Perhaps it's been too long since the last season but I feel a bit lost. Beloved old characters are killed off pretty randomly and too many new ones have been added. It really reminds me of one of the recent "Star Wars" films. The new characters include members of a black resistance movement that we have never heard of previously and seem to have been added mainly for the Japanese occupiers to demonstrate their extreme racism towards. They seem to have taken the place of Juliana's original triad of friends who were all subjected to Japanese incarceration and torture. There are more than a few scenes of brutality directed at the new characters and, while it does get the point across about the Japanese oppression, it happens very suddenly in the episode, before we really know who the characters are yet. I'd say the plot line is still basically the same, with all of the same parties in conflict, but it just feels out of sync. Juliana has popped up in new universe and appears to have gained immediate new friends and employment. No pause to examine what must have followed after she appeared in the road injured in this new dimension. Her new story seems to be a happy one, finally, and I have to wonder if she's taking a "vacation". Will she go back? I was hoping for a redemption arc for John Smith but it remains to be seen. It's good to see MItHC again, like an old friend, but I am hoping it didn't run out of steam.
Review of Hexagram 64
