Two solid episodes back to back? Damn, we be eating good this arc!
With the battle ended, a wounded Hawks and Jeanist head out into the field to deal with a ghost from Hawks’ past. Meanwhile, the Todoroki family gather to address the skeletons in their closets. Society is shattering at the seams; will our heroes break with it?
Hawks’ backstory was wonderfully done in this episode. It had some really solid animation combined with some strong visuals, like the glowing of the Endeavor doll. It’s a brutally honest and grounded depiction of what a broken home and abusive family can be like, which only makes Hawks all the more admirable for not being broken by it. Definitely one of the strongest scenes this season.
Then they explain how Jeanist faked his death. I still don’t like that it was faked, but at least the explanation is somewhat believable. At least it wasn’t a total ass-pull.
Society continues to devolve. Villains are on a rampage. Regular people arm themselves for self-defense. The stress breaks heroes one after another. It’s incredibly solid world-building that pays off plot threads set up damn near since the beginning.
We’re then treated to a decently powerful scene with Endeavor. After seeing him rise and redeem himself over the last few seasons, he plunges further than ever before. Broken by the weight of his own actions, crushed by despair. It’s heavy stuff.
All of which is completely undercut by Shoto slapstick. Time and a place, Shoto.
Thankfully, it manages to pull itself back together after that scene with the coming of a long-awaited reunion. The Todoroki family drama that’s been building since season god damn two is finally coming to a head. Hopefully they can stick the landing; this plot thread has honestly been the best part of the series for me and I’d hate to see it fall flat in the last stretch.
Honestly, I don’t have many complaints about this episode. Sure, there were plenty of unnecessary flashbacks, but that’s a problem with the season as a whole at this point, not the individual episodes. Everything this one does is just really solid.
So far, so good. Let’s see if they can keep this energy up.
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