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Digital Downloads
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 16:00 |
 Next time I get too carried away with praising BLASSREITER, please make sure I haven't been on the happy juice or something. Just when I was beginning to think that GONZO / Nitro+ had got the show sussed and were on the right track, it all goes to pieces again. Can I just say: AAARRGGH!
Amanda questions Sasha about her motives in working for Zwölf, and in creating the nanomachines that have become the cause of the tragedy unfolding around them. Initially she tought Zwölf were just helpful financial backers, but by the time she realised there was more to them than that she no longer had any control over her project. Xargin's own crusade presents another problem, though, and Sasha's determined to deal with him herself in the hope that that will also help end Joseph's suffering. Meanwhile, a man dressed as a clergyman is making his way toward Zwölf headquarters. Having lost his memory, he doesn't know why he's still alive - but he knows that Amanda's at Zwölf HQ, and that he has to find her...
The key issue is this: BLASSREITER is at its best when it's developing its characters - the two best episodes so far have been the two where Joseph's backstory was filled in, and looking back at the previous episodes the most enjoyable moments are the ones where the focus is on people and not action. This episode gets back to the action, and in doing so ruins most of the good work we've seen recently. It also throws a few "yeay, right..." moments into the mix - put that all together, and the enthusiasm that I'd been feeling for the show recently gets flushed away. Oh, joy.
Crime number one: the dead should stay dead. I'm counting two key characters so far who have been clearly killed on screen, but who are still around. Nanomachines can only believeably do so much, y'know. Crime number two: a character's motivation much be believable. Amanda's working for Zwölf as they're essentially holding Malek hostage to ensure her co-operation - fair enough. But Sasha? She has reason to hate Zwölf and all that they stand for - and yet she's quite willing to fight for them. Why? It's not like she's going to get the chance to undo the damage they've caused as things are going.
So in the parts of the story that matter, this episode of BLASSREITER make no sense. Presumable the high action quota this time out is meant to take your mind of such things, but I have to say I've never been able to really get into BLASSREITER's action scenes - they just don't give me that "woah!" feeling that you need to get before story can become a secondary concern. The end result, then, is disappointment all round - just when it seemed as though BLASSREITER was finally on the right track, we're back to square one again. At least we're on the homem stretch now...
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