“The world does not move unless a distinction between good and evil is made.” -Rebecka Hallström
Summary: In this weeks Secret-of-the-week episode, we’re taken to the state of Arizona, where a Scub Burst has just happened. The US military tried a frontal assault on it using regular soldiers, with the expected outcome that it didn’t really work out for the best. Team Pied Piper is called in, but has to wait for an official request for help from the Governor. Rebecka and Gazelle are left to do some back room negotiations while Ivica and Ao disobey orders and leave to go get a better idea of what exactly the situation is. They find Truth already there, having taken some hostages, and just because he feels like it he moves the whole building they’re in into (what I assume is) the Grand Canyon. The Secret shows up and starts attacking them. We learn a lot about Ivica’s past and with some smart thinking on Ao’s part everyone is able to escape. Ao, Fleur, Elena, and Ivica work together to destroy the Secret once the negotiations are finalized.
Impressions: Alright, let’s just get this out of the way: WAAAHHHH IVICA LET ME HUG YOU!!! YOU POOR GRUMPY TEDDY BEAR!!!! *cough* Okay I’m done now. We get some back story on two characters this week. A little bit of Rebecka, when we learn that she used to work for the PR company that is one of Generation Bleu’s main financial backers (that also happen to not blink an eye when wiping entire countries of the map). Somehow, it doesn’t surprise me that she has a shady past, as she (and Stanley) are at the top of my “people who I bet will turn out to be evil” list.
Ivica was the undisputed hero of the show this week. Not only do we find out that his wife, child, and country were all wiped out in a war that was fought over nothing, but also that because of the way the media portrayed it, no other countries interfered as Ivica’s home was erased. It makes it a whole lot easier to understand why he’s so fixed on not letting any of his pilots die. I kinda got that the name “Pied Piper” was a reference to the story of the pied piper of Hamelin right from episode 1, but still nice to get that little tidbit thrown in. Plus, Ivica with a giant rocket launcher (I hope that’s the correct term for it) attacking the Secret was such a totally badass moment. He’s easily my favorite character of the show (sorry Ao!).
I laughed my head off at the Secret this week. It looked like a giant frog spitting out little tadpoles. This episode in general was just a little hilarious. Everyone escaping in a nice little row of walking tents? It had me in stitches. Ao’s freak out was also unintentionally hilarious. I know that it was a serious moment where he realizes that yes, the Secrets are dangerous business. I think it was also the first time that he’d been on a battlefield like that, without the protection of the Nirvash or even a way to defend himself, so it’s logically that he would have such an extreme reaction to it. But did they have to make his face so distorted in some scenes? Was I alone in seeing some shades of Evangelion there? I was laughing instead of sympathizing with his situation.
Final Thought: Mad props to anyone that caught Elena’s reference this week to an old manga/anime called The Violinist of Hamelin. It’s not quite an ancient series but it’s pretty old school. And ridiculous. If you wanted to check it out.