Gnosia

Episode 9

I know that I've acknowledged multiple times how Gnosia's plot and structure essentially demand that every character will be taken over by the titular aliens at some point or another. Still, for some reason, I didn't expect Yuri to become a Gnosia. I think this shakeup of the typical formula hits even harder on account of how early we still are in the show's run. We still know so little about the Gnosia that the very concept of our protagonist getting taken over is hard to even conceptualize from the outset, and at the very least, you'd think that this is a twist that the story would save for right near the climax of the whole plot. I have to take my hat off and offer a bit of applause for a bold swing like this. Here I was, thinking that Gnosia was running out of ways to surprise a jaded old critic like me.

Of course, such a development forces the viewer to ask themselves yet again, “What exactly is a Gnosia?” This is where some of my nagging reservations come into play. You would think that, in an episode where the main character of the show becomes the very enemy they've been hunting for weeks now, we would have a significantly different perspective on the events occurring on the D.Q.O. While we definitely get a good look at what the world looks like from Yuri's new point of view — it's all black and white and swirly, except for when some killing is getting done — that isn't exactly the kind of “perspective” I was hoping for.

There is a moment where we see Yuri have to resist the urge to take out S.Q., as if they were a zombie trying not to take a bite of human flesh, so do the Gnosia work more like an infection that operates from under the surface? That would seem to track, except there are also plenty of instances where the Gnosia-infected humans speak and operate as if they are the alien, even though their memories and personalities remain fundamentally the same. So, do the Gnosia take over the metaphorical steering wheel whenever it is convenient? Is it a matter of two consciousnesses simultaneously existing in one body? Do the Gnosia basically make identical copies of the original personality that they have to then actualize into a new identity, Swamp Thing-style?

There are still many episodes left for Gnosia to more explicitly address these questions and give us a definitive understanding of the alien threat, but for now, the ambiguity is a double-edged sword for the show. On the one hand, a mysterious and unknowable threat is usually more conducive to building suspense than an overexposed monster in a rubber suit. Just look at what time and five decades of lore-dumping have done to the poor Xenomorph (and I say this as the guy who believes that the only bad Alien movies are the ones with “vs. Predator” in the title). On the other hand, the world-lines and time hopping have already made it so much more difficult to get a handle on the characters' motivations and relationships. What are we supposed to do if the Gnosia effectively doubles the number of character variants we have to keep track of?

As I said, I really dig the concept of “World of Gnosia,” and it certainly gives us morsels of development to chew on. I was expecting something a bit more substantial and revelatory after that bold opening scene. It's not a bad episode, by any means, but how strange is it that, at the end of the day, “World of Gnosia” doesn't end up feeling much different at all from every other time we've been through this cycle? It was much more shocking and impactful when Kukrushka went rogue and painted the whole ship red with everyone's blood, and she doesn't even talk. Maybe the truly mind-blowing implications are yet to be revealed…

Episode Rating:

Gnosia is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.