Black Lagoon S01E04-06 - TRIPLE REVIEW, one corpse...

BLACK LAGOON
Series 1, Episode 4/5/6

Yeah, you read right, triple review! Why? Because this is a three-part episode, simple as that. This time, the Lagoon Company goes against, beware, German fanatics who are clearly designed to resemble the time Germany suffered under Hitler. But I won’t get into this matter because this is a sad part of history that should not downplay the fun episode(s) ahead of us. Enjoy.

"What a pleasant night to go kill some Nazis."

We start off on the sea, admiring the beauty of the waters. Yeah, even pirates do that from time to time. Rock even did go scuba-diving back in his time, we learn.
1945: We are in Kiel, Germany. A submarine is leaving doomed Germany’s safe haven to journey, to where is unknown for now. On board we have, of course, the crew, the captain who seems like a nice fellow, a Japanese Ltn. Col. who studies aeronautics and a mystery-shrouded SS officer with a special cargo.

Back in the present, Rock comes back from shopping and his eyes catch a scuba diving tank but he can’t afford it. Why that is shown now, is pretty obvious, it will have to do something with the job coming up. 

The submarine, still in 1945, has travelled to Africa and now encounters an enemy ship from England. Thrown in is a little discussion about if attacking the ship is an unnecessary risk and about if the war isn’t already over, which apparently due to the resign of even the SS officer, it is. But they fire, anyway. 

Rock doing the financial stuff while Dutch is doing his ‘off-season santa’ masquerade. And guess what, he has Rock’s favored scuba diving gear. 

"Never seen an off-season Santa?"

And now, danger awaits our fearless submarine crew, yeah, they did a bit of a over-stressing that one, as they are being taken under attack by one of the many cruisers they tried to outsmart. And they get hit. With no option of rescue. The original destination was somewhere in Japan, Batavia, to return Japanese Ltn. Col. which leads to him leaving this world by the samurai way (suicide for those who didn't catch on this one).
After that, all personnel are being relieved of their military duties by the captain who somehow reminds me of Harrison Ford’s character in "K-19", and the SS guy proves himself to be a pure bastard by putting a painting beyond every life on board. The captain however, knowing he is going to die anyway and that he overplayed his card, begins to talk about family and hell, I’m really sympathizing with him right here, letting the SS bastard to shoot him. Twice.

So, finally we are back at the job. Rock is having troubles seeing himself as a professional diver what I think is justified. Now, Benny introduces us to the very submarine we saw live just a few minutes ago. And there you have it: the painting is the job. The company was hired by some antique collector from Spain. The boat itself was discovered by someone other but legally no one had the right to search it, so there our pirates have the advantage. So, Revy and Rock go diving together.

And ‘off-season santa’ comes in once again, giving Revy an underwater rifle about what she literally freaks out of enjoyment. Who wouldn’t? Which was planned by super-employer Dutch. 

"Stop staring at my awesome rack, you pervert."

Diving (which Revy is a natural talent at), Rock and Revy find the submarine while Benny and Dutch, previously chilling, spot another boat. And they don’t seem friendly. Especially, since they aren’t from the Telecom…

And on board are neo-Nazis. And they still listen to Valkyrie. Classic element, but still it doesn’t look forced, so nice job there. Back worrying what they are up to, Dutch is starting the engines while the neo-Nazis open fire on them with some very very serious equipment that surely has had to have cost a fortune. All to reunite with Brunhilda, the painting.

Meanwhile under water, Rock and Revy enter the sunken ship. End of part one.

Part two. Go.

Starting with the lucky flight from the missiles fired upon them, the torpedo boat can rest now for some time. Under water, Rock and Revy are searching the submarine for the painting. Now to the interesting part of this three-part-episode: the corpses and bones. Really. They make for the most defining momentum of the entire first series. You’ll see soon enough. 

Flashback to 1945. SS bastard shooting the captain, once. And him taking out another two or three guys before he dies as well from being shot by the crew. Which he deserved. And Revy gets it right in modern times, completely. Rock finds the painting while Revy is grabbing everything she can find. 

"I'm Bill O'Reilly and this is the news..."

Neo-Nazis, part of the neo-Aryan socialists union (not really existing), now undergo a moral speech to praise the self-murder exercise some of them are going to fulfill. Going against Revy. 

“Fuck the Nazis is a family creed.” (Benny) 

Then, they release a pod into water, containing the just chosen men to take the painting with them.

Now there is the moment the show has been building up to the whole time: Rock’s moral talk to Revy about not taking the belongings of dead people away just for the money. Which Revy disagrees with strongly. And we get to know more about Revy’s childhood, full of unfairness and brutality. Moral of the story: money is the most important thing to get around. And along comes a meant death threat from Revy to Rock if he ever dares to talk about moral shit again. And that will define a lot of the Revy/Rock interaction coming up. 

But they get interrupted by the neo-Nazis entering the ship. Submarine Gunfight! Trying to rescue the painting, a clumsy Rock deliberately throws it right into the hands of the neo-Nazis who are now fleeing the scene as fast as possible while the ship is flooding. Our friends now go after the fanatics and therefore are just about to get killed in the process. But, thankfully, Rock has one of his clearer moments and saves Revy who isn’t okay with that which is visible, a lot. While the Nazis now consider at least them dead. Time for a pickup from the torpedo boat. But “this is far from over”. 

Episode Two, end. Part three, go. 

So what is behind that painting? – Both sides are now wondering about that. We now have night, by the way. And damn, no pizza delivery on the sea. And still, never-learning Rock now asks Revy again on the submarine talk which she stops immediately. And harsh. We get to see Two-Hands at what she does best, not being a nice fellow. Enter Dutch and both of them now go chasing the Nazis on their own boat. And she is definitely going to kill some. 

"Clean up yourself after me, will you?"

The Nazis are still partying to Wagner’s Valkyrie while a lonely soldier who noticed their boat gets executed by Revy. Start the game. And damn, she’s not saving ammunition. Not at all. What a massacre.

Benny and Rock wait for the shooting to be over and we get to see that Rock and Benny are the most normal around because they couldn’t stay quiet as Benny puts it. Some smart guy tried to outsmart Revy and therefore got killed by her. But Dutch has got it as well, “shotgunning” another ten or more bad guys. 

Hired outsiders are also on boat, to their dismay, because Revy is going ahead killing them as well as the Nazis which rightfully Dutch can interfere with in the very last second. Dutch and Revy then ready their guns to shoot some Nazis who tried to ambush them while they had a little employer-employee chat. Meanwhile, the “Führer” on-board calls his financial supporter / boss. 

And there is one last guy left over, acting captain who talks way too much and has, behold, a “mighty” golden gun. And kudos for Revy killing that annoying bragger. In the office, a few rooms across, Dutch gets to talk with the mysterious boss in the background who did not only hire the neo-Nazis but also the Lagoon company to test the neo-Nazis’ strength to “re-join” modern society. 

So, who painted the painting, according to the rumor? Hitler himself. But that seems not to be true. And the background boss was a Nazi himself. Trying to secure a bunch load of money he along with some friends saved in the old days and hid the account number in four paintings of which Brunhilda is the last one he needs. And he is a racist. A “Nazi fuck” as Dutch puts it quite nicely.

Bet. Revy giving the commander of the neo-Nazis one of her Cutlass. Will he shoot himself or will he shoot at them? Revy and Dutch, both, bet on black. Which they’re right about because the guy didn’t have the balls to end it himself and shoots at Revy and Dutch. With an unloaded gun of course. Bet won. And both shoot him. Job finished. Smoke break. 

Now, Revy opens up on her new problem with Rock, she can’t partner with moral Rock. Income does the outro sequence.

End of the final episode of this story arc. 

SO, WHAT IS THERE TO SAY ABOUT THIS STORY ARC? – Again, much, especially as this arc poses as the defining momentum of the entire first series which I did already mention previously. This arc lets Rock’s relationship with Revy hit center bottom, no kidding. Even to that avail that Revy has no second thought about at some point in the future killing Rock if he would ever bring up another morals talk. Who would have thought that before this episode as we were introduced to the two as the imperfect perfect pairing? 

"Hah, I have a flush. Now give me that painting."

But, let’s start chronologically. All of that is triggered by the new job they got hired for, involving a lot of dead and alive Nazis. While most movies or shows, for that matter, make a big mistake here by portraying every single (and even now living) German as a Nazi, which is wrong and insulting, the show here delivers a very detailed and good accuracy on that matter. All portrayed beautifully in a K-19 movie-like sequence. I mean, literally: war, submarine, getting hit by a torpedo, left there to die, anyone remember K-19 with Harrison Ford here? Well, except for the ending part, but that would be spoilers. The arc earns a lot of credit due to that very showing of the submarine storyline which is insanely amazing enacted by the characters (top notch animation, a series’ premise that earned its right just about now) and is played out perfectly. Not too fast, not too long. This is a VERY positive aspect of these three episodes which saves a lot of the rating later as the first episode (here’s your chronic) did not exceed nor fulfill my expectations. It was quite lame to be true. There it shows that you don’t always have to stretch every multi-parter until it’s overstretched. I mean, if it weren’t for the 1945 plot I don’t think this episode would have even gotten a 2-star rating since everything is missing in this one otherwise: no character development, no action (except the missile scene at the end, which was nice, granted), a good but thin plot (it is just stated that they were hired by a company to acquire the painting and that’s it, not enough for an episode) and most importantly, the episode itself. I mean, we just see the crew cruising around and that is it, literally. That is by far not enough to be even considered being called an episode. But thankfully, there is the submarine plot. And this one is perfect as I stated just a few lines up, and saves the day for part one. It feels like a real movie thanks to very good lines and animation of emotions, though I do not approve of the gruesome accent the English dub offers here. It is quite simply annoying, sorry. But that is to be taken up with English audience only since other dubs of “Black Lagoon” offer better versions (in my opinion) here. 

The second part of the arc is much, much stronger than the first one. The K-19 plot (I’m going to call it that now) gets another angle and continues to amaze me. It is terrific how they put emotions, good storytelling and a submarine in such a short presentation. While we learn that even Nazis sometimes had true honor, we also see that they had families. Of course, this should NOT be something new but sadly, it is in these days for some. So, I’m stressing it here. 

"You get a discount if you take both."

Next up was the strongest and most intense performance of the show. Revy’s story in the sunken ship. The dark atmosphere was set into scene so good that for a moment you could have just forgotten about everything else, which is a huge plus for anything, especially for an anime. This is also the part where our characters grow and that they do to a high degree. What was a solid nice friendship and the possibility of a real love interest in the beginning now has turned towards a breaking point. If Rock oversteps the line once again, she kills him. Easy as that. And that makes it so believable. So epic. Perfect score!

 

However, the portrayal of the neo-Nazis on the boat was a little bit over-done for my taste. But not too much that I would say it’s a negative point, no, it’s the opposite in fact. You see the fanatic side of them and slowly, you begin to understand what is going on in their minds, to the extent it’s possible with crazy people. A little bit less would have been just as sufficient but who am I to discredit the show runners for experimenting a little.

The ship gunfight then was again back in the old “seas” of the show. It showed us a more than capable Revy and a clumsy Rock who, a little too plot-supporting, drops the painting right into the hands of the Nazis. But if you want a plot you need to make some sacrifices and since this is the only one in this episode, I’ll let it slip as a funny throw-in punch. (That exists apparently.) 

The final act of this chapter promises to be awesome in its entirety. And yes, it is. Revy and Dutch (who plays a minor role in the actual shoot-out) on a killing spree on the Nazis’ boat. Two-Hands (a.k.a. Revy) is clearly in her element here. She shoots and kills herself through the crowd in a frightening, yet awesome manner. Of course, it is a bit unrealistic that she didn’t even get such as a scratch but I think we can agree on the show not being too realistic which is why I’m not treating it as one in my reviews as you may have noticed by now. 

What I did really like about the big boat shoot-out was the guy who admired his golden gun so damn much and just could not stop bragging about it. And Revy silences him, to the viewer’s thankfulness. That was a humorous touch combined with the most known mistake bad guys make in movies: talk. Thanks for that one.

 

"Next one, I kill, is you for always commenting on me, dumb fuck."

Another epic moment of the whole arc was when Revy didn’t care anymore whom she killed. Just being on this boat, innocent or not, was a reason to get shot for her. That shows how emotionally affected she as a character is here, she completely stops thinking, throws every moral overboard as Rock got to know earlier and is being her inner brutal self. But Dutch stops her from just in time from a big mistake, so even he knows something is going on with Revy. (Who wouldn’t by her ice-cold approach to Rock earlier?) Also, the “pointing guns at each other”-scene was very well thought through and animated. You could have easily thought they were going to shoot each other but instead they killed some Nazis. (That kind of reminded me of that one moment in ABC’s series “Castle” where Beckett and Castle pointed guns at each other. Loved that one too.) 

Now, for the last big scene of this arc: Dutch talking to the mysterious boss in the background. The dialogue here was also well-scripted which took me by surprise because I wouldn’t have thought they would go so far as to implement thoughts for the audience in it, including topics like racism and society. A big win for the episode which will score a reward later on. 

The cliffhanger-esque last shot was another good one again. This will be defining a lot of the upcoming episodes’ moments in Rock’s relationship with Revy because after this it will never be the same again. And you just don’t know if it will end good for them or not. It’s Revy’s darker half and her past that are thrown in here to give Rock a hard time getting through to her and that is where we leave off. And since I’m intrigued to see how the series is going to unfold this, they must have done a pretty damn good job with that.

Does this even need any more words?

Overall, this arc, consisting of episodes 4, 5 and 6, played with thoughts about morality and therefore did an amazing job at character development which doesn’t seem to rest anytime soon.
The animations were amazingly done, once again, and the K-19 plot had a lot do with that, I imagine. Which leads me to the plot overview. The original story plot started weak, manifested itself during the second act and reached a very good level in the finale. But what sticks out the most is the K-19 storyline which saves this arc a complete star and maybe even more.
This arc is also by far the darkest yet and this is also part of the direction the show is going to take from series two on. But with less of over-acting Nazis and more with real dramatic characters. 

So, despite the fact that it didn’t start that well for this arc, a more than awesome side story (1945) and a strong finale saved what could have been the weakest rating yet.

Everything considered, this arc (still) gets 4 stars for such an amazing side plot, a strong finale along an awesome shoot-out. A job well done - minus some few discussable aspects.