Ah-ha! There’s the magic again. The last episode didn’t have all of the magic. That is, the gloriously over-the-top, flippant surrealism that these girls cartwheel through with such cheekiness. More so than any of the shows I’ve watched for this column - - more so than even COWBOY BEBOP - - this totally has the feel of late-nite programming that’d fit perfectly onto some Saturday night programming block. I don’t know if I can articulate the reasons in better detail than that, but if you can remember the days when cable TV wasn’t as… comprehensive as it’s become, today, then you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about.
The girls chase after another precious McGuffin in this episode and it’s all-out, good time goofiness from the very first scene with the horribly-incompetent cat burglar. Seriously, how ridiculous was the revelation about Kei’s maybe-some-day-boyfriend’s double covers? You can totally tell that the creators were just pulling rabbits out of their hats (or maybe somewhere else) when they’re plotting this ditty, and there’s something so giddily amusing about that. If you watch this episode for yourself, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Although…
I went ahead and watched this episode on my box set before checking to see if it was also available in the same streaming channel as the first two. Turns out it wasn’t! I suppose the idea is that they want to hook helpless, unsuspecting and all-too-trusting viewers like you with these online freebies so you’ll be compelled to go out and buy the box set. (And you should do that, anyway.) I’m not quite sure how I’ll handle subsequent episode selections because of this. As would be very appropriate to this show, it’ll probably play out just like... a roulette wheel.
Look up this episode, ""Don't Fall In Love... Love Is Russian Roulette,” and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE. Order them on Amazon here & here. Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
