Review: Red vs Blue: “Call”

Who you gonna call? Not these guys.

Spoilers Below

First off, apologies for the delay. My summer classes just wrapped up, as did finals, so this week’s been hectic. But now that it’s done with, shouldn’t be any further delays like this for the rest of the season. Now, to the episode!

The line between Villain and Anti-Hero is one that is distinct but sometimes ignored. To oversimplify it, a Hero is someone who does good things for good outcomes, while a Villain obviously does bad things for bad outcomes. The Anti-Hero is the step closer to the middle of the two extremes, as they may abandon things that may restrict a more typical hero in order to achieve that same good outcome. It may not be morally upright or even legal, but it might also be necessary to do in order to accomplish the goal. A common example is taking a life in order to save several. Some are quick to say that people who kill to save lives are just as bad as those who kill for malicious reasons, but even then it could be argued this person is acting for the sake of other people. They’re both darker shades on the grey scale, but they are different nonetheless.

Continued from last week, we follow Locus, Felix, and a new player named Siris in their mission to kidnap slimy nightclub owners. Or I guess just this one. Unfortunately, they find out the bounty on him has mysteriously disappeared, meaning what was already a legally gray act is now just straight up abduction. Through this complication, we get to see what Siris brings to this partnership: Where Felix is the Id (impulses), and Locus is the Ego (thought), Siris is the Super Ego (morality). He hired the two as bounty hunters in order to bring in awful people, like their current subject, Gabriel Lezano. But without a bounty to collect, Felix suggests an alternative route. Gabriel, despite his bravado, is not the head of the totem pole. That honor belongs to his father, Ruben Lezano, who may care a great deal if someone has kidnapped his son and held him for ransom money. Siris immediately objects, not wanting to sink to a criminal level, while Locus considers the logical outcomes this would have to the Lezano gang’s resources.

This part is considerably more refreshing than the previous one, as while Felix and Locus felt just about the same as characters in that, here is where we see how different they were as people prior to the events on Chorus. Felix, seen later to be someone who only cared about his own benefit and the opportunity to kill some mofos, is shown here to be genuinely thinking about the good and bad, innocence and guilt. Locus’ difference is a bit subtler, but he’s just as involved with this debate. And seeing how Siris’ isn’t even mentioned once by either of the other two in the Chorus Trilogy, it’s safe to assume he dies, presumably in the concluding part of this story. It’s also easy to see a team without their heart and left only with the brains and impulses would easily slide back into things like…leading two global factions to try to kill each other.

Siris relents, and the mission is now a hostage situation…only it turns out that Ruben doesn’t give a damn about his son. Even if they can’t claim the bounty, they have gotten Lezano’s undivided attention, having embarrassed him with their actions. This show’s the key difference between them and Lezano: They want to finish this for the common good, but Lezano is only concerned with his power and killing those who would mess with the things he owns, including his son, who is basically just some thing to keep busy. So, the hunt is on, leading into the final part next week, and I can think of t lest one person not making it out intact. Namely the one that sounds like Piccolo.

Like I said, this episode added more to this story, which you could probably tell I was having difficulties fully understanding last time. It’s here we see how Locus and Felix were truly different people and what held them together for so long, instead of simply being some action romp which would have been fun, but likely lose something. Plus, on the bright side, my delay means you’ll see my thoughts on the conclusion in just 2 days!