Hell's Paradise Season 2

Episode 3

THIS episode feels like the true start of season two. Not only do I finally get a bunch of exposition going into detail about the actual lore of the island, but this episode also establishes a goal for our main characters and a potentially new status quo with new soldiers arriving on the island to act as a third party with their own intentions. The fact that the episode was actually able to end with a pretty strong and emotionally resonant conclusion involving Mei and her caretaker was also surprising. I wasn't expecting to get that emotionally invested in their goodbye, and maybe it would've been stronger if the show established their relationship a little bit better earlier. For example, if I got the background on what Hoko was and how he looked after Mei as a replacement for his daughter before his sacrifice and not right in the middle of it, then that probably would've been better. It also would've acted as stronger worldbuilding because a big question on my mind was what exactly happened to all of the people who clearly inhabited the island. I knew that they turned into trees and some even turned into other monsters, but before this episode, I wasn't really sure what the purpose was. Maybe the point was to get all these explanations out at the same time, but this would've been an example of how the show could've better established something sooner to pay it off later.

When it comes to the exposition about the island, I will admit that this is an example where the show does feel a bit overloaded with information. This is also why a part of me wishes I were reviewing the dub, as the script writing and listening to the explanations did help a lot. Alejandro Saab captures the cold and calculating breakdown of Gabimaru well, and Ian Sinclair's breakdown of Tao in the first episode was haunting in the right way. It looks like season two is going to give almost all of these actors some good scenes to chew on, so I'm excited about that. Nazeeh Tarsha as Chobei is already killing it in a deranged way, too.

The heaviness of the exposition is most likely a byproduct of the fact that the island itself is an amalgamation of different philosophies, religions, and real-world history. That does make the island its own unique entity and adds to the uncanny of all of the creatures that inhabit it. This is a show that thrives on its ability to mesh different things together to create this sort of unsettling horror feeling. The monsters are giant humanoids mixed with animals, but they also look like perverse deities. The Tensen are creatures that don't really have a gender and twist sexuality for the sake of learning more about the energies of the world. Literally all of the horrifying things of the series are about taking something pure and natural and twisting it into something wrong. The trade-off is that there are so many terms and phrases and references that are mixed into this explanation that I feel like I need to write all of it down to get a better sense of what exactly everything is. My ADHD already makes it very difficult for me to remember names, so forgive me if I either oversimplify things or if something slips through the cracks.

The general breakdown is that there is actually an elixir of life or something adjacent to it being developed by the Tensen for their master, who artificially created them by mixing human energy with the energy of the plants that, in turn, were created using the lifeforce of real people brought to the island. It reminds me of the legend of the philosopher's stone, where you're able to access untold power at the sacrifice of human lives. The Tensen have already mastered the ability to manipulate the Tao in objects, but living creatures have a distinct Tao that flows through them. There's even apparently an elemental chart that can also affect two people's compatibility. However, because it is the energy of your soul, if you overexert it or if it gets manipulated, your body will suffer physical consequences. As we can see, people can steal or corrupt it.

I like the way that sex is actually used in this episode because it also establishes that physical intimacy is a way of nurturing, strengthening, or training oneself. I find that fascinating because the show already hinted at it numerous times before, but the way that it juxtaposes Gabimaru's training to understand Tao with Chobei being seduced for the sake of understanding how his Tao works was both interesting and maybe a little unintentionally funny. Especially when Chobei declares that he's going to be on top. Once again, it makes me feel terrible for Mei because while she is one of the very things that our main cast is trying to defeat, there's clearly a humanity to her, and at some point, the way she was used became far less pure for the pursuit of that knowledge necessary for creating that everlasting life. Again, the juxtaposition does work with the ending of this episode, where Mei's Tao was restored by a pure act of love and intimacy when her previous exposure to intimacy was so horrific. I just wish that it had been built up a bit better despite the fantastic payoff.

Overall, this was a really good episode that really left me a lot to chew on. It might actually be one of my favorite episodes of the entire show thus far. There were some good character moments from the extended cast, both subtle and abrupt. I finally have an explanation for what the hell is going on, and the way the episode ends leads to a lot of different directions that the show can go. There are basically four or five different moving parts going on all at the same time on this island, but much like the creatures that inhabit the island, I'm curious to see how they all mesh together to create a perverse, albeit entertaining product.

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