Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Episode 13

And thus Blade Runner: Black Lotus ends. Not with a bang, nor exactly a whimper, but rather with another action sequence.

I guess that's really the heart of my issue with this entire endeavor. Sure, the fight sequences are engaging and the choreography is well-done. But… sword fights and exploding skyscrapers? Is that really what Blade Runner is all about? There's no deeper reflection, no new musings on the dystopian present, and hardly enough personal stories to tug at the heartstrings.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus is a perfectly serviceable, risk-free cyberpunk flick that is all about katanas, cartwheels, explosions, and hoverbikes. If it didn't have Blade Runner in the title, it could be one of any number of action sci-fi also-rans that have used cyberpunk as an aesthetic over the years. I mean for God's sakes this is only a thirteen-episode season and it's not even our first “kill the big bad at the top floor of the skyscraper” fight.

Joseph dies, surprising no one. The only character in the show to receive just enough competent characterization to make him memorable, and he dies in the most predictable way possible: punching the detonator to blow up the big bad's evil lab. The white-haired replicant dies too, stabbed by the villain for no discernable reason. If we had known anything about her beyond “wears overalls” and “can do a backflip” maybe that scene might have meant something. Davis comes back, having survived the stabbing to return to the force. Again, outside of her “beat cop” template, we don't know anything about her as a person, and I doubt we ever will.

Because none of the cast has much of a personality or even a decent survival rate, everything rests on the action alone. The technical aspects of that action are good to great—again, the mocap and choreography have been some of Black Lotus's strongest points. But even here, there are lingering issues that distract from the spectacle. Elle is framed as a desperate runaway, but she fights like a highly-trained assassin. The way she expresses herself via conflict is by being a straight up better fighter than her opponent every time. There's one brief glimpse of the kind of tenacity I would expect from someone like Elle, and that's when she pushes the blade through her hand to beat the white lily. But she follows this up with a running wall backflip overhead attack thing that, again, makes her look like a professional killer of the highest caliber. It's a recurring jolt of cognitive dissonance in what should be the show's strongest suit.

There's a clear setup for a second season, which I guess means there's more story to tell. I hope that future seasons introduce more tragic personal stories in a large, oppressive dystopia, and maybe dial it back a bit with the sword fights. It is Blade Runner, after all.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.