Black Lagoon: Episode 07

Calm down, two men?! What an interesting choice of words for this episode. Emphasis on men. BL, anyone? Lame quip? I agree. But gawd, I’ve been waiting to crack that one.

Dutch possesses a great eye for finding diamonds in the rough. He understands his people. He makes Lagoon Incorporated work. He throws Rock and Revy together for a little rendezvous. Think motivational seminar. Bravo for superb managerial skills. Too bad it’s wasted on piracy.

No doubt, Rock’s diplomatic, bordering on blackmail, skills developed from his salary man days prove to be useful in tough negotiations. His new-and-improved spine earns a fit of admiration. Revy has no choice but to hear his honest yet biting words. Revy snaps out of her I-don’t-want-a-conscience mode. She, then, accepts Rock as a friend and comrade. And maybe, possibly as a lovah? How disturbing.

The episode highlights two paths for Rock.. First, his defiance shouts independence from conglomerates and suits. Boo to the big boy’s club and arse-kissing. But the latter presents a darker interpretation. In a scene from Goodfellas, Karen narrates her life as a wife of a gangster. She deems it almost natural; simply, a different way of living. Rock’s stroll, down to various questionable characters, allows to saturate himself with the normalcy of his current inhabited society. Like Karen, little by little, the corrupt world swallows parts of him. Will it come to point where he is completely immersed in the underworld? Or has he forever sealed his fate with a Pirate’s kiss?