Dirty Pair (Episode 18) - Pardon Us. Trouble's On the Run, So We're Coming Through!

Kei and Yuri capture a petty criminal and are transporting him to the police when someone tries to kill them. Is someone after them or BJ? No matter where they go, the bad guys are waiting. What is going on?

Dirty Pair (Episode 18) – Pardon Us. Trouble’s On the Run, So We’re Coming Through!

What happened?

It wasn’t the most straightforward mission since they went to the wrong hotel and were mistaken for bandits. The mistake was only cleared up once the entire hotel was a smoking pile of rubble. The hotel they were looking for was next door… Anyhow, they found BJ and promptly captured him. Now to wait for the police to come and get him. However, the police wanted them to deliver BJ to the station and were willing to pay the extra costs.

On the way, a time bomb was planted on their car, although they managed to escape just in time. Stranded in the middle of Slum City they caught a bus and were soon pursued by gangs of criminals. Wherever they ran, the criminals were waiting for them. They slipped into a restaurant to talk to their boss and make a plan. He was going to talk to the police chief and get some answers. Yuri and Kei would meet him there, however, they had to keep BJ alive at all costs.

As they made their way to the police station, they knocked out a couple of gangsters and were surprised to discover that they were police officers. Well, it turns out that BJ is the witness that will take down an organised gang of drug dealers and that the police are somehow involved. Kei and Yuri drive a truck into the police station and take down the corrupt police chief… and managed to destroy the entire building in the process.

Dirty Pair Episode 18 Kei captured the corrupt police chief

What did you think?

Ah, the Dirty Pair. This was a great opening to the episode with them going to the wrong hotel and destroying it as they tried to arrest the wrong guy. Then, they almost screwed up the attempt at the real building, but it was odd that BJ knew that someone would be coming for him in that specific room. Rather than sticking a fake label over the emergency exit, why not go somewhere else? These criminals aren’t the smartest. I can only assume he was in some sort of witness protection thing, but then surely the police would have known where he was and wouldn’t have needed the Lovely Angels!

Then, when they discovered that the police were behind it and the chief was orchestrating everything, they continued on their mission to take BJ to that police station… Surely, they should have taken him someplace else. Sure, if they had made it about rescuing their boss, it might have made sense, but as much fun as this episode was, the logic behind it was pretty shaky.

Dirty Pair Episode 18 Kei and Yuri transporting BJ

What have you learnt?

In the last episode’s review, I mentioned how every character should have a purpose. They need something that drives them regardless of whether it matters to the story or not. Well, in this episode that all seemed to disappear. BJ was just waiting around to be caught. The Lovely Angels just kept on with their mission to deliver him to the police station even though they had just discovered the police were corrupt. So, it’s one thing to have a purpose, however, if it’s important to the story then it needs to be able to change.

A good character can react to the situation and make decisions based on what happens to them. Kei and Yuri are both smart, so it doesn’t make sense that they would just carry on with the mission regardless. It’s like telling them to deliver a chicken to the hen house even though they know that the foxes are running things. I know they are paid to complete the mission, but I believe they are better than that. The inability to react to a situation makes them more like robots than characters. Characters can make bad decisions, but there still needs to be a process that seems logical to them.