In the fifteenth episode of Baccano!, storylines continue to get more and more convoluted, everything is sad, and I already know I’ll never see anything like this ever again. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Baccano!
“The Delinquents That Arrive at the High-Class Neighborhood Are the Same as Always”
- The same? What does that even refer to? They’re always operating under terrible logic? They mistake people’s identities all the time? They carry impossibly huge wrenches with them?
- I actually can’t get over this. Did Graham have someone forge that thing? Did no one question him about this? How is this happening?
- I have to repeat what I said in the review for the twelfth episode. I think that you can’t really watch Baccano! and expect any sort of convention to the logic or even some of the characterization. This show is a goddamn experience, and it’s a weird one at that. Like, at times, we get close to a linear narrative, and then everything is all over the place again, and then SOMEONE’S FACE IS BLOWING UP.
- Oh my god THAT WAS NICE
- I DIDN’T EVEN RECOGNIZE HER.
- WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME, I’VE DONE NO SUCH THING TO YOU, BACCANO!
- LIKE LET’S TALK ABOUT JACUZZI’S GANG. Not in all caps, but holy shit, I’m so excited for some of the emotional developments in this episode. The cold open shows us how Nice lost her eye and got the scar on the right side of her face. Now, as I just said, I’ve come to accept that there are some answers I’m never going to get. I’ll still ask those questions, but I understand that this show isn’t like others. Yet I never thought to ask why does Jacuzzi have a sword tattoo on his face?
- OH. HE WANTED NICE TO HAVE SOMEONE IN HER LIFE WITH A FACE THAT LOOKED DIFFERENT, SO HE GOT AN OBNOXIOUS TATTOO SO SHE WOULDN’T BE ALONE.
- Which is so goddamn adorable that I can almost overlook the fact that someone gave that kid a tattoo WHEN HE WAS A CHILD. On the face! ON THE FACE. I mean, I suppose this sounds weird from someone with his neck and hands tattooed, but both artists who did these tattoos made me wait to get them after I initially planned them because they took visible tattoos like that very seriously. Most artists won’t tattoo your face or your hands with no other work.
- Anyway, it’s 1926, it’s not like there are STRINGENT TATTOO LAWS EVERYWHERE.
- Also, Jacuzzi cares about the people around him. Even when the rest of his gang isn’t sure that keeping Chane around is a good idea, he stringently defends her. He intentionally makes her a part of that group all by himself, and it’s so lovely to watch this unfold.
- Thankfully, the show also centers how this affects Chane herself, and goddamn, THIS IS SO SAD. I don’t think I was far off the mark in saying that Huey felt guilty about his treatment of his daughter, but now we know that he absolutely treated her dismissively and without any sort of meaningful affection. It’s devastating because Chane literally cannot fathom people being nice to her. She can’t comprehend people doing anything for her without wanting something in return.
- MY HEART IS SHATTERING, CAN YOU HEAR IT.
- So when she’s kidnapped by Graham, who apparently didn’t even look at a goddamn photo of Eve Genoard before trying to kidnap her, she’s put in yet another situation where multiple do nice things for her, where multiple people offer to risk their lives for her safety, and where Claire professes love to her.
- WHICH, FOR THE RECORD, IS THE FIRST TIME ANYONE HAS EVER TOLD HER THAT THEY LOVE HER
- BURY ME HERE, THANKS FOR THIS, IT’S BEEN A GOOD RIDE
- KILLED BY CHANE LAFORET
- Oh god, and now I can’t ignore all the parallels between Chane and Ennis, who both existed solely for the needs and desires of other people and who have never been on the receiving end of affection or love or care or consideration. It’s people with good intentions and brave hearts who show them that the world is different and that they are worth it.
- I still have no idea how this show is going to end, y’all. But I expect that Claire is going to annihilate Graham. I SEE NO WAY FOR GRAHAM TO ESCAPE THIS ALIVE.
- I just want at least one more scene with Isaac and Miria before all of this is over for me next week.
The video for Episode 15 can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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