Welcome everyone to the almost halfway point of Spice and Wolf season one! This week wraps up the arc as people get stabbed, Holo goes wild and Lawrence gets huge bill. So without further ado lets dive in and talk about “Wolf and a Silent Farewell”.
Starting off I want to take a moment to appreciate the OST of Spice and Wolf. Composer Yuuji Yoshino has a clear vision for how this series should sound and I didn’t realize until this week. They have chosen a few key instruments and centered the entire album around them. Take tracks such as “Hashiru” and “Zawazawa Suru” or “Satoki Hito Tachi”, all of which you can find here. The violin is a constant presence in each, tying all of them together and giving us a common sound throughout. But the way Spice and Wolf blends and leads into each track over the course of the episode is fantastic. I particularly enjoyed how the each song slowly ramped the energy of the scene up more and more until we got to the grand finale. It was an incredible example of what a good OST, fit to a scene, can do.
Speaking of said finale, lets start talking about it and the episode proper. I’m really split on Spice and Wolf this week because the ending made me simultaneously happy and disappointed. Everything leading up to it was great. The way it kept raising the stakes such as with Lawrence getting stabbed, which I never expected, or Holo transforming were paced very well. I actually started this episode thinking we would open outside and on the run so this was all a pleasant surprise for me. But about halfway through Spice and Wolf started to hint at something that got me really excited. The lingering glances between Lawrence and Holo, his reaction to her wolf form, the wound making it difficult to move. Everything was setup for a grand separation just like I have been talking about these past few episodes. And then… it doesn’t happen.
I’m not upset that Lawrence and Holo got back together. The show lives or dies by their relationship and as was said about previous episodes, splitting them up require a lot of bravery. However it felt like the episode was building up towards them parting ways. If only temporarily. And when I combine it with the previous 2 it feels like a “will they won’t they” situation. As if Spice and Wolf was constantly teasing us with it and always going back on it. So it’s less that what we got is bad, because it isn’t, and rather than I wished for more. That it got my really hyped up for Lawrence to deal with his fear of her primal form and to go chasing after her. Meanwhile Holo comes to miss him and the connection to civilization she brings. Because for all her gripes, Holo loves interacting with humans.
Ending aside, there were a lot of really good character moments this week. Whether it be Lawrence taking a knife for her or Holo willingly becoming the shape she hates to protect him. Spice and Wolf did a good job of keeping the tension high for what is otherwise more “walking through sewers”. I especially liked Lawrences reaction to Holo’s transformation. Sure, he has seen it before, but it’s still a shock. I like that he’s imperfect and still terrified of her initially. That he only recovers and calls to her after he remembers their first experience together. Between that and the look of pain Holo gives him afterword’s, its clear both how far they have come and how much farther they have to go in understanding and accepting each other. That’s part of why I was disappointed they stayed together at end of the episode, despite Lawrence’s gut-wrenching appeal.
Talking about that appeal, it was interesting to see that Lawrence hasn’t yet accepted his feelings for her. He clearly has them. Between the church, their banter and that scene in the bed, we all know how he feels. Seeing him struggle to come up with an answer, a reason for Holo to stay, and for him to decide on “You owe me money” was both hilarious and saddening. It makes sense that it’s the best thing he could come up with, he’s a merchant. Money is his life and I imagine for Holo it was still sweet to hear him try at all. What this has done though is set, maybe not an expectation but a hope, to get some kind of progress on their relationship this season. I don’t need a confession. Only confirmation that my emotional investment in them as a couple isn’t wasted.
Finally lets talk about Chloe because some interesting stuff happened this week with her. As it turns out she did know, or at least suspected, it was Lawrence traveling with Holo. She even tried to appeal to his sense as a merchant. I was slightly disappointed there were no appeals to his emotion here. I figured there would be at least a little bit of a love triangle going on. But one commenter pointed out that Chloe is actually a replacement for a male character from the original story, so it makes sense it wasn’t. Back to Chloe’s appeal, this felt like a stab at greed/capitalism. At how a focus on profit is ruining relationships and separating us from tradition and the “old ways” that Holo represents. Maybe I’m stretching a bit there but it definitely felt like there was more to this conversation than just “Give me Holo”.
All in all though, despite my slight disappointment with the ending, it was still a good episode. Holo’s transformation is easily the best animation we have seen so far and I was legitimately invested in what was happening. Lawrence getting shanked surprised me so much that I had no idea what was going to happen. Would they escape? Would Holo have to leave Lawrence behind, separating them? Will Chloe do something? I had no idea and was on the edge of my seat the whole time. With what I expected Spice and Wolf to be going into it, I think that’s pretty incredible.
At this point the series has successfully hooked me. Now it’s just a question of if it can finish with the same strength it started. This episode wraps up the silver coin arc and, going by the title drop, our introduction to the series. Most likely we are back on the road next week and the questions becomes: Where are we going? What’s going to happen? Will Lawrence and Holo bang confess? I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to find out. See you next week!
