Welcome, another week another dose of Steins;Gate 0. This week is a very relaxed, calm episode for the most part so we can wind down from last weeks tragic drama. Lets jump in!
This week was, compared to last, a slow one and that’s a good thing. The main plot with Amadeus is laid out and Okabe now has his motivation, so letting everything stew for a while should help us reconnect with all the characters. This episode really seemed like a general role call sort of thing. Here are the ones that matter, here’s all of our plot threads like Suzuha’s desperation and Kagari’s amnesia or Maho’s secrecy. It was a good change of pace after the packed drama of last week. Steins;Gate 0 also took the opportunity, the quiet moments, to explore Okabe’s mental condition and the general state of the world. Because of this not much actually happened, but it was a good check-in sort of episode before things no doubt really get going.
Onto some specifics for this episode, some interesting things are happening. The earliest, and weirdest to me atleast, is Fubuki and her “Reading Steiner”, something previously unique to Okabe. Up until now everyone has had a little bit of “Reading Steiner”, it was explained as what we call “Deja Vu”. Everyone could remember snippets of previous World Lines. Up until now though now one but Okabe has remember it as clearly as Fubuki apparently did. It was as if she was actually in the world line with Okabe. An active participant so to speak. Im curious if there is a reason for this, why she/Okabe can remember clearly, or if this will get used narratively at all. Okabe could use Fubuki as a cornerstone perhaps, or to back up what he sees. Or Steins;Gate could completely forget about it since it otherwise isn’t very relevant. We shall see.
Next I wanna talk about Maho and her secrecy with Kurisu. Both she and Okabe seem to have an unhealthy relationship with her passing, though Maho far less so. We saw at the end that Maho still has Kurisu’s laptop, and based on her conversation with Okabe, it might still have her old theories on it. The raid at the lab, because there clearly wasn’t a gas attack, could have been to try and get this laptop. But my question is, why would they need the laptop? Surely Amadeus would have the same information or at least be able to replicate it. She has the memories. Its possible they went for both, since Okabe swapped World Lines on a phone call from Amadeus, but at the moment we can only guess. Regardless I love how White Fox are keeping Kurisu involved in a story she is nominally dead for.
Speaking of Kurisu, oh boy was meeting her not good for Okabe. Sure he seems more motivated now, he has a mission. But he also appears to be seeing/hearing things. Perhaps he is trying to think like her, but I took as more of a mental instability thing. He’s starting to see her places, getting more obsessed with her. No doubt this is going to be used to push him towards saving hear instead of just saving this World Line. But still, its not a good sign for his mental health. It does mean that we get consistent Kurisu though! Im glad White Fox found a way to tie her consistently into the story, cause she and her relationship with Okabe really is my favorite. Probably helps they always got the most screen-time together in Steins;Gate, but hey, a wins a win.
Lastly we have Suzuha and her effective breakdown. I was legitimately surprised when she actually pulled the trigger, because I didn’t think she would actually go through with it. I thought Okabe was basically untouchable by her because she needs him alive, but she was prepared to use force. It was nice to see that she’s not content to do nothing. That Suzuha really is struggling through this to. Whats most interesting though is Okabe was completely unafraid. He stared down the barrel of a gun, where as old Okabe would have cowered. His past experiences are really starting to show here. Hes grown up, just not necessarily in a good way. All the plot threads are out there now, with motivations and how far characters are willing to go made clear. I hope we get to see more of angry Suzuha in the future.
All in all, a nice slow episode with which to wind down from last week. We got a lot of emotion thrown at us last week with Kurisu and Okabe, so I am glad to see Steins;Gate 0 slowing down and giving us a moment to relax. We have 24 episodes, that is plenty of time and we don’t need to rush anywhere. I am still a bit concerned with the sheer size of the cast and how everything will be used, but for now atleast we are focusing in on those who matter. With there being an attack on the lab we should see more of Reyes and Leskinen soon as well hopefully. Leskinen is great fun, the jury is still out on Reyes.
What did you think of this week? Was the lull a bit much for you, hoping for more drama? Or are you like me and appreciate the small break? Let me know, and I hope to see you next week!
