Recap

Brain infiltrates the ranks of the police and tricks Shinnosuke into getting himself suspended. Meanwhile Gou finally reveals what drives his passionate hatred of Roidmudes.

Zigg’s Thoughts

Drive kicked off an exceptionally strong run of episodes while I was away, but thankfully my return hasn’t caused the show to revert back to its previous self. In fact, if anything the story crams even more into this episode than the previous few. It almost feels like a completely different show has emerged – one that’s faster, looser and funnier, and way more concerned about keeping the action rolling,

One of the things that has so re-energised the production has been Kisuke Iida’s superbly over-the-top portrayal of Captain Nira, The character is an outstanding blend between wacky sitcom boss and a much more serious irritation to the Special Division’s work, and his mere presence both provides comic relief and also a more homegrown nemesis for Shinnosuke and the crew to face. He’s on pitch perfect form here, gloating outrageously over Shinnosuke’s suspension but also showing genuine malicious satisfaction at out hero being out of commission. With Drive thus far having lacked a clearly defined villain to root against, his presence helps give viewers a tangible baddie who at the same time is much less actively dangerous than the Roidmudes. It only works so well though because Iida works hard to sell the part, clearly taking great enjoyment in devouring the scenery around him, but also making sure his character stays on the right side of obnoxious.

The other major factor in making recent episodes so fun is that now Shinnosuke’s secret is out it’s much easier to bring all the other members of the team onboard and make them feel a part of the experience. Gen continues his ascent to the position of show dark horse via another superb turn as fake newlywed, followed by an even better one as an insane spooneriser. The Chief meanwhile gets perhaps his best scene yet when he eloquently counters Shinnosuke’s attempted resignation with a reminder that he’s not the only one fighting for the city. It’s a great counter to the usual ‘rebel badass’ portrayal of Riders and also a strong excuse to keep Shinnosuke largely out of action while the story focuses on Mach and Chaser.

Gou is of course the final piece of this episode’s puzzle and it’s gratifying to see that the growng instability of his character, which has been a long, slow buildup, is actually paid off with a meaningful top-of-the-card plotline. Though the entire thing is melodramatic as hell there’s really some genuine angst to be wrung out the situation, helped by Yu Inaba’s decision to go ape on his vocal chords. Mach’s attack on Chase and Shinnosuke’s subsequent intervention to prevent a disaster is a great little segment that gives us good insight into all tree of the riders – Shinnosuke’s pure heroism, Gou misguided agression (as well as his basic decency in  refusing to cut down Shinnosuke) and Chase’s more controlled, forgiving new mindset. The revelation about his father is a good solid reason for his grudge and should hopefully blossom into a great storyline for the siblings. All in all then, another great half hour that feels a signifcant cut above what we’ve had before.

Random observations

• After having been sidelined for an extensive period of time it’s good to see Brain get some solid facetime again and his switch from panicked victim to sneering mastermind is a great little segment.
• The action continues to improve along with the story, with Chase’s super-cool entrance and subsequent beatdown perhaps the best fight scene yet.
• If there’s on weakness to the sudden acceleration of the story, it’s the inelegant way that the importance of Shinnosuke’s father has been established. It seems every other sentence is devoted to telling us how important he is, yet he’s never really been mentioned before a few episodes ago. A slower buildup would have been far more effective.