Psycho-Pass 2 – 06

Really can’t profess to being all that keen on the direction this second season of Psycho-Pass has gone off on – even when season one was being dumb it never got quite this stupid.  The production values have also taken a hit which doesn’t really help matters – there were a lot of off model faces and static shots in this episode and there just isn’t the same flare in the direction.  Basically the past few episodes have really put a big dampener on my enthusiasm for this sequel, and that is pretty upsetting because there is still lots of interesting things mixed in with all the stupidity.

Like the whole collecting Dominators thing – I just can’t see that really being an issue because Sybil isn’t stupid……or least it wasn’t last season.  Sybil is a hive mind of human brains, it has the ability to take in new information and make decisions on the trot.  Perhaps if Sybil really was a computer programme I can maybe see there being a problem with Kamui collecting Dominators and using his new pet Investigator’s data to keep them active.  But that isn’t the case here and it is really confusing me why Sybil simply hasn’t locked down any Dominator activated by this AWOL Investigator!  Last season showed that Sybil has absolutely no problem hacking the Dominators to override their programming when it suited them, so why aren’t they doing the same here?  Dominators are quite literally Sybil’s eyes, there is no way the system doesn’t know that Shisui has gone over to Kamui’s side at this stage – her status as an Investigator and approved user of Dominators should be automatically revoked if there was any common sense to be had here.  It’s not like Sybil has to justify anything to anyone – they quite literally make the rules in this world, they can easily sack a rogue Investigator even if her Psycho-Pass appears clear – they did try to kill Kogami last season even though his crime co-efficient was still below 3oo.

Oh and that is another thing that is really irritating me about this season – the writers appear to have forgotten that Dominators have a paralyser function!  I find it exceptionally hard to believe that everyone killed by a Dominator in the past couple episodes have had a crime co-efficient over 300.  Surely some of the Enforcers at least should have only triggered the Paralyser mode even given the atmosphere of carnage surrounding them – it is their job to deal with these kinds of circumstances.  For a show that has been going on about Kamui’s determination to learn all about the Dominators they sure have forgotten some of the key abilities of these weapons.

Moving on.  Akane sure was something in this episode!  She must have been doing some serious working out between season to pull off all these action hero antics.  Just a pity she didn’t think to change into some more suitable clothing – a pencil skirt can be a bitch to walk in let alone run, jump and climb in.  Akane’s character is probably the best thing about this season – she commands everyone’s attention and gets the very best out of her team (even with her colleague working against her).  I liked how despite Akane’s orders her trio of Enforcers still come to protect her – even the new guy!  I mean Gino has been sticking to her like glue the entire season (if only to be a nagging mother hen), as has Togane (for rather more creepy reasons it seems), but it says something about Akane’s leadership that even a new subordinate will go to such lengths to protect her.  Even back at base the team are doing their absolute best to help out – I don’t think Mika could even dream of inspiring the same level of dedication.

However it was still frustrating to see Akane stop Togane from shooting Kamui at the end of the episode and just letting him get away with his new cache of Dominators and cowed Inspector.  I mean they didn’t have to shoot to kill or anything if she wanted him taken in for questioning – shooting out a leg or even the boats engines would have been enough.  But to just let him float away unchallenged was a bit stupid – I don’t think Togane’s crime co-efficient could get any higher anyway! I did like the quick shot of Kogami layered over Togane though – nice to know the show remembers he exists!

Speaking of which that scar on the side of Kamui’s face may mean he’s had a face transplant too, and I’ve seen some people speculating that perhaps Kamui is really Kogami.  I personally don’t really buy that.  Kogami wouldn’t need to go through these elaborate plans to test the Dominators – he’s used them in an official capacity both as an Inspector and an Enforcer, he knows their limitations pretty well.  Kogami also has much more respect for human life, afterall he wanted to end Makishima personally to stop any more needless deaths – these bloodbaths that Kamui has engineered are just not Kogami’s style.   As much as I’d really like to see Kogami back in the show, I definitely don’t want him back as Kamui – plus at this stage the show is already overloaded with underdeveloped characters, bringing back Kogami now would just be overkill.

Other stuff that sparked my interest:

• They fixed that issue I had with suddenly turning Kamui into a professional game developer.  Seems he just tweaked the game skin the drone manufacturers already had in place to protect the psycho-passes of their technicians.
• The fact that so many MWPSB teams have now been wiped out is going to have serious knock on effects – Inspectors are not easy to find given the demands placed on one’s mental state.  This is especially concerning given the fact Kamui has the ability to hack the drones that make up the bulk of police presence in this world.  Mika is already panicking about how they’ll handle the flood of area-stress alerts generated by taking the cartoon game camouflage off the drone control system.
• Loved how Saiga can be so matter of fact with Mika just telling her to deal with it, as it is her job.  “Don’t whine, you’re an Inspector aren’t you?” and “There are times when you can’t solve problems by following the manual”, are just gold.  Does concern me how Saiga seems to pull information out of nowhere though – sometimes it seems like the man is psychic……..or just has access to the script.
• Togane is a fecking creep~!  Apparently he’s been monitoring Akane’s psycho-pass every day since the day he joined Division 1, and in this episode he goes as far as to take note of Akane’s clear hue and say “I want to colour her black”.  Makes me wonder if his traits that seems similar to Kogami are deliberate in order to ensure Akane will let her guard down more and allow Togane to stay close to her.

So not the best episode, but some good stuff is in among all the stupidity.  The main thing that bugs me is the way this sequel seems to be ignoring how Sybil can adapt to new situations – the system is inherently flawed, but that hive mind of brains is far from stupid.  Hopefully Sybil moves to lock down Shisui’s access to the system next week.