English Dub Review: Blade Runner: Black Lotus “Time to Die”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Elle and Joseph confront their destiny in a final battle with Niander Wallace, Jr. and Water Lily.

Our Take

Can you believe it? After every thing said about the show, Blade Runner: Black Lotus has finally come to an end. Sure, the show got off to a bad start, but there were some points of improvement as the season went on. Granted, those moments were later undone by some odd narrative choices. So with a show that’s been as back and forth as Black Lotus, what can we say about the final chapter?

Picking right up from the previous episode, Elle and Joseph are taking the Wallace Corporation head on. As Elle heads straight for Niander, Joseph aims to destroy the newest line of replicants. Elle makes her way to Niander’s office and the two have a brief exchange on Elle’s humanity. Of course, with Niander seeing himself as a god and Elle having fought for her independence all season, the conversation offers nothing new. But at least it doesn’t waste too much time getting to the action.

A majority of the episode is centered around Elle fighting her more obedient and deadlier doppelganger, Water Lily. The action was fine, but like almost all action on the show, it was ultimately held back with its stiff animation choice. Not to mention the “evenly matched opposites fighting” trope is something that really shouldn’t take up time in the finale of a season. At least Joseph takes care of business planting C4 in the Wallace labs, until interrupted by Niander.

As the last half began, I was hoping that I something would happen I didn’t see coming, but nearly everything that occurred was telegraphed to a watchful eye before it actually happened. Elle gaining the upper hand and beating Water Lily? Elle maiming but not killing Niander? Joseph sacrificing himself to protect Elle?  Everything that I thought was going to happen did and ultimately just wasn’t satisfying. That isn’t to say that surprise is necessary for a good conclusion, but by the end, the story beats were so blatantly obvious that I just felt bored.

That said, some stuff did surprise me in the end, but not in a good way. For one, how in the hell did Niander survive an explosion? Sure, he goes on to be in Blade Runner: 2049, but he was like ten feet away from Joseph when he triggered the explosion, and he was collapsed after Elle blinded him. Why did Officer Davis show up paralyzed, but no revelation to who helped her escape Water Lily in the previous episode. For that matter, what was the point of Davis in the end? They set her up to have a larger presence and did absolutely nothing with her.

At least Elle goes off into the sunset, free to be her own person. But truth be told, I just couldn’t care. The ending plays the story beats it feels it has to, but none of them are earned. Maybe there’s something added to this show by watching both Blade Runner movies, but on its own, Black Lotus just winds up falling short. It’s a disappointing ending to a very controversial show. That’s pretty much all that can be said.