High Card

Episode 5

Damn, I wasn't expecting the plot in this episode! I know I mentioned last week that I was a little bit apprehensive about High Card trying to focus on character introspection when its stylized direction makes it more suited for an over-the-top action romp. While I still feel that way now, I wasn't expecting the bank robbery from last episode to be a major catalyst in this one, as the guy who was arrested turned out to be a member of a very prominent mob family that seems to be connected to the large scale attack we saw at the beginning of the show. If High Card wanted to craft an engaging, suspenseful plot while still maintaining that aforementioned style, then I think this is probably the best way to do it.

Most of this episode is experienced through the perspective of the young up-and-coming detective named Sugar. Sugar is your typical wide-eyed optimist who believes in justice, but it was nice to see how her worldview contrasts against all the shady stuff that's going on. I like the fact that she still sticks to her ideology even after being held at gunpoint, and how that seems to have a positive influence on her superior. I'm interested to see how far that optimism will get her.

The head of Pinochle, the organization that our main characters work for, seems to be responsible for collecting the cards that were scattered at the beginning of the show, but is that really all there is to it? Also, the clearly evil mob boss of the Klondike family who just tortured a dude in front of dozens of people seems to be hinting at a past event that led to the attack in the first place. I do think that High Card is a bit too cryptic about the details surrounding its plot in this episode, but it gets a pass for now. While not as exciting as what we've had before, this is the most well-written episode of High Card yet, and I'm curious to see if it'll get better from here.

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High Card is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.