# The Other Side (Gundam Seed 11) And then after saying how much I was looking forward to the next, I go (almost) three months without reviewing an episode. Life, and specifically work, have intervened, but with luck I should now be back on track. In many ways this episode is the mirror of the previous one: combat instead of friendship, formalities (the ultimately meaningless pseudo-court-martial) instead of individual action. And, most of all, Flay instead of Lacus. I said last time that Lacus is the worst character in this show, but Flay ultimately has the equal and opposite flaw - I'm jumping the gun a little here, but we'll soon see her being presented as outright evil. We already see seeds of this - the music and framing put a remarkably negative slant on the sentiment Gundam usually regards as most laudable - her desire to end the war. A better show would contrast the two approaches - Lacus' absolutist idealism, Flay's ruthless pragmatism - like Suzaku and Lelouch in *Code Geass*. Both have (notionally) the same goal, but both take different approaches to achieving it. And while Suzaku ultimately fails, he fails nobly. Flay's fall will not be noble. The series will tell us to hate her - and too many of its fans will listen. On the other side, Yzak continues to bully Nikolai. I would say that the series should show rather than telling, but honestly I'm just happy that this point looks to now be resolved. Neither character gains anything from this. Athrun's absence should give the others a chance to shine, but instead it simply highlights how uninteresting they are, and how irrelevant to the main plot - Kira's newfound willingness to fight would mean much more if he were fighting Athrun. That the fight ends so meaninglessly, with neither side inflicting any telling damage, is just icing on the cake. I'm still hopeful for the next 38 episodes. But now I remember the bad sides of this show as well. [Home](/) <div id="disqus_thread"></div> comments powered by Disqus