[Switchblade]

I really liked this one. We got a good chunk of backstory for Mr. Belt (whose real name is ludicrously improbable) and some more information on Proto-Drive (which I imagine will be fleshed out in episode 0). The investigation got a bit sidelined by Heart showing up, but the scene with Kiriko in the warehouse had some cool atmosphere. Meanwhile, the fight with Heart is probably the best we've had on Drive so far, with some inventive use of the tire change gimmick and a suitably dramatic cliffhanger.

Speaking of cliffhangers, I was initially disappointed to see that last week's Roidmude was still alive and we were getting another standard two-parter... and then the show didn't wrap it up. I know I've harped on this before, but I'm not a fan of seeing two-parters back. I have nothing against them, per say, but I've felt for awhile now that Kamen Rider was stagnating with the same format and I didn't want to see the show backslide after Gaim finally broke out of that mold. I'm glad to see Drive stretching its legs just a little bit here, even if it's just doing a three-parter with some diversion for backstory. Hopefully we'll see more fluctuation in terms of how long or short Roidmude stories are from here on out (I'm also really happy to see that there's no victim of the fortnight in this arc, either).

Honestly, the only thing I didn't like this week was the opening scene in the squad room. I don't know what the hell the director was doing with the chief's candy car speech, but it was pretty damn awful. I'd love to see the show stop trying to force gimmicky laughs out of these scenes and actually use the supporting characters productively.