English Dub Review: Cop Craft “Transitional Crises”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

As riots begin to envelop the city, Kei and Tilarna go to interview the last remaining mayoral candidate, Domingo Tourte. He’s been running on a very anti-Semanian platform and so is very bigoted to Tilarna in the interview, blaming Semanians for all the trouble with very familiar rhetoric. But before he leaves, Kei asks him whether he considers himself a politician or an Earthling…and he answers that he’d be a politician. Kei considers this an important answer, as his former boss Roth (who led an operation to smuggle fairy dust and turn people against Semanians) said the opposite, so that might be what they need to know while that Tourte may be close minded, he’s no murderer. On the drive home, Kei tells Tilarna that she’s managed to help people see Semanians differently.

While this is happening, the vice team tracks down a lead on Cole’s assistant and find out he was once with the US Marines. The next day, Cole’s wife Marla is announced to be taking over his campaign (which is apparently legal?), which also places her as a prime suspect for the murders, though there’s nothing conclusive yet. They then get a call from a reporter, who shows them proof of her connection to the assassins, but they’re soon surrounded by FBI agents, though only one of them is still alive; all the rest are controlled by fairy dust. As they’re hauled away, they meet Zelada in the driver’s seat of their vehicle.

OUR TAKE

Things continue to drive forward to the season (and possibly series) finale. The conspiracy behind the murders has finally been uncovered, leading to a final confrontation with Zelada and Marla. What they’re really after is unclear at the moment, but what seems to be more important right now is learning more about the nuances of politics in this world, which we learn a bit more about through Kei and Tilarna’s brief chat with Tourte. Tourte’s beliefs about Semanians echoes a lot of sentiments about (at the very least) Mexican immigrants entering the United States. Many people hold the belief that the situation is as simple as “well, if they want to come here, they need to come the legal way and follow the rules, otherwise they can leave. But they won’t, because this is a land of opportunity and much more highly advanced than where these people came from.” I’m not sure how much more time there is to explore that given that there’s only one episode remaining, but it’s interesting seeing a very real mindset that is quite comfortably transitioned to this fictional setting.

As for what this master plan is that Zelada and Marla are cooking up, I am uncertain where that might be headed or what it is for. Zelada wants to destroy peace between humans and Semanians, so that much is clear, but the why is still conspicuously unrevealed. As for Marla, we got the sense that she was the one pulling Cole’s strings when we met her in the seventh episode, so it would make sense that she would want to step out from under her husband’s shadow and take the political reigns for herself. But the question that then comes to mind is why she didn’t feel like she could do this without killing not only her own husband, but the other candidates, as well as what she thinks Zelada can help her do, assuming she’s aware of him. If she were running for president, I might be able to understand the needing underhandedness to get past the gender bias of presidential success, but being a female mayor couldn’t be that hard to pull off legally.

Again, we’re down to the last episode, so next week will be the time we learn whether we are getting answers to these questions or not. Personally, I’m not banking on it, so all I think I can hope for is a good enough conclusion to this well meaning but decidedly messy series.