[Paladin]

Baku begins to question what he thought he knew about Nox.

[Frontier]

Maybe I've been watching too much modern Kamen Rider, but I really have to give a side-eye to any organization promoting itself as being dedicated to "world peace" while still being so willing to sacrifice the human beings who make up said organization.

Ah, so that's why Odakka had a falling out with Code. I mean, losing your ability to transform and CODE basically abandoning you as disposable would probably ruin anyones' loyalty. "Good Luck" just doesn't have the same ring to it there.

Look at Baku re-rolling all the Capsems! Including some I think he lost?

What kind of agent do you really want Baku to be, Zero? Or CODE, for that matter? Though Zero seemed genuine in telling him not to worry Minami.

Nem is so empathetic. Even despite everything NOX has done, she still tried to understand him and what was driving him. Even Baku did.

Santa Claus reference. Ironically we didn't get a full-blown Christmas episode or Christmas death. More like a rebirth.

So...was that Nightmare controlling Odakka into becoming NOX and working with the Nightmares? Or was he doing that willingly? If The Lady is the one growing the butterflies that become Nightmares, I guess it's the latter and the Nightmare was just preventing him from waking up in the real world.

Who put up Odakka in that campground coma ward? Is Nem hidden away there too? Or is she with The Lady?

This time Inazuma Plasma was not meant to herald a shining light of vengeance, but the light that will finally wake NOX from his long nightmare. Couple that with Boost and it's Rider Kick that is SO FAST HE LITERALLY FUTURE SIGHTS HIS OWN FINISHER and you have our complete 1st upgrade form!

I'm surprised we got to see more of the base forms in this fight.

Baku and Odakka are slowly transitioning into the usual Takahashi Main/Secondary bickering but begrudging respect duo.

Poor Fujimi. He was so driven to find Odakka again and Odakka points a gun at him and provdies basically no answers or any sign of consideration.

It'll be interesting to see what Baku and Minami's dynamic will be like now that she's in the know. Also, thanks CODE for letting Baku wake up even though he didn't destroy the "enemy" you wanted him too. I think?

So NOX has been working with The Lady and their rival organization to take down CODE? This is where all the Nightmares are coming from?

Next time: Kamen Rider NOX vs Zero and dare I say a bike fight!?

[DreamSword]

That was a pretty solid action climax for both last episode as well as the first act.

[Fish Sandwich]

"What are dreams to ZEZTZ?"

That's a big question I've been trying to find an answer to these past few months. It's the theme of the show, but what makes that theme unique? Just the word itself is broad and dramatic enough that at least a couple Rider shows, One of which was even from this writer, have already made it a focus before.

This last week or so, something that's been staring me in the face from the start finally came into focus after seeing Inazuma Plasma's debut -- answering that first question starts with answering another:

"What are bad dreams to ZEZTZ?"

The answer to that has become the crux of this first "season" of the show, and will possibly prove to be the same for the rest of it. Bad dreams are the things we fear, and that's another thing that arguably ties just about every individual story ZEZTZ has told so far together, right back to our hero's fear of being powerless and without purpose in life. If exploring different fears and the different ways that different people deal with those feelings has always been the cohesion I've been so desperate to find in this series, then I honestly can't imagine a more perfect climax to end the year with? A story where Baku once again has to face something he personally fears, contrasted against the main villain in the usual Dreamer role, struggling to do the same against what is perhaps the most primal and universal fear of them all. Like, it's pretty brilliant, actually?

For probably the first time in a good while, I genuinely feel like I "got" this episode. There are many details of the plot I'm no less clear on than usual, because as usual, it deliberately leaves a lot up in the air, but as a story, I feel I understood the emotions of the characters as they went through those experiences, and what I was supposed to take away from that. I mean, how much have I complained about this show not making use of the toys in the normal smart ways Rider does? And then suddenly they hit me with a scene like Baku regaining all his other Capsems here. They needed an excuse for his toys to be back in his hands, and they made it a symbolic representation of the certainty he feels about his true mission in that moment, all while Zero turns out to be misreading the subtext instead of me for once. And I single out that beat in particular because I think it stands as proof that ZEZTZ has been using its time better than I've maybe given it credit for? There are several layers of interesting things going on at once in that scene, and it's all because it builds out from what was previously established, like any good serialized drama.

It's just a good episode, full stop. ZEZTZ is a show I've been struggling with, and one I've seen lots of people struggling with, for a myriad of reasons. I'm not exactly sure yet if I really trust how smart of a series it is, but I think I've come to be a firm believer that it at the very least is a series that trusts how smart its audience is? My basic media literacy skills regularly fail me when watching this show, but that's always been at least as thrilling as it is frustrating? The whole nature of that means I can't offer logical justification for this, but I definitely get the sense the people making this show are keeping track of everything like usual, for the most part, and are simply consciously choosing to tell their story in an unusual way?

If I'm right about that, then that's kinda the light returning for me, because I had a fear too. I feared going into this show that the newfound effort to appeal to a global audience would result in something overly concerned with giving people what they already know they want, rather than showing them what they never realized they needed. 15 episodes in, it turns out that's absolutely not the vibe of ZEZTZ at all, and while leaving so many people confused isn't quite ideal either, the fact that it can be in that territory to begin with also demonstrates its potential. I've seen that potential shine bright a few times already; hopefully the show makes it a mission to have that same lightning striking all the more often next year. Good luck, Kamen Rider ZEZTZ.

[GoldenXtreme]

This was a good episode, but I didn't exactly love it to bits either. I liked how they paralleled Baku's fear about learning the true nature of CODE and his job as an Agent with Odaka's own fears, I think it made for a cathartic payoff to Baku's whole willfully not asking questions deal for the whole show by having him finally become brave enough to try and figure out what is actually going on behind the scenes. He's even trying to ask questions about CODE in the next episode preview! We also see a shift in Baku and Odaka's dynamic, as while they are each affiliated with the other's enemy, they don't hate each other as individuals. Zero meanwhile seems to be poised to be an antagonist for the next arc of the show, but it was interesting that the writing very deliberately gave him some sympathetic moments this episode too. Still, I just can't get my heart invested in what is going on even if my brain appreciates some of the stuff that went on this episode. I think it's because the characters still feel more like plot devices than actual people to me. Since we are officially entering the second arc of the show with the next episode, I'm hoping the inevitable Yuuya Takahashi Story Shift will help the show really come into its own.