Nothing irritates more than an adaptation that jumps the timeline of a story, jumps around on the timeline, or/and leaves shit out completely.
There is a reason the original unfolded the way it did. I keep going back to the time-honored cliche “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Thus we start the recap, which has NOTHING to do with the anime. So, once again, there is no comparison. The name for the session is Darkside Tango.
This isn’t supposed to happen…
Session five of the anime is Ballad of Fallen Angels. In the anime, this is the first time Spike and Vicious square off because Spike had Faye kidnapped when she fell into a trap.
This was also where we find out that Vicious is killing capos to prevent them from making alliances, not because he got pinched by the elders due to selling red eye behind their backs.
We also learn in session 5 of the anime that Spike never changed his name when he faked his death. He was Spike three years ago, and he is still Spike now.
I digress. We aren’t talking about the anime.
This is eleven sessions too soon…
Putting aside the whole bounty thing that didn’t happen, Jet finding out who left him for dead did not happen until Session 16: Black Dog Serenade. So, this is a complete jump in the timeline, and something that does not sit well with me.
Filler, Filler Everywhere…
The show starts with a prelude, Jet and his old partner tracking down Udai Taxim. When they find him, Jet confronts him and is shot and left for dead. Somehow, this leads to him being disgraced as a dirty cop, something which landed him in jail for five years. He tracks down the fugitive with the aid of his old partner, who was the person that shot him all those years ago and left him for dead.
So, we have a prison break which leads to a mass bounty call. Jet sees the name of a criminal he put away. This makes him agitated. He walks off and tells Faye and Spike to pick a bounty and work together, which ends up with them doing nothing but comparing tattoos and bounties and drinking beer, a bonding moment straight out of the Lethal Weapon movie franchise -how original.
We also have Vicious making a deal with another sottocapo to help him overthrow the elders. This ends with Julia going against Vicious to seal the deal. This shows they are putting more weight on Julia than Vicious yet again.
Writing…
Piss-poor. I hate it when shows do this to the timeline, and I hate it more when it’s done poorly. The filler wasn’t needed. Leaving out the major confrontation between Spike and Vicious wasn’t needed. Writing Vicious as a short-tempered, muscled-headed goon wasn’t needed either. They diminished who he was to prop of Julia who was quiet for most of the anime.
Here we go, adding to Jet’s back story. So, not only is he a deadbeat dad but he was framed as a bad cop and spent time in the clink. A black man in prison? Say it isn’t so!
Lighting, Backdrops, and Sets…
I liked the sepia-toned flashbacks. I didn’t like it when they carried it over what was supposed to be the present day. It became confusing for a brief moment as to whether what was happening with Jet was still in the past or present day. When they used it for Vicious’s meeting, it just washed out the whole scene.
For the most part, the backdrops and sets were pretty good. They needed to stop washing out everything.
Acting…
The camaraderie was there between Jet and his old partner. I didn’t mind that.
The bonding scenes between Faye and Spike started out forced and ended up alright, not great.
Vicious acted like a possessive and spoiled child. That’s not Vicious.
In Conclusion…
I have no clue what went on in the writing room, but this needed to stay in the trash. When the only things positive I can say about a show are the flashback scene and the interaction between only two characters, the script was flawed.
It gets one out of five espresso shots.
See you later, Space Cowboy…
Anissa “Maddy” Walker
House of Geek 