Blade Runner: Black Lotus Part 2 Episodes 4-6

The truth has been revealed: Elle is the sole survivor of the mass slaughter of a band of experimental Replicants in the desert.  Fueled by grief and anger, Elle sets out to punish those responsible for the massacre.  Carving a swath of carnage across the city, Elle’s activities finally put her on the radar of the LAPD.  And upon learning what Elle is, they dispatch the one person capable of taking her down: A special kind of cop trained to handle Replicants…his name is Marlowe but most know him by his official title: Blade Runner.
 
The journey of the Black Lotus continues and man, it is a very, very slow journey.  Ok, so Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 arent the swiftest or most action packed scifi films ever made.  Theyre slow but brimming with atmosphere, good characters, strong philosophical debates and an engrossing world to get lost in.  Black Lotus…has some of those qualities but it’s taking the slow burn approach a bit too far.  Over the span of three episodes, there are at least 2 good ones and one that couldve been folded into one or both considering very little of consequence happens.  Feels wrong to be talking bad about something Blade Runner related but I wont hold back if I think Black Lotus isn’t living up to its true potential.
 
We opened the set with the near full episode length flashback to Elle’s time in the desert.  While we’ve seen bits and pieces of this sequence before hand, the complete story still works to flesh out some mysteries that have been built around it.  For one, it confirms Elle and those like her are a different kind of Replicant, one meant to be totally subservient to Humans and incapable of harming them too.  It reminds me a bit of Michael Crichton’s Westworld (the Movie and TV Series) where the Androids of the Westworld parks had the same fail safes built into them.  The “Doll Hunt” as it’s dubbed, also shows us a more darker side to Humanity in the future, where the rich and powerful are allowed to have little soirees like this and they don’t feel the least bit bad blowing Replicants away for sport.  No wonder Elle is pissed off and I have to give it to her actress, Jessica Henwick.  Episode 4 saw Henwick at her absolute best so far as Elle, filling her with rage, sadness and resolve all within the span of several minutes, makes me want to give her a hug and help her get revenge without even needing to be asked.  All that said, why is Elle the only one of these Replicants who is capable of fighting back against her failsafes?
 
After Elle’s backstory was revealed, you’d think the story would cut right to the quick of the revenge plot.  You’d be wrong.  Episode 5 has only one major event of note for the story and that’s the introduction of our series’ Blade Runner who goes by the name Marlowe.  Marlowe feels different from Deckard or K in the Movies.  For one, he acts more like a Freelancer than a Cop, being able to blow off Chief Grant’s orders without a care or fear of being reprimanded.  There’s also a dangerous calm to Marlowe, shown off in that bad ass intro where he takes out a Replicant cage fighter from a couple episodes back on a bus.  He’s quick too, able to go one on one with Elle in what’s easily the best action scene in the series so far.  The way they danced around each other, matching grace with sheer power was well done, not shocking since CG Anime action like this is what Shinji Aramaki excels at best in his works.  It’s actually kind of something Marlowe is so good considering the series indicates that Replicants have been pretty scarce for a long time.  I’m surprised the Blade Runner Unit is even still a thing at this point (clearly it’s running full steam by 2049).  Even the idea of a rogue Replicant running around seems unfathomable, interesting.
 
But yeah, Marlowe’s entry aside, Episode 5 saw nothing major happen.  Elle sat around J’s apartment while J made one of the best scenes of the original Blade Runner absolutely boring.  I’m talking about the scene where J uses the Video and Picture Enhancement machine Deckard uses in the movie to give Elle the pictures she needs to ID her attackers.  J is probably the dullest character in Black Lotus, prone to insanely uncomfortable pauses and lack of dialogue.  He just grunts and shuffles about and is kind of wasting time as a result.  If pacing really is an issue with Black Lotus, J is one of the chief examples of why that is.  Whenever he’s on screen, the story grinds to a halt.  There is evidence that J is probably an Ex Cop, if not possibly a Blade Runner, given the tech in his possession and Elle finds a pistol similar to Rick Deckards in his kitchen. Will this give his character some needed likeable appeal?  Probably not but hey…yeah probably not.
 
I think I touched on all the Blade Runner Easter Eggs throughout this review.  Only other one of note is seeing the LAPD building from Blade Runner 2049, guess that place has been active well before the move (its not the same building from the 1982 original film).  Besides that, Blade Runner: Black Lotus made some strides with Elle’s little revenge quest but also found itself hampered by an episode mostly full of nothing happening.  I suppose I’ll be asking by the end if this should have been a 13 episode series or something much shorter.  Still, these episodes got a boost from Marlowe’s introduction, some kick ass action scenes and a great performance from its lead heroine.  With four names down and one to go on her hit list, will Elle find resolution?  Guess we’ll find out Next Monday when Blade Runner: Black Lotus continues right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.