ReviewsThe Big O

The Big O Act 8: Missing Cat

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Summary

Dastun and other members of the Military Police investigate a crime scene in a woman’s home in Easttown. The deceased was a jeweler with no friends or family, but she had a German Shepherd that Dastun claims was likely worth as much as the Military Police’s annual budget. The police head out to the pool where they finds a large dead mutated dog-like creature. Dorothy walks through the streets of Paradigm in the rain and stops by an alley where she sees a small black kitten. Dorothy reacts in shock when the kitten meows at her. Later, Roger angrily calls for Dorothy, who he tells Norman has broken the rules. Roger is angry about his desk, which has been completely messed up, with many objects on it ruined. Norman wonders if ‘Perro’, the kitten, was responsible. Later Roger talks to Dorothy on the balcony, who claims that Perro was abandoned and needed someone to rescue him. Roger claims that as a cat Perro would be very valuable and he doubts someone would have abandoned him. Roger says they need to find his owner and Dorothy asks him to negotiate with the owner at that time. She swiftly walks away. Later Dorothy plays the piano and cleans while Perro follows. Roger thinks Dorothy has become a lot more expressive lately and wonders if contact with Perro has awakened memories of the girl she was modeled after. Perro also joins Dorothy at dinner and sits with her as she stands on the balcony. The next day, Dorothy heads outside, keeping Perro in a small box. Roger works on repairing a broken hourglass in his office when Norman tells him Mr. and Mrs. Ferry, owners of Perro have arrived. The Ferrys refuse to part with Perro no matter how much money is offered for him. Roger heads to the balcony where Dorothy sits with Perro. Roger explains to her that when negotiating one has to consider the feelings of the other side. He asks Dorothy to return Perro to the Ferrys. Suddenly a small flying craft shows up and grabs onto Dorothy. Roger tries to grab onto it but is knocked off. The craft fires at Roger who nearly falls off the balcony. Mr. Ferry comments on the pilot of the craft being Eugene and is shot to death by it. Norman comes out and fires at the craft with a machine gun but stops when Dorothy appears to be in his path. Roger pulls Mrs. Ferry to safety when the craft fires upon them again. She gets up and calls to Eugene to return “Roy” to her. She is fired upon and calls for Roy one last time as she dies. Roger leaves in his car, to find Dorothy. Angel, who was hiding in a nearby alley follows him on her motorcycle.

At the Speak Easy bar, Roger meets with Big Ear, claiming he is in a hurry and wants to know about Eugene. Big Ear tells Roger about the murder in Easttown where a woman was killed by her dog. He claims Eugene was behind it and is a hard person to negotiate with. Roger says there will be no negotiating on this job. Eugene keeps Dorothy in a cylindrical cell, calling her a well-made doll, but a waste of everyone’s time. Big Ear tells Roger that Eugene is an alchemist, who got memories relating to life itself. Dorothy is brought through Eugene’s laboratory by 2 armed guards, and she says she’s not interested in his work. He brings her to a room filled with numerous ‘works of art’, mutated creatures he has worked on that are kept in glass tanks. Roger arrives near Eugene’s lair, making his way through some rubble. He tells Angel he’s aware of her presence, saying she should thank him for showing him the way here. Eugene tells Dorothy that due to there being so few cats and dogs in the world he has become a creator of new beings. Dorothy claims that these mutated beings used to be humans. Angel and Roger work their way towards Eugene’s lair, leading them through a museum. Angel says that Paradigm bankrolled Eugene thinking they could get memories through the rebirth of rare animals, but he double crossed them. Angel claims he built a secret army and sold a defective sample to a millionaire business partner. Dorothy asks Eugene where Perro is. Eugene claims that when the Ferrys tried to back out of things he captured their son Roy and turned him into a research specimen. Roger and Angel head down an elevator shaft and she tells him that Roy was used as raw material to create the kitten. The Ferrys tracked him down but were unable to reverse things. Roger realizes Dorothy felt so close to Perro since he was created just like her. Angel trips an alarm and they hide to avoid some armed guards. Angel tosses Roger a gun. He claims its against his principles but he doesn’t have a choice but to use it. Roger shoots the ventilation above the soldiers, and the exhaust enables him to knock them out. Eugene watches Angel and Roger head through his lair on a video camera. They enter a large room that contains a bridge over a large body of water. Suddenly a large tentacled creature bursts out of the water and chases them. The creature, a Chimera, destroys the bridge they are walking on but Roger is able to lift them to safety using a wire that ejects from his wrist watch. Roger puts Angel down once he gets out of the water and talks to Norman via his watch. Norman claims Big O will be ready in 15 seconds. The Chimera lunges towards Roger but Big O bursts from the water before it can reach him. Angel wakes up and sees the Big O in front of her. Big O starts battling the Chimera, destroying much of Eugene’s lair. Angel is once again concerned with the memories being destroyed. The Chimera grabs Big O with a number of tentacles and reveals a second mouth on its torso that bites into Big O. Big O tears off some of the Chimera’s limbs. Dorothy, who is being held at gunpoint by Eugene, calls out to Roger to not hurt the Chimera, as Perro is within him. The Chimera grabs onto Big O with its tentacles. Eugene claims Dorothy will make a fine contribution to the Chimera and once again calls himself the Creator. He calls for the Chimera to devour the Big O. Dorothy raises her hands to the Chimera, calling out to Perro. Eugene realizes the Chimera has stopped due to Dorothy and is about to shoot her when the Chimera grabs him with a tentacle and kills him. The Chimera stares at Dorothy then walks into Eugene’s burning lair, which collapses onto it. Big O grabs Dorothy in its hand. On a later day, Dorothy walks through the rain again, passing by the alley where she found Perro. Sitting on the balcony, Dorothy asks Roger whose memory the song she plays on the piano belongs to. Roger tells her to cherish that memory and her memory of Perro as long as she can. Dorothy thanks Roger.

Commentary

The strongest episode to this point, providing some further development for Dorothy. Her relationship with Perro is a touching one to see and shows some emotion that you wouldn’t expect to see from her. This is probably the most violent and potentially offensive episode of the series, featuring the Ferrys being gunned down and a plot surrounding a boy being kidnapped and turned into a cat, and later a monster. It also features religious imagery through parts of Eugene’s lair and his claims of being a creator/God. Much of the episode was censored when it aired on Cartoon Network. Seeing Norman whip out a machine gun and fire at Eugene was quite a sight to see. It’s something you’d never expect to see from such a character. The episode features some very interesting designs with respect to the layout of Eugene’s laboratory. The rarity of animals in Paradigm adds a new layer to the overall plot relating to Paradigm City and is reminiscent of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the story that inspired Blade Runner.

Overall Rating
4.5/5
The Big O Info


Director:
Kazuyoshi Katayama

Writer(s):
Chiaki J. Konaka
Kazuyoshi Katayama
Keiichi Hasegawa
Masanao Akahoshi
Shin Yoshida

Mechanical Designer:
Keiichi Satou

Character Designer:
Keiichi Satou

Musical Composer:
Toshihiko Sahashi

Format:
26 episodes

Airdates:
Japan 10.13.1999 – 01.19.2000 (S1); 01.02.2003 – 03.23.2003 (S2)
U.S. 04.02.2001 – 04.18.2001 (S1); 08.03.2003 – 11.02.2003 (S2)

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