Release the Spyce Episode 8: Making new friends

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This week’s episode was hard to watch. It seemed like it had a lot of good things going on, but the pacing was just too erratic to keep focus. The episode tried to continue the story with Theresia, introduce and resolve Goe’s self-esteem issues from the previous episode, introduce a completely new character, and introduce some friction between Yuki and Momo. As a result, most of these developments felt like they didn’t get the setup they deserved, starting with the very beginning of the episode. Theresia and Hatsume face off for some reason, and the poison Theresia drank a couple of episodes back is removed without an issue.

Random montage is random. I suppose this is the obligatory beach episode…somehow.

Honestly, I thought that Ouka was a pretty good character. Her self-isolation made sense given how she was forced to do, and the way she got excited about Vikings was surprisingly charming. However, introducing her and resolving her story within the span of a single episode makes me think that she’s never going to show up again.

Okay, there’s technically no evidence that Vikings actually used horned helmets (because they’re not actually that useful in battle). Evidence suggests that the notion of the horned Viking helmet actually came from later stories about the Vikings, and a real Viking would likely know that. But hey, this series takes a lot of liberties with history (especially with that “spies” and “spice” etymology thing), so it could once again just be part of this world’s setting.

To be fair, I think the best foreshadowing in this episode was the whole thing with Ouka’s grandfather. This scene clearly suggests that the grandfather is the captured doctor. In a later scene, Ouka describes her failed attempt to save him, but an old man who is clearly her grandfather is shown standing over her. I’m okay with that type of subversion and foreshadowing.

There’s something hilarious about watching Yuki, the most serious spy, instinctively using a selfie stick as a weapon.

Goe’s story in this episode was actually fine as well, but I wish that her story was more closely related to the rest of the episode. It makes sense that she would be afraid to fight or use Spyce after going on a drug-induced rampage in the previous episode, and it makes more sense that she would be able to overcome it with the help of a friend. Maybe there’s something about betraying your friends that links her to Ouka, but I honestly didn’t see it.

Also, the fact that Goe succeeds in befriending Ouka once again makes me think that Hatsume’s own attempt with Theresia will fail. Goe even goes so far as to say that Hatsume will surely succeed at the end of the episode. That has to be a flag.

I’m really not sure about this scene. Is it meant to show that Yuki actually cares for Momo more than she lets on? Is it actually meant to be a moment of rationality? It doesn’t seem to fit with everything else Yuki has been teaching Momo. Add in the fact that Yuki notices that the Spyce is less effective for her in this episode, and I have to once again bring up the idea that Yuki is being set up to die soon.