diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 664d660..d62711e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,3 +24,10 @@ tower-http = { version = "0.6.6", features = ["cors", "fs", "trace"] }
 tracing = "0.1.41"
 tracing-log = "0.2.0"
 tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.19", features = ["env-filter", "fmt"] }
+
+[profile.release]
+opt-level = 3
+lto = true
+codegen-units = 1
+panic = "abort"
+strip = true
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 7f3e93c..63628b3 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ WORKDIR /app
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y ca-certificates openssl sqlite3 && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 RUN mkdir -p /app/data
 COPY --from=backend-builder /app/target/release/rick-and-morty .
+COPY --from=backend-builder /app/target/release/fetch_characters .
 COPY --from=backend-builder /app/migrations ./migrations
 COPY --from=frontend-builder /app/dist ./frontend/dist
 EXPOSE 8000
diff --git a/compose.yml b/compose.yml
index 5eb14b1..2c94a1b 100644
--- a/compose.yml
+++ b/compose.yml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ services:
     build: .
     container_name: rick_and_morty_app
     environment:
-      DATABASE_URL: "sqlite:///app/data/rick_and_morty.db"
+      DATABASE_URL: "sqlite:///app/data/rick_and_morty.db?mode=rwc"
       BIND_ADDR: 0.0.0.0:8000
     ports:
       - "8000:8000"
diff --git a/frontend/bun.lockb b/frontend/bun.lockb
index 976b69b..e6a2782 100755
Binary files a/frontend/bun.lockb and b/frontend/bun.lockb differ
diff --git a/frontend/src/App.tsx b/frontend/src/App.tsx
index 13f8ded..a18bf26 100644
--- a/frontend/src/App.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/App.tsx
@@ -4,21 +4,22 @@ import { getCharacters, rateCharacters } from "./api";
 import type { Character } from "./types";
 import { Card } from "./components/card";
 import { Table } from "./components/table";
-import { getId } from "./utils";
 
 function getRandomIndex(length: number) {
   return Math.floor(Math.random() * length);
 }
 
-function getRandomPair(characters: Character[], lastPair: [number, number]) {
-  if (characters.length < 2) return [null, null];
-
+// Optionally: Use a lastPairRef to avoid same characters twice in a row
+function getRandomPair(
+  characters: Character[],
+  lastPair: [number, number] | null
+): [Character, Character] {
+  if (characters.length < 2) return [null, null] as never;
   let firstIndex = getRandomIndex(characters.length);
   let secondIndex = getRandomIndex(characters.length);
 
   while (
-    firstIndex === lastPair[0] ||
-    secondIndex === lastPair[1] ||
+    (lastPair && firstIndex === lastPair[0] && secondIndex === lastPair[1]) ||
     firstIndex === secondIndex
   ) {
     firstIndex = getRandomIndex(characters.length);
@@ -57,8 +58,8 @@ const App: React.FC = () => {
     if (voting || !rivals[winnerIdx] || !rivals[loserIdx]) return;
     setVoting(true);
     setVotedLeft(winnerIdx === 0);
-    const winnerId = getId(rivals[winnerIdx]);
-    const loserId = getId(rivals[loserIdx]);
+    const winnerId = rivals[winnerIdx]!.id;
+    const loserId = rivals[loserIdx]!.id;
     if (!winnerId || !loserId) return;
     await rateCharacters(winnerId, loserId);
     const chars = await getCharacters();
diff --git a/frontend/src/api.ts b/frontend/src/api.ts
index 4f92e31..086c423 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api.ts
@@ -2,13 +2,19 @@ import type { Character } from './types';
 
 export const getCharacters = async (): Promise<Character[]> => {
     const res = await fetch('/characters');
+    if (!res.ok) {
+        throw new Error('Failed to fetch characters');
+    }
     return res.json();
 };
 
-export const rateCharacters = async (winnerId: string, loserId: string) => {
-    await fetch('/rate', {
+export const rateCharacters = async (winnerId: number, loserId: number) => {
+    const res = await fetch('/rate', {
         method: 'POST',
         headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ winner_id: winnerId, loser_id: loserId }),
+        body: JSON.stringify({ winner_id: winnerId.toString(), loser_id: loserId.toString() }),
     });
+    if (!res.ok) {
+        throw new Error('Failed to rate characters');
+    }
 };
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/card.tsx b/frontend/src/components/card.tsx
index f503f4b..2afbfdf 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/card.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/card.tsx
@@ -1,62 +1,64 @@
-import React from 'react';
-import type { Character } from '../types';
+import React from "react";
+import type { Character } from "../types";
 
 interface CardProps {
-    data: Character;
-    isClicked?: boolean;
-    skipped?: boolean;
-    onClick?: () => void;
-    isRight?: boolean;
+  data: Character;
+  isClicked?: boolean;
+  skipped?: boolean;
+  onClick?: () => void;
+  isRight?: boolean;
 }
 
 export const Card: React.FC<CardProps> = ({
-    data,
-    isClicked,
-    skipped,
-    onClick,
+  data,
+  isClicked,
+  skipped,
+  onClick,
 }) => (
-    <div
-        className={`card bg-gray-300 flex flex-col items-center shadow-lg rounded p-1 transform transition ease-in-out ${isClicked || skipped ? 'flip-card' : ''} md:hover:scale-105`}
-        onClick={onClick}
-        style={{ cursor: 'pointer' }}
-    >
-        <div className="card-inner">
-            {/* FRONT */}
-            <div className="card-front flex flex-col items-center">
-                <h1 className="text-lg font-bold">{data.name}</h1>
-                <img className="avatar" src={data.image} alt={data.name} />
-                <h2 className="text-lg text-center font-bold">Info</h2>
-                <div className="w-full md:w-2/3">
-                    <table className="table-auto text-left">
-                        <tbody>
-                            <tr>
-                                <th>Species</th>
-                                <td>{data.species}</td>
-                            </tr>
-                            <tr>
-                                <th>Gender</th>
-                                <td>{data.gender}</td>
-                            </tr>
-                            <tr>
-                                <th>Status</th>
-                                <td>{data.status}</td>
-                            </tr>
-                            <tr>
-                                <th>Origin</th>
-                                <td>{data.origin.name}</td>
-                            </tr>
-                            <tr>
-                                <th>Last location</th>
-                                <td>{data.location.name}</td>
-                            </tr>
-                        </tbody>
-                    </table>
-                </div>
-            </div>
-            {/* BACK */}
-            <div className="card-back">
-                {/* You can put whatever you want here, like a background or extra info */}
-            </div>
+  <div
+    className={`card bg-gray-300 flex flex-col items-center shadow-lg rounded p-1 transform transition ease-in-out ${
+      isClicked || skipped ? "flip-card" : ""
+    } md:hover:scale-105`}
+    onClick={onClick}
+    style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+  >
+    <div className="card-inner">
+      {/* FRONT */}
+      <div className="card-front flex flex-col items-center">
+        <h1 className="text-lg font-bold">{data.name}</h1>
+        <img className="avatar" src={data.image} alt={data.name} />
+        <h2 className="text-lg text-center font-bold">Info</h2>
+        <div className="w-full md:w-2/3">
+          <table className="table-auto text-left">
+            <tbody>
+              <tr>
+                <th>Species</th>
+                <td>{data.species}</td>
+              </tr>
+              <tr>
+                <th>Gender</th>
+                <td>{data.gender}</td>
+              </tr>
+              <tr>
+                <th>Status</th>
+                <td>{data.status}</td>
+              </tr>
+              <tr>
+                <th>Origin</th>
+                <td>{data.origin_name}</td>
+              </tr>
+              <tr>
+                <th>Last location</th>
+                <td>{data.location_name}</td>
+              </tr>
+            </tbody>
+          </table>
         </div>
+      </div>
+      {/* BACK */}
+      <div className="card-back">
+        {/* You can put whatever you want here, like a background or extra info */}
+      </div>
     </div>
+  </div>
 );
diff --git a/frontend/src/types.ts b/frontend/src/types.ts
index cc39132..f15a788 100644
--- a/frontend/src/types.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/types.ts
@@ -4,17 +4,19 @@ export interface OriginOrLocation {
 }
 
 export interface Character {
-    _id: string | { $oid: string };
+    id: number;
     rmid: number;
     name: string;
     status: string;
     species: string;
     type: string;
     gender: string;
-    origin: OriginOrLocation;
-    location: OriginOrLocation;
+    origin_name: string;
+    origin_url: string;
+    location_name: string;
+    location_url: string;
     image: string;
-    episode: string[];
+    episode: string;    // This will be a stringified JSON array!
     url: string;
     created: string;
     elo_rating: number;
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils.ts b/frontend/src/utils.ts
index 292b1d9..75b1296 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import type { Character } from "./types";
 
-export function getId(character: Character | null) {
-    if (!character) return undefined;
-    const id = character._id as string | { $oid: string } | undefined;
-    if (typeof id === 'string') return id;
-    if (id && typeof id.$oid === 'string') return id.$oid;
-    return undefined;
+export function getEpisodes(character: Character): string[] {
+    if (Array.isArray(character.episode)) return character.episode;
+    try {
+        return JSON.parse(character.episode);
+    } catch {
+        return [];
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file