[Switchblade]

I'm ambivalent about this episode. There are aspects of it that I think worked: Tsurugi deciding to commit suicide by Kamen Rider, him finding a way to lure many (all?) the Worms to their death as part of his own, that beautiful final scene with Jiiya. There are also things that don't: every single scrap of over-the-top pathos with Misaki, with the possible exception of the bracelet bits.

I don't know if there was ever a version of the show where Tsurugi made it out alive. Hatred of the Worms was such a core to his early characterization that I can't see him accepting his true nature to any extent. At the same time, it's a real hard swerve to take the show's biggest goofball comic relief character and turn him into a death seeking idealist in his final episode. The fact that it even kinda works is really impressive.

At the same time, I really do hate that we're going to go through the rest of the series without Tsurugi. It's only three episodes, sure, but his presence almost always elevated the story and I am going to miss him a lot.