[Fish Sandwich]

Sort of surprising to see the first proper instance of everyone transforming together happen in a relatively casual fashion after all this time?

This show has always had one Rider or another be off doing something else so consistently I assumed it must've been a conscious choice, but if it was, I figured a moment like this would've finally happened at the climax of a two-parter or something? You know, like the Riders in this series already stomp all over the bad guys alone or in pairs so much, the visual of all three lined up and ready with their belts in of itself would be like a sign that whoever they were up against doesn't stand a chance.

Although to be fair, there's sort of still shades of what I'm talking about, even though this is a fight the heroes don't get to win just yet? Ordinarily, I'd also complain about them not leading off with their base forms, too, for one thing, and yet, especially coming off of the previous episode, and how those power-up forms represent the mutual growth of those characters, going for the exact opposite again seems like another conscious choice, and one that maybe sorta tells you something about where these people are at by this point. They just kinda get more and more united the longer the show goes, you know?

So of course, staying true to that logic, even though the latest Bitter Gavv is already a tough cookie in a straightforward fight, the real reason things end up going wrong has much more to do with how he has the ability to upset that unity by brainwashing Valen, looping things right back around to that idea that no villain could possibly hope to ever beat these guys without first making sure they don't have to take them all on at the same time. Or at least, it's a risk any self-respecting brainy evil scientist would be smart enough to avoid taking, given the chance.

It's like even when Gavv does something in a way that's not quite what I was hoping for, it just makes enough sense that I still can't dislike it?

And besides, outside of that one thing, this pretty much *is* an episode that's everything I could hope for? I love that the whole concept of that fight scene is that the heroes need to avoid Bitter Gavv's deadly sound effects, and think Shibasaki's touch as director made it even more of a joy to watch. Drama-wise, it's another one where a lot of little but significant movement happens for multiple plot threads, all of which is very intriguing, even when it's a twist most people have no doubt seen coming for a while. One thing I personally wouldn't have called ahead of time was Zombie Suga being the threat for a two-parter, but especially with the way this all affects Hanto being a focus, I'm suddenly pretty excited about the idea of a little addendum to that particular thread. It's another decision I probably wouldn't have made, but that's also the whole reason these things are exciting, right?