Review: Space Dandy 1.4 & 1.5

Once more unto the reviews, my friends!

Episode 4: Sometimes You Can't Live With Dying, Baby!
Probably my favorite episode of the series so far. What begins as your fairly typical zombies-in-space-fare becomes an enjoyable romp through an infected hospital and further becomes a humorous denouement wherein the crew and the whole universe, narrator included, has been zombified. The show's bravery in throwing the premise out every week is extremely refreshing and all the Romero references actually serve to strengthen a show whose core conceit is so wishy-washy. Plus, Dandy's horndoggery is reserved to a couple passing jokes, before discarded as wasteful. A fun, amusing and promising episode that smacks pleasantly of Shaun of the Dead.

Episode 5: A Merry Companion is a Wagon in Space, Baby.
What's this? A sentimental episode? A sentimental episode with a three-dimensional female character? Sure, this episode's Adelé gets ever so slightly damseled towards the episode's end, but I revoke my earlier statement and declare this episode my favorite. When the Aloha Oe gets impounded, Dandy's forced to take the childlike alien he's just caught to the Public Registration Office via public transit, prompting a bonding road-trip between hunter and prey. This episode could've come straight out of Cowboy Bebop, a fact even the music – twangy, acoustic guitar – seems aware of. Plus, zero comically sexist Dandy in this one!

The Review So Far
Just as I was going sour on the series, it noticeably improves. This most recent episode not only did away with the usual sexist bullshit, but also with the unnecessary villains lurking in the background that never quite seem to catch the protagonists. I was beginning to imagine the whole Gogol Empire plot was simply a parody of itself, with the Vicious-esque villain who's far too dramatic for the series he's trapped in. Whatever the case may be, I hope the series continues on this upward trend, though this most recent episode seems much more likely to be a flute.

Thanks for reading and hey – download my new short story!

Battery Low (January Short Story)
Orla the Town remembers a time before the impact, the event that killed billions and blanketed the world with snow. Orla the Man, the ghost town's only remaining inhabitant, does not. It's been one hundred tally marks since he's seen another human being and, when he does, he must face the all-important question; has he lost his mind in isolation?

Battery Low is a post-apocalyptic tale about snow, solitude and an earth frozen over.

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