Episode 50, " A Disturbance in Central"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Roy Mustang and his group are joined by troops from the East who support them. The higher-ups notice that Roy's group is not killing anybody, only disabling them. In the council room, Olivier mocks the other officials for the weakness of their soldiers. She suggests taking over the Central toops herself, but is told that she's only there to restrain the Briggs troops. She laughs at this, as she is sure if it came to that, her troops would abandon her instead of giving in. Elsewhere, Briggs troops, led by Buccaneer, prepare to go into battle at a location in Central. As Roy's troops run out of ammo, help arrives in the form of an ammo-filled supply truck. Roy finds Maria Ross in the front, and it's revealed the person who put it all together is none other than Jean Havoc. Edward, Hohenheim, Scar, and the chimera (save for Heinkel, who is hurt) head for Central. Mei is in Central with Envy and heads to the underground. Olivier kills one of the generals and injures another. Pride's clanging on Alphonse's head is heard by Father in Central. Edward and the group enter the path to Father via Laboratory 3, where they split up into groups. One of the remaining officers activates the white "immortal army" homunculi, whose screams can be heard by everyone.
Comments:
Episode fifty, and we're still only at about the halfway mark of the final arc. Compare this to episode fifty of the first series, where we were almost done (and entrenched in parallel world happenings). This show still has thirteen episodes to go, I believe, which will mean it's a bit longer than the first one. But it also has begun to seem a little stretched out, even if it is following the manga at a pretty decent pace. The problem is, of course, that the manga's final arc is really dragged out, too.
However, in this particular episode, it hardly matters, since everything we're getting is pretty damn awesome. For instance, Roy's rebellion, which is really heating up (no pun intended). His group has been joined by soldiers from Grumman's group and the Briggs soldiers, and while his own team has no problem sparing the soldiers who are just following orders, the Briggs soldiers are not so kind. Or rather, not so soft, as Olivier would put it.
We see the return of Maria Ross in this episode, aboard the shipment of weapons and ammo, but you really shouldn't expect her to do much from here. We also get an appearance by Havoc, whose family store ordered these weapons for Mustang's rebellion. You won't see him again (at least, I haven't seen him since in the manga), but he does play a small part in this rebellion through this action, at least.
What makes the episode for me are the scenes of Central being thrown into chaos and soldiers scurrying around trying to pin down Roy's group, to no avail. It's funny, though, that there's no sort of evacuation for the citizens, who are happy to just stand on the streets and watch.
The real winner in the episode, though, is Olivier Armstrong. With Father gone, she makes her move, ridding herself of one of the generals and taking another hostage. I sort of even felt bad for the general who got shot. He really looked pathetic just before she shot him. This other guy has a sword going through his arm, though, so maybe just being shot dead is getting off lightly. Olivier is several kinds, if not every kind, of awesome.
Oh yeah, Edward Elric is a character in this show, too, right? It's easy to forget, since he does nothing in it. Well, they'll give him a bit to do next time, because of those lame hounculi zombie things. Yawn. Oh, by the way, there was some great new music in this episode. That was a pleasant surprise!
Overall Score: 4 out of 5
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: Roy Mustang and his group are joined by troops from the East who support them. The higher-ups notice that Roy's group is not killing anybody, only disabling them. In the council room, Olivier mocks the other officials for the weakness of their soldiers. She suggests taking over the Central toops herself, but is told that she's only there to restrain the Briggs troops. She laughs at this, as she is sure if it came to that, her troops would abandon her instead of giving in. Elsewhere, Briggs troops, led by Buccaneer, prepare to go into battle at a location in Central. As Roy's troops run out of ammo, help arrives in the form of an ammo-filled supply truck. Roy finds Maria Ross in the front, and it's revealed the person who put it all together is none other than Jean Havoc. Edward, Hohenheim, Scar, and the chimera (save for Heinkel, who is hurt) head for Central. Mei is in Central with Envy and heads to the underground. Olivier kills one of the generals and injures another. Pride's clanging on Alphonse's head is heard by Father in Central. Edward and the group enter the path to Father via Laboratory 3, where they split up into groups. One of the remaining officers activates the white "immortal army" homunculi, whose screams can be heard by everyone.
Comments:
Episode fifty, and we're still only at about the halfway mark of the final arc. Compare this to episode fifty of the first series, where we were almost done (and entrenched in parallel world happenings). This show still has thirteen episodes to go, I believe, which will mean it's a bit longer than the first one. But it also has begun to seem a little stretched out, even if it is following the manga at a pretty decent pace. The problem is, of course, that the manga's final arc is really dragged out, too.
However, in this particular episode, it hardly matters, since everything we're getting is pretty damn awesome. For instance, Roy's rebellion, which is really heating up (no pun intended). His group has been joined by soldiers from Grumman's group and the Briggs soldiers, and while his own team has no problem sparing the soldiers who are just following orders, the Briggs soldiers are not so kind. Or rather, not so soft, as Olivier would put it.
We see the return of Maria Ross in this episode, aboard the shipment of weapons and ammo, but you really shouldn't expect her to do much from here. We also get an appearance by Havoc, whose family store ordered these weapons for Mustang's rebellion. You won't see him again (at least, I haven't seen him since in the manga), but he does play a small part in this rebellion through this action, at least.
What makes the episode for me are the scenes of Central being thrown into chaos and soldiers scurrying around trying to pin down Roy's group, to no avail. It's funny, though, that there's no sort of evacuation for the citizens, who are happy to just stand on the streets and watch.
The real winner in the episode, though, is Olivier Armstrong. With Father gone, she makes her move, ridding herself of one of the generals and taking another hostage. I sort of even felt bad for the general who got shot. He really looked pathetic just before she shot him. This other guy has a sword going through his arm, though, so maybe just being shot dead is getting off lightly. Olivier is several kinds, if not every kind, of awesome.
Oh yeah, Edward Elric is a character in this show, too, right? It's easy to forget, since he does nothing in it. Well, they'll give him a bit to do next time, because of those lame hounculi zombie things. Yawn. Oh, by the way, there was some great new music in this episode. That was a pleasant surprise!
Overall Score: 4 out of 5
