天下制覇

Are any shows this season going to have a plot?

Impressions:

Why do I get the feeling that this episode's script was Kaiser Soze'd? Probably because it tries to introduce some kind of plotline, but keeps getting distracted by whatever the author was looking at. Oh, here's a bit on vultures. And now shogi. Tea? Sounds great. Let's talk about that for a minute. Nor does it help that it was another pretty stupid episode that didn't make any real sense. Rich dude coerces criminals against their will to investigate his super secret ultra rare and valuable forest sanctuary which is dying because of a malfunctioning ancient nuclear factory that is also spewing toxic waste. And he goes along with them for some inexplicable reason, bringing personal hazmat suits, but no other equipment.

Even all that might have been a little salvaged if the problem(s) at the end hadn't been so prosaic. They find some pipes that have burst, apply generous amounts of caulk and… uh… have to struggle real hard to turn a wheel? That's it? That's seriously all that this comes down to? I've been banging on about the need for some kind of epiphany or the like at the end of episodes recently, and this is a pretty golden example of why. A somewhat rusty switch should not be the biggest obstacle that our heroes face. They didn't figure anything out that wasn't plainly obvious. They didn't overcome some trial that made them better people or reveal something about themselves. The writer literally just dropped an obstinate piece of metal in their way because it was 18 minutes into the episode and nothing anybody could call a challenge had manifested yet.