"I've often wished that I had been there before the murder was committed so that I could prevent it," says Furuhata and that is exactly the chance he'll get in "The Reunion", a most unusual and beautiful episode boasting one of Kôki Mitani's best scripts and a tour de force performance from Masakazu Tamura.
Eschewing the usual format of opening the episode with a murder being committed, "The Reunion" is "Furuhata Ninzaburô's" first real mystery. We know that Furuhata's old friend Anzai is planning something it's just we don't know what and we don't know against whom. As we don't find out until the episode's rousing finale, "The Reunion" turns into a clever game of suspense and misdirection as Mitani hints at various possibilities. Is Anzai planning on killing his much younger wife or her lover? Is he training his dog to kill them like Nicol Williamson in "How to Dial a Murder"? Is he going to cut the brakes on the lover's car as he is mysteriously called back to Tokyo? Various similar cliches are set up constantly keeping us on our toes and despite being familiar with all of them I was not able to figure out Anzai's plan before Furuhata. I have often mourned the fact that Kôki Mitani so rarely shows his great talent at writing compelling mysteries. This is the episode I was waiting for.
Furuhata begins suspecting something is afoot right away but has to play his cards closer to his chest than usual for fear he is wrong. For the first time ever he doubts himself wondering if he's been a detective for too long and is merely "seeing murder wherever he goes". He also doesn't wish to offend his old friend which makes him change his usual working methods. Instead of annoying the killer until he confesses, he has to piece together the solution from inferences, hunches, and observations alone. This is a difficult case for him to crack.
Besides being a top-notch mystery and a subtle homage to Agatha Christie's "Wasp's Nest", "The Reunion" is also a touching human drama. The final confrontation between Furuhata and his old friend is a masterclass in writing and acting. Masakazu Tamura gets to deliver an absolutely beautiful speech pleading to his friend not to go through with his plan. "I have seen many corpses in my life and I can never forget the regret on their faces".
Also touching are the small remembrances of childhood days shared by Furuhata and Anzai. We get to learn what the great detective was like as a child, the lore behind forehead slapping, and a melancholically funny chat about school nicknames. As a nice contrast to that we get the continuation of Shintaro and Saionji's rivalrly or rather Shintaro's feeling of inadequacy compared to his junior partner. The scenes between them provide the necessary comic relief in what is otherwise a tense and sad story.
The one downside to the episode is Keita Kôno's direction. I wish he'd played up the suspense and the mystery a bit more giving the episode a more urgent pace. However, that is but a sour drop in the sea that is "The Reunion", a taut, claustrophobic story with superb performances and a clever, twisty script which proves once again Kôki Mitani's mastery of the genre.
Eschewing the usual format of opening the episode with a murder being committed, "The Reunion" is "Furuhata Ninzaburô's" first real mystery. We know that Furuhata's old friend Anzai is planning something it's just we don't know what and we don't know against whom. As we don't find out until the episode's rousing finale, "The Reunion" turns into a clever game of suspense and misdirection as Mitani hints at various possibilities. Is Anzai planning on killing his much younger wife or her lover? Is he training his dog to kill them like Nicol Williamson in "How to Dial a Murder"? Is he going to cut the brakes on the lover's car as he is mysteriously called back to Tokyo? Various similar cliches are set up constantly keeping us on our toes and despite being familiar with all of them I was not able to figure out Anzai's plan before Furuhata. I have often mourned the fact that Kôki Mitani so rarely shows his great talent at writing compelling mysteries. This is the episode I was waiting for.
Furuhata begins suspecting something is afoot right away but has to play his cards closer to his chest than usual for fear he is wrong. For the first time ever he doubts himself wondering if he's been a detective for too long and is merely "seeing murder wherever he goes". He also doesn't wish to offend his old friend which makes him change his usual working methods. Instead of annoying the killer until he confesses, he has to piece together the solution from inferences, hunches, and observations alone. This is a difficult case for him to crack.
Besides being a top-notch mystery and a subtle homage to Agatha Christie's "Wasp's Nest", "The Reunion" is also a touching human drama. The final confrontation between Furuhata and his old friend is a masterclass in writing and acting. Masakazu Tamura gets to deliver an absolutely beautiful speech pleading to his friend not to go through with his plan. "I have seen many corpses in my life and I can never forget the regret on their faces".
Also touching are the small remembrances of childhood days shared by Furuhata and Anzai. We get to learn what the great detective was like as a child, the lore behind forehead slapping, and a melancholically funny chat about school nicknames. As a nice contrast to that we get the continuation of Shintaro and Saionji's rivalrly or rather Shintaro's feeling of inadequacy compared to his junior partner. The scenes between them provide the necessary comic relief in what is otherwise a tense and sad story.
The one downside to the episode is Keita Kôno's direction. I wish he'd played up the suspense and the mystery a bit more giving the episode a more urgent pace. However, that is but a sour drop in the sea that is "The Reunion", a taut, claustrophobic story with superb performances and a clever, twisty script which proves once again Kôki Mitani's mastery of the genre.
