In the seventh episode of Death Note, I AM SO FUCKED UP. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Death Note.
Trigger Warning: For talk of consent and suicide.
I can’t. I CANNOT.
I’m not even sure what to say. I did not expect a show that would be such a tense and unbearable thriller. The entire design of “Overcast” is meant to put us on edge. It’s an experience, y’all, and it’s challenging to talk about that outside of summarizing it.
Let’s talk about L first.
Trust
When we’re not focusing on how Light is THE LITERAL WORST PERSON IN THE UNIVERSE, Death Note gives us more of the relationship between L and the police officers who have won his trust. And if there was any doubt about that, L allows Watari to show himself without the mask of his normal outfit. He gifts the five detectives with aliases, new badges to match those aliases, and BELT COMMUNICATORS. Like the previous episode, though, there’s a deliberate attempt (albeit much shorter) to show us that L has the same attention to detail as Light does. (Granted, there’s a moment that’s even more obvious about their similarity to one another, but I’ll get there.) It’s really rewarding to see L do things to protect these men because that’s the best sign we’ve gotten that he really does trust them.
But why seek out these people? Why include them in his life? I think it’s just practical more than anything else. Why not have more minds working on the same case? Maybe, in some weird way, these people are pawns in his mind, a method for him to track down Kira and win.
The Hunt
Light feels like a predator in this episode, and that’s about the best word I can come up with to describe him. He views Naomi as his prey, and he sets out to capture her. “Overcast” prolongs this to an agonizing length not just to torment us, but to show us just how clever and sharp Naomi is. Light is thwarted multiple times by her as he tries to kill her with the Death Note, each time because Naomi was smart enough to protect herself. I mean, I thought her name was Shoko Maki, BUT SHE USED AN ALIAS. Gods, she’s brilliant. (And I thought the show purposefully had her use an alias before L revealed that he’d created aliases for all of the police officers.)
After this moment, Light’s story becomes a matter of time: Naomi is heading for the precinct, and Light no longer has a method of stopping her. He has five minutes to get her to do pretty much anything but speak to a detective. And after realizing she used an alias, how the hell is he supposed to do that? It is within this complicated framework that Light devises a sinister and manipulative method of obtaining Naomi’s real name.
Initially? He says that she cannot contact anyone within headquarters because their identities are a secret. AND THEN NAOMI FIRES BACK WITH, “Well, I worked under L before, so he trusts me.” IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE. Well, momentarily, of course. I spoke in the last review about Naomi’s desperation, her intense need to share the information she had as soon as possible. Ultimately, that’s what Light exploits. Once she reveals that she used to be an FBI agent, he flatters her. He compliments her deductive skills. And then, after “confessing” to being a detective on the Kira case (OH MY GOD ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME), he invites her to be a part of the team.
I feel strange calling him brilliant, but some of the most brilliant minds are capable of the most heinous acts. That’s how he gets Naomi: he momentarily gives her hope that she can be part of the same team that will take down the man who killed her fiancé. He gives her happiness, if only for sixty seconds, just so she’ll give him her driver’s license.
If you needed proof that Light is evil – that he no longer has any interest in making the world a good and moral place – then look no further than his own face as he tells Naomi that he is Kira, just seconds after using the Death Note to guarantee that she’ll commit suicide and do so in a way that’ll prevent her body being found for at least 48 hours.
He is the fucking worst, y’all.
The video for “Overcast” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– IÂ will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
