Puck and Pitz are the top bosses.

It’s a good general rule of thumb that as soon as I seriously consider dropping a series I’ve been covering for a long time it will deliver its best work, and Captain Earth is no exception.  The general trend has been upwards but this might just have been the best episode yet.  It was certainly the most eventful in terms of clear-cut revelation and plot advancement.  I still don’t have a lot of time for CE, but an episode like this deserves a quick mention at least.

I especially liked seeing Pitz go after Amara’s jugular like that, as he (Amara) has started to seriously get on my nerves.  But more and more it’s looking like the Planetary Gears are just cogs in the machine, and it’s Puck who’s the real top boss (the maniacal laugh proves that) – he’s clearly been manipulating everyone else from the beginning.  Presumably his ultimate goal is something grander than simply taking over a body and gettin’ some, but for now that seems to be job one – and Kube’s poor assistant has been chasing for so long that she doesn’t have a chance.  Main questions about Puck: who is he really?  Is he merely an A.I. gone wrong or is he alien himself?  And what would he have done if Kube hadn’t fallen back into his chair?

Another terrific moment was the 3X simultaneous game-changer kiss, with Daichi finally planting one on Hana, Amara turning Setsuna and Puck doing what he’s been telling Kube to do for years.  All this builds up to Setsuna formally joining the Planetary Gears’ side, Pitz being sidelined and Amara and Moko blasting the hell out of Earth and Nebula as Amara holds Hana hostage.  This forces her to level up yet again, this time performing “ecdysis” (moulting) and chasing off Amara and Moko.  It’s a bit of an asspull but it works for me, more or less.  All of the pieces seem to be in place now for the third act, which I still suspect may eventually find the Planetary Gears and GLOBE fighting on the same side against Puck.