[Fish Sandwich]

Seems about right that Lango's defining superpower is the ability to create barriers.

Really, it's pretty much perfect for the guy. It's not letting anything or anyone in. It's dividing things; it's denying them. Seeing Gavv struggle to break through the literal walls Lango puts up is like seeing Shouma struggle against the distilled essence of the larger rejection he's faced since the day he was born.

In broader terms, Lango is an obstacle, like any self-respecting big bad, which is why you can of course find lots of villains out there who are also literally untouchable. Whether it's specifically a forcefield or some other gimmick, it *always* fits to some extent. Here though, with a lot of the themes Gavv has been exploring since the very start, I still think it's fair to say this particular instance fits especially well. Probably better than the show's staff were even consciously thinking about?

After all, priority number one with that choice was almost certainly just to let Lango be exactly the sort of video game boss come to life that Sugihara loves directing. See also: the obligatory sick anime teleporting, which I don't have any symbolic read on, but is also cool. It's really a testament to how compellingly put together that whole climax is that I even gave the barriers that much thought. It does a wonderful job conveying how casual this all is for Lango, down to using the same trick they did way back when Glotta had that first fight against Valen, with him not even needing to bust out his monster costume for most of it.

The whole vibe of Lango barely even caring, then, is another thing that works great for the story being told. Lango smashes apart Shouma's world and his self-worth with such ease, actions and words alike both trying to convince him he's delusional to believe he can ever take hold of a brighter future. The whole power dynamic of the Stomach family may have had to change drastically to get Lango to take action so directly, but even with his authority over his other siblings in question, there's no mistaking the power he still holds over Shouma, even after so many episodes of personal growth. Just about what I'd hope for from this confrontation.

As much as that stuff is the crux of the episode though, I don't want to gloss over how much I liked all the stuff with Lakia here?

First of all, him practicing writing was a great purposeful use of a quick establishing shot, in the same way as seeing him out hunting for tasty rocks in 33. It's nice getting those little glimpses of a character between the action that help sketch out what their actual day-to-day life is like. But then on top of that, this episode also starts paying off his character growth by seizing the opportunity to have him express guilt regarding his past actions and worry about how they may affect his personal relationships, which is also great -- Koumura starting to run with that Mouri two-parter in a way that's going to be fun to watch play out. But *then*, going even further, those feelings also make for a great scene with all three Riders interacting with each other in the here and now, that's actually my favorite part of the whole episode? Even just those shots of Shouma silently reacting to Lakia pack in so much of what makes me love this show so much.