[Fish Sandwich]

So, starting from both the end and the beginning here, I like that this episode focuses in on Nightmares as this fundamental, inescapable reflected image of humanity itself, and then has the cliffhanger be the revelation that ZEZTZ was able to destroy his own reflection... but only by destroying himself in the process.

Simply as a narrative structure thing, I think that's neat, but beyond that, it's way up my alley how the episode expands on the relationship between good dreams and bad ones in a way that meshes well with classic Kamen Rider themes, as this yin and yang situation where black and white each contain a piece of the other as part of a singular whole. I've mentioned before that, in general, I love dramatic conversations in this show between Nem and Baku, and the one they get here is no exception. It's the scene that most emphasizes those themes at play, with them comparing notes on their recent conversations with their parents, and through telling one another about the things that make those experiences different, they're both able to ease some of that identical sense of burden hanging over them in that moment. Nem is tortured by her connection to bad dreams, but Baku is able to find something good that came of that, just as Nem is able to remind Baku that his connection to Zero's dream has brought him more than only suffering.

It's kind of a lot going on, honestly! Kind of hard to really get at in one of these late-night sleepy-time posts I do for ZEZTZ, so I won't try to unpack the episode that much more right now. Suffice it to say, I think there are a lot of different layers going on like that in plenty of other scenes here too, and that's a huge thing it's got going for it. In typical ZEZTZ fashion, it doesn't actually cleanly resolve everything the first half of the two-parter set up, but it moves everything into a new phase that pays it all off in ways that I think are pretty smart?

Really appreciated the use of the toys here, especially. Obviously an episode this late in the game that uses the base form and nothing *but* the base form for an entire climax is going to win points with me inherently, but that appreciation goes beyond simple personal preference here. I thought it was great to see ZEZTZ overcome his doppelganger with an Over Banish after all this time, making it worth holding off on that sound for so long, and I thought the use of the Zeroider was... well, really, the whole show has actually been remarkably focused in how it uses the bike? Like the base form, just getting screen-time, especially in an action scene, is always going to be cool, but using it as such a big factor in the whole visual language and symbolism -- as something that can physically represent the bond between Baku and his father -- that's taking it a step beyond. Really makes the "Rider" part of the title feel essential in a unique way.