[Daikaijuman54]

"Did someone mention the Door to Darkness?" -Mickey Mouse

Boy. Gotchard really pulled a great Villain Rider debut this episode. And I know people will bring up the "I told you it wasn't going to stay happy-go-lucky," which yes, it is a darker episode but I'm going to give it some time before jumping on that boat, not like it was one that we shouldn't have expected.

Anyway, I did figure the Inspector seemed to be just "there" and given how obvious she tried to lead them to thinking it'd be the old guy, it's pretty obvious from previous Rider Seasons to see that kind of twist coming. But anyway, I'm glad this episode didn't skimp out on the focus of the fight like retreating midway through the episode (they left at the end, which is great because we got a whole episode dedicated to a great fight and debut) since boy, Dread's debut and everything was just perfect!

An unwilling host instead of a twist villain, using the protagonist's kindness with their hostage host not as a "I'm wearing your friend's face, betcha can't punch it" or how well using Sabimaru worked as the host since he knows a lot about the Chemies to better utilize them against Gotchard.

Look, I know Spanner's giving a reality check to the kids, but you got owned too. Twice in fact during that fight. I do appreciate the theme of starting out simple and innocent with Chemy Catching to what an Alchemist's duty really is, and I'm sure we all know they're going to pull the old Rider Heroine trope about some special power Rinne has or something, given how the Goth Girl Brigade told her it would be her fault for everything.

Of course, now we're definitely in the "introducing too many forms and discarding them too early on" phase of Rider which does concern me, but we'll see how Gotchard plays out before judgement.

Next Episode: "Ah! UFO!" -Shotarou Hidari, 2010