Frontier Episode 33: Ne'er The Twins Do Meet

In this episode, Koji ponders suddenly having his twin brother in the party while the rest of the group ponders how not to die fighting Cherubimon.

Give the cast credit for not treating last episode's tremendous accomplishments with a celebration. With all five evil legendary warriors gone and Koichi safe in the party, this sounds like a great time for a meet-and-greet with Koichi and a breather episode that doesn't involve a graveyard. The fact that nobody's celebrating is a sign of maturity. Everybody recognizes that despite the massive victory, the situation is too complex for anyone to enjoy it.

In Tamers, part of Henry's low point involved having to adapt to his sister being a tamer. It took him forever to come to terms with it and accept that she would invariably have to be exposed to danger for the team to function. It was the closest he ever came to breaking. Not only does Koji have to deal with having a sibling in the thick of things, but Koichi is powerless against danger. Koji made him that way. On top of that, Koji doesn't know a thing about having a brother. He's barely a functioning member of the family he's got: he doesn't love his stepmother and he can't even control his dog.

Even as they're advancing towards the Rose Morning Star, there's a lot of “so now what?” in the group. Weariness is rampant. This has to be the longest uninterrupted stretch in the Digital World of any season, with everybody else getting at least one extended stopover where they could rejoin their families. For as much as they've done, the battles are taking a direct physical and mental toll and they know the worst is yet to come. Given that it's the first time in nine episodes the entire group has been together for more than five minutes, the train is very quiet.

As a result, they're eager to help Koji with his problem once they realize what it is. They're practically reveling in the idea of helping Koji the way he has to save them all the time. Granted, Zoe and JP don't have siblings and Takuya and Tommy have turbulent relationships with their brothers. That's the trouble with trying to explain fraternal relationships to Koji- it involves a strange duality where you love someone unconditionally while simultaneously wanting to strangle them most of the time. Their efforts to describe this get a little hokey and the scene feels like it came from some PBS kids show, which doesn't happen nearly as often as you'd think.

They don't make much progress by the time Angler crashes into Cherubimon. As if they didn't already know that things were about to get harder, here's the reality check. Cherubimon is a proper Mega, so there isn't a whole lot to be gained in this battle. They throw their best attacks at him (MetalKabuterimon and Korikakumon even try a dual tech!), every time thinking that their latest effort would be the one to magically faze him. Yeah right.

As for Koichi, it becomes clear that he's still at war over Cherubimon's statement, still not sure if Koji disrespected his mama. Koji saving Koichi's life put that to rest. Koichi rebuffs Cherubimon's offer to return and goes on a wicked rant against his former captor. It's angry, it recognizes the darkness within him and it draws the “true powers of darkness” out of Koji's digivice. Using a symbol representing inner pain as strength is a pretty bold statement for the show, but there's plenty of tortured artists that can attest to a positive output emerging from their turmoil. The ensuing evolutions, Loweemon and JagerLoweemon, are remarkably capable of dishing damage against Cherubimon. Given that Cherubimon is still technically an angel Digimon, being susceptible to dark attacks sort of makes sense.

The whole “just an illusion” thing, however, is just shenanigans. Move this encounter into the castle or throw a minion at them. Yeesh.

My Grade: B

Loose Data:

• You want horrifying? Koichi honestly believes that he was dead after his fall, and that this world was some twisted afterlife. He had every right to be pissed.
• Zoe asks Takuya to talk to Koji. This is both her acknowledging that he's the team captain and therefore his job to keep morale up, and her acknowledging that she'd have no clue what to say to him.
• Say a prayer for Angler, who as far as we can tell gets kicked all the way back to the Trailmon graveyard. That has to hurt.