love square for as long as possible, but I really hope that they make the two of them realize it BEFORE THE UBER-CLICHE "SERIES FINALE MOMENT"
5012122
From what I've heard, the plan is to finally break the reveal this season. As to the butterfly, there's long been a fan theory that the Miraculous itself generates (or attracts) those white butterflies. This more or less confirms it.
are you not doing a rating anymore or was it just for this ep
Also is anyone going to acknowledge that all the akumatizations so far have been caused by marinate screw ups
the letter mix up here
last episodes christmaster
her lies in weredad
and her feelings towards wanting to expose lila as a lier almost got her akumatised, the only thing that stopped it was her cheering herself up just a bit and lila intercepting the akuma
guess since chloe is trying to be less of a jerk she's no longer the akuma factory
5012255
I don't really do ratings for Ladybug episodes for the most part, just general thoughts. And yeah, now that you mention it, Marinette is causing basically ALL the problems this season so far. Yikes. @_@
Is it weird that I think that Marinette is one mental breakdown away from becoming a yandere?
5012207
Huh. Hope it does happen. I've also heard that supposedly one of the episodes this season has the premise of "Cat Noir gets akumatised", becoming "Cat Blanc".
5012324
I wouldn't go that far, but she IS a mess. Then again, so is Adrien. They're made for each other.
5012329
Yeah, "Chat Blanc" is one of the episode titles for this season, and the list is actually confirmed and verified. HOWEVER, there is also an episode titled "Felix", so "Chat Blanc" might be a ruse...
5012373
It might be a ruse, but if there were ever a better time for the two of them to find out identities, it would be then. Because the most likely place the akuma would go on Cat Noir is his Miraculous, like when Chloe became "Queen Wasp".