5 Point Discussions – Double Decker 9: “Don’t Think! Feel So Good!”

The team of SEVEN-O helps stop a kidnapping. But do they get in even more trouble trying to help? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. After the absolute beatdown the Bamboo Man gave Doug and Kirill, you’d assume when we heard SEVEN-O’s scientist Doctor Apple was working on new inventions that it’d be weapons. But no, it’s just James Bondian gadgets: they’ve got rocket skates, a jet pack, and contacts that can show what people are looking at to a remote computer.  Aside from Kirill, they talk about how Apple’s wasted his time and they can’t use any of this junk. Moreover, we dip back into the idea that Apple is a closet pervert, with them pointing out his “view jack” contacts could be used to see when people are undressing. Of course, since they had to go through all this, the team’s of course going to use all these inventions, and the view jacks will wind up being the MVP of them all.

2. Man, there’s more double-crossing in this episode than a daytime soap. When the episode starts, SEVEN-O is asked to rescue a politician’s daughter from Esperanza. The politician agrees to pay, but SEVEN-O follows along to monitor the situation and attempt to catch more members of Esperanza. While they put together a smart tail, everything that can go wrong does–a fire traps half of them in heavy traffic, while the smoke from the fire robs another group from their eyes, while the communication glitches out. The only one left is Doug, who goes in at the last moment in an attempt to take down the robbers, but gets knocked out by a surprise extra goon.
The trick to the mission exploding in their face? The politician had his daughter kidnapped on purpose, to make SEVEN-O look stupid and he could be the hero helping her escape to secure his next election and make things easier for Esperanza politically. His payback is swift though, as Zabel (leader of Esperanza) makes it clear he has no intention of treating the politician as an equal, giving him his daughter back…but kicking the crap out of him.

3. In a call back to several episodes at once, we learn the villain plan this week. They want to know how the anti-Anthem antidote is made–the secret to the AMS bullets that makes SEVEN-O effective. This was a big point from Pink’s focus episode a while back, with Kay’s former boss wanting the bullets to become a made man in Esperanza.
Now here we see the leader of SEVEN-O, Zabel Franken–the guy Bamboo Man supposedly killed–is now trying to get the very same information from him. Zabel wants this information bad enough to reveal he leads SEVEN-O, though presumably he thought he’d be able to torture Doug until he got the information, then get rid of him. Instead, Doug’s view jack contacts reveal his location to the rest of his team. But in the meantime, they get to waterboard and electrocute Doug in an attempt to break him. It’s a little silly–the process is automated, right? So would Doug even know the secret? Wouldn’t that be something only Doctor Apple knows?

4. The end of episode four pointed out “Doug is kind of an asshole”, and this episode drives that home.  After Esperanza tortures Doug for some time, SEVEN-O manages to track down the parking garage Doug is located in, and Kirill goes in using all the inventions from the beginning of the episode. To his credit, he does a great job–takes out nearly every threat he runs into with kicks and punches added by his skates. Eventually, he grasps Doug and they make a hasty retreat to the top of the building, using the jet pack to reach a helicopter piloted by Max and Robot.
Later, Kirill visits his partner in the hospital, and Doug thanks him…then points out he definitely wouldn’t have saved Kirill. It seems like a joke, until Kirill remembers Doug has never tried to save him. You’d think a dude who cared so much about his last partner dying would do more to watch over his current one.

5. So it turns out Kirill’s nonsensical catch phrase has carried a deeper meaning to the plot from the very beginning, and that sucks. Kirill’s going to end up Plot Important, which means in some way he would’ve always been destined for greatness.  Up til now, Kirill’s been a just some kid who got a chance and was making the most of it–he grew up poor, his family left him, and he became a cop to find his sister…and presumably, feed himself.  Now his grandfather’s catch phrase is recognized by a high-ranking military officer. It’s almost definitely crucial to the plot of the story going forward though, and I congratulate them for keeping a crucial point to the show under our noses for so long.
Double Decker is available on Crunchyroll and Funimation.