Space Brothers Episode 95
What They Say:
Eddie Jay’s arrival has given the CES-62 sub crew a much-needed jolt. After a night jog brings the crew closer together, Eddie suggests that the crew members share their stories.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Though things moved a bit faster in some ways than you’d care for, bringing Eddie on board in the previous episode actually had him trying to get these misfits to work together. Not that it will be very easy overall and not that there won’t be challenges, but it was good to see some minor progress made quickly to get things moving along and showing that he may have what it takes to properly motivate them without them realizing it at first. And you also had Mutta realizing what was going on, which is good, as it got him to finally be really excited about their potential with what they can do. He’s on the path he needs to be for his dream and it’s just right there in front of him and he can now really savor and enjoy the process while working hard.
With this episode, having brought the group together a bit, we get a focus on Betty for a good part of it as it explores her back story, her family, her son and her place in the program as well. There’s some good stuff early on with the struggles she’s had and we also get to see some solid material with the way she dealt with his involvement in the program and the stress of it, but we also get a lot of simple, silly and really enjoyable home life montage material that makes her a lot more accessible. While she’s been the distant type so far since being introduced, we see that it just is her hard exterior that’s always there, even when living a great life with her husband and infant child. There’s a softness to her in those quiet, private moments, but there’s also just that fact that she has a certain look and personality about her that can keep people away, and in some ways you suspect that she likes that as a protective mechanism.
Naturally, her life isn’t easy and the tragedy that hit her along the way is one that is significant as her husband was part of the crew with Brian Jay that came crashing down and altered the lives of so many people, something that really hits home for Mutta. There’s definitely some interesting material here as we get to understand Betty, her family, her connection to Eddie now and why she wants to get back out there and become an astronaut again after all that had happened. The show spends most of its time in the past, with some nods in the present as the story is told, but we also get to move beyond it a bit as the training continues on. The best part is that Pico manages to show up for a bit and offers up a few cute moments with the crew, including giving them an idea for a name for their group that will definitely stick in a very fun and positive way.
In Summary:
The focus on Betty here is a good one and obviously expected, but I like that we get a good connection for Eddie right out of the gate and that that has some meaning for Mutta as well, which brings them together in some way that isn’t stated or even realized by Betty to a degree. The focus on the past can and does dominate here and it’s useful to see more of who we’re dealing with for this arc, so it hits all the right notes for me. I also like that we’re starting to move forward again towards the end and that we get a great little callback with Pico making an appearance since he just makes me smile.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.