My initial take on the first of these two episodes was that we were headed for another newbie of the week story, with He Is Thomas getting the full spotlight this time. But while Thomas was indeed the key figure, this was actually where the main plot seems to have finally kicked in. Thomas has been kind of a remote figure so far – Subaru has been the one from that partnership to get some development. But Thomas has a classic superhero backstory himself (in fact Barnaby sees a lot of his own in it).
The gist of it is, Thomas goes off on a petty robber who shoots an innocent bystander in the leg, and gets himself suspended for three days. He has his reasons – the incident recalls a traumatic memory involving his little sister – but he’s not going to share them as he’s the brooding (even if not dark) type. Tiger and Bunny are as usual the ones to involve themselves in their comrades problems, but Thomas appears to have flown the coop, perhaps in response to a fake news story about his being fired that had Subaru fooled (though that’s no great achievement).
If we’re heard the name “L.L. Auden” before I don’t remember it, but it seems like that could be an important name drop. If he was indeed Mr. Legend’s arch-nemesis and a vigilante that makes him important. Above and beyond that he’s the string that finally connects the two airheads from the epilogues with the main cast (as in Thomas) when they cross paths at his display in the Superhero Museum. I don’t know if Auden is directly connected to those two – he could be the rich dude holding their leash for all I know – or if they’re just big fans.
As far as that bit with the lasagna couple goes, I mean, I certainly saw it coming. But in the final analysis it was pretty whack – so, they lure the unsuspecting victim into their target’s house so they can frame them for robbing it? How do they know whoever lives there isn’t gonna show up? In any event it serves to undo Barnaby’s grand gesture and exacerbate Thomas’ trust issues, so I’m not going to be surprised if we see another incident or two on his watch.
Meanwhile, Mattia’s path towards supervillain status continues unabated, and it only seems like a matter of when and not if for that one. But there is a twist there – his dosing himself lands him in the hospital, with the director desperate for any results to keep his funding (which is coming from Ouroboros, naturally) alive. Under the gun he’s prepared to inject an unwilling subordinate but mistakenly jabs himself instead. In the process the truth of the drug is revealed – it doesn’t unleash powers in those that don’t have them, but if a NEXT shoots up it amplifies them exponentially. This subplot and these characters are definitely the closest thing to a Boku no Hero Academia vibe yet.
Unfortunately Mattia has a neighbor in the hospital – Barnaby, though he’s not aware of it. Barnaby has been critically injured breaking up a robbery by a NEXT whose power is turning anything he touches (and wants to) into a bomb. Barnaby is in a coma, and Kotetsu is playing it casual for the sake of the others. But he’s broken inside (Kaede certainly knows that), and doing some freelance investigating on his own (which the rozzers are none too pleased about). Barnaby was actually Hugan and Mugan’s next target, but taking down a guy some other villain has already put into a coma isn’t very satisfying. They move on to their next target – who, it seems, is Wild Tiger.
There’s lots of name-dropping here that’s either new info or evidence that ten years is a long time where my memory is concerned. The drug funder is Rosicky, the dude holding Hugan and Mugan’s leash is Brahe, and they’re both “Level 2s” in Ouroboros. And the two psychos are “Nemo Children”. None of those names (apart from Ouroboros itself) mean anything to me but these people are either going to be integral to the climax of the first cour or of the entire series – it’s just a matter of which. Does Masafumi Nishida intend to link the entire series into one flowing narrative or have two more or less independent cours?
