Flashman Episode 44

The first real block of the endgame. Deus is stepping up and providing his own genes in making Beast Soldiers, we're getting regular villains turned into Beast Soldiers, and the Anti-Flash Phenomenon rears its ugly head for the first time.

Mess abducts Kaura's remaining Alien Hunters and splices them into the very first Deus Beast Soldier. (It's a great first scene as the Lab ship chases down Kaura and his gang, ending with Kaura in a tug-o-war with the Lab's tractor beam, using his whip to try to pull his Alien Hunter cohorts to safety.) To depict La Deus providing his genes for the new monster experiments, they have him holding his hands over a vat, dripping liquid. This then will look like blood flowing through new tubes piping throughout the Gene Synthesizer, which then lead to the chambers which hold the lifeforms that are being transformed. Once Keflen begins the creation, the music he plays begins to harm the Mess officers, who beg him to stop. He doesn't, of course, he keeps on with his work. And as he does so, he just wonders to himself why he's not affected, realizing that the others must have Deus' genes, and that's having a negative reaction, and since he's not effected, that means he must not have any Deus genes in him. This gets him to again wonder about his past. This is the guy who thinks he's Deus' equal, don't forget. Is he an equal lifeform to Deus? Less? Less than the officers, even? He doesn't know and it's been eating at him.

It might be lazy, but I'm surprised that the Deus Beast Soldier doesn't just look like Bou, Hagu and Baura squished together. But it's a totally new design, with the monster just having all of their weapons and abilities. It's not the last we see of them, though, as the monster is able to send their disembodied heads after an opponent. The main thing is, it's a strong sonuvabitch, and it beats the Flashman so badly that their powers go on the fritz and force them to retreat, which leads Neferu to kidnap the entire Tokimura family in order to lure them out of hiding! Damn, that's nasty even for Neferu.

Kaura and Gardan make it to the scene before the Flashman, with Kaura trying to grab Professor Tokimura. It might look random, but this is going to pay off in the next couple of episodes, and I love that Kaura's once again interfering, and not just for some bullshit or contrived reason. He even takes the time to mourn his Alien Hunter allies, who he's genuinely shaken up to see being used the way they are. (It's the first time we ever see Kaura in this kind of emotional state, which is near sorrowful.) Considering how outnumbered they are and what a beating they've just taken, it's a surprise that the Flashman arrive and successfully save the Tokimuras from Mess' clutches! (One thing in their favor was that the monster was temporarily distracted at the memory of Kaura's voice.)

The five heroes get the Tokimuras to safety and, as they try to embrace and comfort them after a stressful ordeal, find that they're each repelled from one another, along with an electric shock. Confused by this, Magu informs them from the Round Base that this is the Anti-Flash Phenomenon, something that develops when people from the Flash Planet are away from their home too long and begin to be rejected by a planet's climate. They chance more contact with the Tokimuras, in a sad echo of the classic scene in E.T. of Elliot and E.T. touching fingertips, only to discover the same result as earlier -- both sides are taken aback with a jolt. Confused, terrified, saddened -- the Flashman are quick to realize the meaning of this latest, tragic development: that even if they have new friends and loved ones, even if they were able to find their families, they wouldn't be able to express their love and appreciation through them with contact, even a simple holding of hands.

With the timing of the world's biggest asshole, Kaura and Gardan catch up with them, successfully making off with the professor -- Jin tries to stop them, but comes into contact with Tokimura and can't grab him because of the Anti-Flash, instead getting a whopper of a punch from Kaura. The Tokimuras are saints, man. They're frightened and upset about not only Kaura kidnapping the professor, but for what just went down with the Flashman, but they're still on the Flashman's side. They believe their words that they'll save the professor, and pity them for going through what they're going through. (There's a moment when the daughters seem afraid to touch the Flashman, but that doesn't last. You can imagine some show trying to wring some drama out of that, having the girls complain or be afraid OF the Flashman, but Flashman's smart enough to avoid that.)

How do the Flashman end up beating their unstoppable opponent, by the way? Magu arrives on the battlefield, to everyone's confusion and impatience. But he opens up the monitor stored in his belly to show a manufactured image of Kaura, calling out the names of his Alien Hunter comrades as he did earlier, and successfully gets the monster in a confused state long enough to Rolling Vulcan its ass. This is the kind of out of left field involvement from Magu I like -- not him messing with their powers and nearly killing 'em. And this is the end of the remaining Alien Hunters -- we've now entered the stage of our main villains getting picked off one by one.

So, Mess is once again stepping up their attacks, they now have renegade Kaura to contend with, and now this Anti-Flash. The Flashman can't catch a break. I always thought it was an interesting parallel that, in this episode, the Flashman begin to be affected by the Anti-Flash and the Mess officers are affected by the Deus genes within them being manipulated as Keflen creates the new Deus Beast Soldiers. They both serve to accelerate the narrative in order to wrap the series up, but it doesn't feel forced or rushed or like it's just been pulled from the air this minute by the show's staff.

Sad thing is, all Mess had to do was wait. Wait a couple of weeks, the Flashman would be dead, and they could do all the damage to Earth they wanted. Too bad Keflen pissed off Kaura one too many times, eh? Kaura's really the wrench in the plans. And it's believable that the egos and pride of these two men, Keflen and Kaura, would become the beginning of their downfall. It's not stupidity or oversight in a plan, just two guys who are used to calling their own shots and who hate each other. Kaura feels undermined by Keflen, Keflen feels threatened by Kaura. And it's another story element that feels earned and developed, not artificial or contrived. There's a lot of times where this scenario can make the characters look stupid, and there's a lot of times where this development can feel convenient. But that's not the case here. And, after this episode, Kaura has a vendetta against Deus, as well, vowing to take him down. (And he just might.)