While I find the level of risk in this two part arc to be inconsequential, I must admit that I like how it all turned out. For this is the first time in this series that Blackjack failed. While he was able to discern the cause of Johnny’s lack of pain, he was unable to treat it with Dr Risenberg coming in to fix Johnny’s problem himself. So for the first time Blackjack was not in control of the situation and proven that he isn’t invincible. Dr Risenberg is a nice example of knowing too much about those you respect. I think that the internet, in particular Twitter, has given us far too much insight into our idols. This is an issue because people aren’t perfect and we all have our issues and demons. In many ways it’s better to keep that untarnished vision of those you admire than to look too deeply and find they are just as human as you are. In this case, our dear doctor was involved with the experiments done on Jewish people in concentration camps. From the sound of things his thirst for medical knowledge lead him to human experimentation and now he even fears that Blackjack walks down the same path as he did.
So his efforts in this episode were less to give Johnny a normal life but rather to save Blackjack from getting erased by the American military so they could keep their experiments secret. This episode looks like it was dealing with people’s inner demons as we have a sufferer of PTSD, Tommy around to help Blackjack out. And if I am not mistaken it seems that Tommy will end up being another future adversary to Blackjack. Again I must bring up Blackjacks over exaggerated method of presentation, as I truly haven’t come to a conclusion whether it is holding the show back or keeping it from falling flat on it’s face. Blackjack always deals with serious issues but the nature of the show is highly in your face which gives it dramatic punch while sacrificing the credibility of taking it seriously. I am reminded of the Phoenix wright games which make use of a similar method to make what would be rather dull courtroom proceedings in ridiculously theatrical displays that can pull any player in with it’s energy. But those games are often comical and lighthearted as a result despite dealing with murder most of the time. So I wonder if Blackjack was presented in a manner that was more serious would that be a benefit or would it drain the colour out of what has be a really good show so far?
