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Angels of Death
Episode 8

by Steve Jones,

How would you rate episode 8 of
Angels of Death ?
Community score: 4.0

The tests keep coming as Rachel descends further into the building's depths, and Gray delves deeper into Rachel's psyche. This episode is a nice reminder of just how strange Angels of Death can be, and how much that strangeness contributes to the show's quality.

I expected Ray to be haunted by people she's had to kill as she makes her way through their floors again, but I didn't expect her to be literally haunted by their ghosts. Whether these are entirely in Ray's head, a product of Gray's mysterious purple gas, or some kind of hologram projected by the building itself, I'm just glad we get to hear these voice actors again. But both Cathy and Eddie calling out Rachel on being cruel and sinful reeks of the pot calling the kettle black—they were both murderers. Of course, in the twisted world of Angels of Death, it's a bigger question of motivation, with Cathy's sense of justice and Eddie's sense of kindness driving them toward their “noble” pursuits. Rachel, meanwhile, is only doing all of this out of her obligation to Zack, borne out of the promise that he will kill her once she helps him escape. Is that noble? Is that justice? Is that kindness? I don't know, but her bond with Zack feels genuine, and any friendship that can be forged in a weird murder basement is a friendship worth defending, in my humble opinion.

Gray's test is ostensibly his way of gauging Rachel's personality, but like all the other floor masters, it's basically a game rigged in his favor. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Ray is a creepy child with a lot of problems, so he's just throwing her into situations that he knows will “prove” that she's strayed from the path of God, which will let him mete out whatever divine judgment he fancies. And to the show's credit, it does seem to understand this, or at least I hope it doesn't expect me to take the line “Eddie was a kind child” at face value. Let's not forget that the dude was going to kill Rachel with a shovel. Ray eventually gets fed up with Gray's solipsistic lectures and starts cutting him off mid-sentence to hurry things along, which I had to laugh at. Where he might see a glassy-eyed girl unrepentant for her twisted deeds, I see a girl frustrated that this large priest continues to talk down to her while she's trying to help her friend. Ray has issues, no doubt, but I don't think anyone in this building is qualified to help her.

After mowing down zombies on Cathy's floor and stomping the screaming hands on Eddie's floor, Ray finally reaches Danny's floor, which should have medicine for Zack. Instead, she gets attacked by a puddle of sentient green goo, whose presence and purpose remains entirely unexplained, but it does appear to break whatever spell Gray had cast on her. This isn't addressed in the narrative yet, but the most obvious sign is the change in color palette. Previously, everything had been covered in a purple haze similar to the smoke Gray had produced last episode, but after the green goo touches her, everything returns to its normal palette. There are also no ghosts and no weird undead things to impede her progress on this floor, which further supports the idea that Gray had orchestrated all of the prior “tests.” There's also no medicine anywhere, which upsets Ray since that was the entire purpose of going down there in the first place. When she blames Gray for deceiving her, he turns it around and blames her deeds for everything. This is absurd, but it fits with the theme of Catholic guilt that I discussed last week--an indoctrinated sense that everything is your fault even if there's no way that's possible. With nowhere else to go, Ray and Gray descend to Zack's floor.

Meanwhile, Zack isn't looking any better, but he continues to reflect on his past. After killing his foster parents, he gets infected with some kind of chill that he feels won't go away unless he murders someone else. His first victim is a random passerby who stops her car to help but tries to run away once she sees the blood-covered, knife-wielding Zack. His next victim is almost a kindly old man, but unlike the woman, he doesn't run away from Zack's appearance, because he's blind. He takes Zack into his modest home and tells him to stay for as long as he'd like. There are deliberate echoes of Frankenstein, but the old man's sympathy extends even further when Zack flatly confesses to killing another man. He doesn't judge the child and simply continues to provide for him. It makes you curious about his own story. Was he hiding some darkness himself? Unfortunately, we don't find out because, predictably and cruelly, the one person to show Zack kindness gets killed by a pair of petty thieves. Zack takes swift revenge, and this is presumably the start of his career as a serial killer. This backstory doesn't excuse him as purely a victim of circumstance, but it does make him more sympathetic. He's more than just a monster, and he has his own sort of moral code that he follows. He also enjoys killing people a lot, but nobody's perfect.

Zack won't be killing anyone if Rachel doesn't find something to patch him up with soon. There's one other person who might be able to help, however, and his shadowy figure looms over Zack as the episode ends. Danny's back! Everyone's favorite eye-obsessed doctor is somehow alive and eager to reacquaint himself with the person who shoved a scythe through his chest. I'm confused about a lot of things that are happening in Angels of Death right now, but I'm delighted by most of them. The show's quintessential weirdness is ramping up as we approach the final act, giving us scenes like Rachel methodically crushing a room full of ambulant zombie hands as they all scream in terror and gush out blood. It's a good season for dead-eyed girls absolutely obliterating their enemies (lookin' at you, Hanebado!). I have no clue where we're going, but as long as Angels of Death continues to be this absurd and entertaining, I'm not getting off this ride.

Rating: B+

Angels of Death is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is a longtime anime fan who can be found making bad posts about anime on his Twitter.


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