OH. MY. GOODNESS. This episode was PAINFUL. BUT SO GOOD. To think the first season was mostly about the action. But this season is really grabbing at your heart strings and just yanking them right out of your chest. I didn’t expect to feel so much in the first few episodes. It also didn’t help that I watched the season 5 finale of Steven Universe right before this. But that’s a whole different can of feels.
Things are looking pretty shady (more than usual) with Reigen’s clientele lately. Especially when the episode starts out with a guy asking Reigen to curse someone. Which completely goes against Reigen’s moral code since all the guy wants to do is help people (at a price). This first scene was interesting because it set up a few things that were very important for the rest of the episode. As it brings up the question “is the customer always right?” When Reigen gave into pressure, he gave the client a pluseebo curse charm, I immediately remembered what was established last episode. Even Mob brings it up. If people believe in something hard enough, it can become reality. So if that guy believes in the curse, it could become real. Again, terrifying….
Reigen’s second client is a woman who feels like a spirit is watching her so the mighty duo go to check things out. Things get really creepy when it just so happens that the supposed spirit was the shady guy next door using an “out of body experience” to spy on her. I wasn’t sure if he actually had psychic powers or his obsession was just that strong to give him some sort of power. Considering what happened last episode, I wouldn’t doubt the latter. However, it was Mob’s comment that made me think. Why DO people feel differently when dealing with people rather than spirits? If I had to guess, it would probably because we don’t fully understand the supernatural.
However, the worst clientele happened with a group of either high school or college students. These felt like the typical dumb people who are the first to die in horror movies with them just fooling around and such at a “haunted house.” And then proceeded to leave Reigen and Mob without a ride back and no pay. POOR MOB HAS FREAKING SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY YOU D-BAGS. But it doesn’t stop there with these guys. They actually had the gall to come back, showing a ghost had appeared in the picture they took and asked Reigen to exorcise it. And this is where crap hits the fan. Since the ghosts the dumb clients wanted exorcised were just a family who lost their lives to a tragic accident but were able to find happiness together as spirits. They wanted to live out the afterlife together peacefully and said that they would eventually pass on. And here, Mob faced a terrifying divide: Do as the clients ask and exorcise an innocent family of spirits or protect the spirits from the clients.
This whole episode felt like a build up to Mob’s perception of people. We see him observing some truly despicable people. Even having a run in with a couple bullies who wanted to mug him if not for his three waves of defenses (which was the greatest thing ever). We are constantly reminded of how powerful Mob is, but we also know that he’s very reluctant to use it against people. And while in the first season he did end up using his powers against the people in Claw, it was out of self defense and when he was about to lash out in murderous intent, Reigen stopped him. But to have Mob say that the clients would have to get hurt in order to protect the family of spirits was CHILLING. My poor baby…
Mob has always dealt with evil spirits without much thought, but this was the first time that the people he was doing the job for were the bad guys in the scenario. They kept demanding he exorcise them just because they didn’t like the idea of them being there despite being the ones trespassing. When one of the guys said no one cared how Mob felt, you can tell that definitely pressed one of Mob’s buttons. Mob is a sensitive soul who doesn’t know how to express himself properly most of the time. To cut him off and say he has no feelings worth sharing is essentially a slap to the face. SCREW THESE GUYS (yet again).
I do appreciate that while it seemed like Reigen was taking the clients’ side at first, he was actually putting Mob’s feelings into consideration as well. He could tell this was stressing Mob out and wouldn’t have him carry out the exorcism if it would hurt him mentally and emotionally. However, because of all the traffic his website had been getting, all the jobs were distracting him and not giving him a chance to spend as much time with Mob one-on-one and ask him how he’s been doing. It’s honestly sad to see Reigen feeling like he had failed Mob in a way. He even had Dimple deal with a curse that was probably placed on him from the first client, not wanting to burden Mob over it.
Though I have to admit seeing Dimple literally suck the curse off his back was hilarious.
And Dimple… OH BOY DIMPLE. I feel very mixed about him this episode. The fact that he tried to rile the father’s spirit up and try to provoke him into becoming an evil spirit was HORRIBLE. HOWEVER… he did it so Mob wouldn’t have to exorcise an innocent spirit and ease his stress. I felt so bad for the spirit family. Especially how good they turned out to be with the father forcing his murderous intent down in favor of living peacefully and not showing that side to his son… UGH MY HEART. I’m glad that the job ended with Reigen throwing salt at the clients and leaving the spirits be.
I feel like exorcisms have become much more complicated. Especially now that this episode basically laid out a spectrum whereas not all spirits are bad just like how not all humans are good. And Mob kinda lands in the middle of things with being able to see and connect with spirits while being human. This poor boy is in middle school, he doesn’t have a full grasp on everything yet. He still needs guidance. Not to mention since the first ep of this season, he’s been trying to listen and express his feelings and opinions more. But it’s been causing him so much stress over what is right and wrong. It’s tearing him apart from the inside out…
The build up in this episode was so good even if my heart cracked a little by the end. Seeing Mob be under so much emotional stress hurts to watch… Though I have a feeling things can only get worse from this point on. Especially with Mob’s final foreboding words…
“If I ever end up wanting to eradicate people rather than spirits… I wonder if anyone will yell at me for it.”
Excuse me while I go cry over this precious baby… DON’T GO OVER TO THE DARK SIDE MOB!!!
