Welcome back to Nomad everyone! Apologies for missing last week but work and Wisconsin called. Lucky for us though that these two episodes feed into and fit so well together because we have a lot to talk about. So without further ado, lets dive in! And be ready because this is a long one!
Since I missed last week I wanted to start this post off by talking about where Nomad is going. I’ve talked a lot in previous posts about my dislike of the corporate angle, and I stand by that! I think it, Sakuma and Rosco as a whole, are at odds with the story Nomad is trying to tell. But credit where it’s due, Nomad has at least worked it in well. It has done the best with a bad situation. Nomad has taken Rosco and, while they are still antagonistic, removed them from the center stage. Making the focus not them, but their effects on Mac and his family. How corporations take advantage of, abuse and ultimately throw away the average person who is simply looking for a better life. Just like Chief. Just like the immigrants and their theme park home. And that’s kinda cool.
With that said lets head into the episodes, starting with episode 11: “Cuando te quitas la armadura que no te podías quitar, brotan las semillas de la miseria y de la dicha”. Jesus christ that is a long title, Nomad please. I was actually really impressed with this episode and a bit disappointed I wasn’t able to cover it on it’s own. It was so dense with information and character work that at one point I checked to see if it was over only to find it was barely halfway done! From the Team Nowhere reunion to Joe and Chief to Mac and his family, it was packed with everything I wanted. That laid out lets start with Team Nowhere.
At first I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The way Nomad was conflating Gansaku and Joe was concerning to say the least, throwing a lot of death flags. But as the episode went on, as Joe explained what he went through, Sachio made his demands and Yuri showed up the purpose became clear. Last time Joe was fighting to win, to hold the gym together after Gansaku’s death. This time however Joe is fighting to survive. No more pride or his own selfish desires for a good fight. He’s learning better defense from Yuri and actually making use of Gear, etc. And not just any Gear but Chief’s! The Gear made by his son, specialized in defense so that he can come back home. A literal projection of his family protecting him as he fights for them. It was a really emotional reveal I wasn’t expecting.
Speaking of families this brings me to Mac, who is destroying his… Just like Joe did. It’s kind of ridiculous that I didn’t realize how their stories mimicked each other until now. The way Mac is ignoring his family and wanting to fight regardless, making his own decisions without consulting them because of his pride, etc. It’s not exactly one-to-one but the overarching themes are there and they work quite well. Mac makes for a nice contrast to Joe’s reconciliation this episode. As we watch one family mend itself another starts to fall apart. Though this time due to outside forces. Emotionally I find this really compelling! I like Mac, I like his “everyman” persona and the way he reflects another aspect of the same kind of ideal Chief represented. He’s another example of an immigrant character who “made” it and is being put down by the world around him.
This brings me to Rosco, Shirato and Sakuma, the stuff I have criticized for weeks now. And you know what? I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. I explained it a bit in the opening post but I do like what Nomad has turned this into. I feared it would focus to much on the military contracts angle of the story. But instead via Mac, connecting it back to Chief, it’s more about the immigrant experience. How the system around them and many of those professing to help them are in fact using them for their own ends. How even when successful there are those who see you as nothing more than profit. It’s not the most powerful way that Nomad could have approached it but it’s more than I was expecting. Teach me to be a cynic huh?
Next up we have episode 12, “Aunque las ovaciones se callen, la voz de los mudos no desaparecerá”. I have a lot less to say about this one because it’s primarily setup for the finale. Effectively it tells Mac’s story. How he came to the country, tried to find work, met his wife, was inspired by Joe and proceeded to do something with his life. Becoming a police officer, saving lives, etc. Like with Chief, Joe once again inspired someone to do something with their life. To look beyond their current station or situation and to dream once more. And while Chief had a rough time of it, Mac achieved that dream. Only to have it cruelly ripped away from him through no fault of his own.
Outside the story, it was rather interesting seeing Mac at his lowest point. Until now he has primarily been portrayed as this “Hero”, the “Everyman” being preyed on by Sakuma. And while he still is that now we get to see his flaws as well. His lack of confidence, his destructive tendencies, everything that the fought through to get where he is today. It’s like a contained version of Joe’s story bundled up into a single episode. Abusing drink/pills, meeting someone to help him through it, returning home etc. Maybe it’s a bit of a retread but with how little of Mac’s history we have gotten up to this point I will take what I can get. About my only real issue with the episode is Nomad’s overuse of flashbacks.
Indeed I think Nomad has way to many bloody flashbacks. Seriously, every other episode has or is a flashback at this point. I understand that Nomad wanted to wait to reveal some information. We get curious when we see Joe alone, wandering the desert, or hear about Mac’s time as a cop. But there’s only so much sepia-tone a man can take before it starts to get annoying. It’s like they ran out of ideas on how to present the information and decided “Just make it a flashback”. For a series so meticulously put together, with such striking themes and messaging, it feels… lazy. It’s not enough to ruin my enjoyment. But it’s certainly something I’ve noticed over the season.
With the individual episodes out of the way there are some larger topics that I wanted to talk about before closing up. Number one on that list being that Sakuma is an asshole. Like… an extreme asshole. We already sort of this. The man never cared about Mac. But it always felt like an oversight rather than intentional harm. These past two episodes though we have seen him purposefully obscure data, effectively hold a Childs life hostage for his research experiment, crash Shirato’s charity event and threaten her and all around act like a sociopath. To say he went off the deep end would be an understatement and had Nomad made him a main villain/focus I think he would come off…well cheesy. Luckily however since he isn’t the focus, just a side-plot, he instead comes off as a representation of profit-focused corporations everywhere. If an in your face one.
The other topic I wanted to talk about was the nomad poem. I’m of mixed opinions about it. On one hand, I like it! I like how it connects Joe, Mac and Chief. How it summarizes and presents the immigrant experience in a way that everyone, even non-immigrants, can connect with. Making it about finding your home regardless of where you are from or where you are. On the other hand though Nomad uses it so much. An obnoxious amount really, so much so that it’s gotten a bit annoying. Even good things can become bad if you use them to much Nomad. Variety is the spice of life and all that. Still, it hasn’t impacted my enjoyment of the show to much. Just a little of “can we move on” in an otherwise great story.
So yeah in case it wasn’t obvious I think these two episodes of Nomad were great. I’m really enjoying Nomad’s story and themes. The way it tackles immigration, class disparity, hospital costs, etc. It’s fantastic and it tugs at your heartstrings. Maybe they would have benefited from being a singular 1 hour long episode, so closely were they tied together. Maybe it could clean up the upscaling a bit and be a bit stronger visually. But overall I think the presentation is fine and the story is everything I want it to be.
But what about you? Are you interested in the finale next week? Or are you done with Nomad? Whatever your thoughts, let me know down below! I’ll see you next week for the finale and the final review soon after that. Later!
