Samurai Jack may deal with some adult themes, but at its core, it is a cartoon. Its focus is on the action, the story and the occasional penis joke.
In the past, there was never any focus on relationships, platonic or otherwise. Generally, the only people Jack deals with are Aku and hordes of his minions. The only friend he really ever makes is the Scotsman, and that bond was formed out of necessity and mutual respect.
Things changed this season with the introduction of Ashi. She’s undergone quite the transformation: first she wanted to kill Jack, then she realized she’d been brainwashed.
Jack clearly cares about Ashi — after all, he saved her life multiple times when he could have left her to die. Now they’re companions and friends — and perhaps something more.
To say there’s a lot of sexual tension in this episode would be an understatement. From the get-go, Jack and Ashi are forced together in a tightly packed carriage. They fidget and sweat and make a point not to make eye contact. At one point, she exclaims that something is poking her — it’s the hilt of Jack’s sword, but something else is pretty clearly implied.
A lovey-dovey tune plays in the background as the two awkwardly touch hands and nervously laugh it off.
This scene is cut short by green tigers whose shirts spell out their malicious intents. No, seriously.
As Jack and Ashi punch their way through the tigers, they accidentally bump hands again. For a brief moment, the pulsating fighting music gives way to the airy love motif as Jack and Ashi apologize to each other again. The motif slips back in twice more, for no more than a second each time, as Jack and Ashi touch. When they finally escape, Jack has a kind of wry, innocent smile as Ashi slips off his back.
After a sandstorm forces them into a crash-landed space prison, Jack and Ashi are pursued by an unseen monster. In a sequence that feels rather like Alien — dark corridors, heart-racing music, a hidden enemy — Jack and Ashi run, trying to find an escape route.
Eventually, they are forced to fight Lazarus 92, a name that makes the shape-shifting leech monster sound less like a villain and more like a Twitter handle. As they are about to be totally consumed, Jack is able to activate a mysterious weapon he happened upon.
The leeches pop like balloons. Jack and Ashi, coated in dried poison, stand and pant. They exchange a look.
Smash cut to the two kissing, all soundtracked to Dean Martin’s “Everybody Loves Somebody.”
I guess everybody really does love somebody. Still, this episode felt a little bit like filler. Nothing happened to advance Jack’s goal of killing Aku, which he said at the end of last week’s episode was the next step.
Jack and Ashi’s budding relationship does complicate things, though. Either she’ll be killed by Aku, thus emboldening Jack to destroy him, or when Jack does defeat Aku, he might have to leave her in the future to return to the past.
Samurai Jack fans have been polarized in their reactions. Some were pleased.
THE SHIP HAS SAILED! I REPEAT, THE SHIP HAS SAILED! #SamuraiJack pic.twitter.com/1eerlDVfUV
— Shamaar (@Neatfreax) May 7, 2017
In the middle of the latest Samurai Jack ep:
— jacksfilms (@jacksfilms) May 7, 2017
"This is filler unless they make out"
End of the episode happens: pic.twitter.com/RJwFYZ6dQQ
Others were unamused.
Either way, everyone was shocked.
Everyone watching the end of tonight's episode #samuraijack pic.twitter.com/q4krlButGx
— Seanicus (@SeanicusGaming) May 7, 2017
Rating: 4/5
Samurai Jack airs every Saturday at 11 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
