English Dub Review: Blade Runner: Black Lotus “Free Will”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Elle embarks on her deadliest mission yet to finally come face-to-face with CEO Niader Wallace Sr., the organizer behind the deadly Doll Hunt.

Our Take

As far as Toonami originals go, Blade Runner: Black Lotus has had a real uphill battle to climb. From being lambasted over its animation choices to its slow plot development, the series has struggled to find its voice or an audience that is ready to receive it warmly. The show hit its possible all-time low last week after it took time out of its small season to provide a recap after only 7 episodes. While last week’s episode didn’t do it any favors, Black Lotus returns with an episode ready to get its plot back on track, and correct the entire season’s course.

The episode begins with Wallace Sr. highly aware he’s next on Elle’s chopping block after the rest of the Doll Hunt participants have turned up dead. A brief conversation with his son, Niader Wallace Jr., makes it clear that his son believes the hell about to be visited on Sr. is earned for his actions. I hadn’t paid much attention to the ongoing game of Go between the father and son (despite it being in virtually every scene between them), but it seems like there’s a reason it gets a bit more attention this go-around.

Elle returns from her mission of killing Doctor M in “Reality” to find Joseph repairing things in his junkyard. The two discuss Elle’s plans on killing the senior Wallace and Joseph’s past as a Blade Runner. I feel like the show wants me to care about these two as a couple, but Elle flits back and forth so much I honestly feel like they’ve had the same conversation several times at this point. Regardless, as Elle leaves, Joseph weighs the likeliness of Elle surviving walking into an almost certain death trap.

Marlowe makes a brief appearance once more, still hot on Elle’s trail after the death of the Grants. Meanwhile, Elle executes her infiltration of the Wallace Corporation. While it feels like things are gearing up, the slow atmosphere of the show really does a disservice. I mean, with Elle breaking into the biggest bad featured so far, the show doesn’t exactly communicate the importance of it as Elle skulks around on her way to the top floor.

Things do get a bit more intense when her presence is noted. The action picks up a bit more and we see Joseph acting as a sniper to help eliminate targets from the outside. Honestly the best part of the entire episode was Elle and Marlowe’s rematch  in the building’s aviary. Unfortunately, the focus isn’t for these two and Joseph gives Elle the opportunity to advance to escape to the top floor where Wallace Sr. is hiding.

Interestingly enough, the most noteworthy thing about the final confrontation comes right before Elle and Wallace even exchange words. With a biometric sensor, Elle scans her palmprint and the system recognizes her as “Niader Wallace Jr.”. Elle struggles in a battle with Wallace Sr., but after standard villainous monologuing, Elle turns Sr.’s gun on himself and he accidentally blows his own brains out, bloodying the game of Go.

While “Free Will” felt mostly like a standard episode of Black Lotus, I’ll give it credit for starting to set up it’s finale. Elle containing Niander Wallace Jr.’s biometrics raises questions but when you take into the account the odds he’s been at with his father, it seems the true final villain of this show wasn’t Wallace Sr. but rather, his son. If Jr. has somehow manipulated Elle into killing his father, then the blood spatter hitting the Go board isn’t simply a display of Elle’s revenge, but a symbol of Jr.’s win over his father.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the show can keep up this kind of pace. I feel like Blade Runner: Black Lotus has huge “one step forward, two steps back” energy. The pieces are there to come up with a satisfying ending, but I said the same thing in one of my first reviews for the show. With 4 episodes to go, the show needs to feature more Marlowe, make Niader Jr.’s presence worth something and make us care for Elle and Joseph. If these things happen, maybe the show can end in a net positive.

Maybe.