Episode 4 introduces us to a new “breed” of supernatural being, a contractor in moratorium. At first this really confused me because I was thinking “moratorium” as in the actual English word (n., “a suspension of an ongoing or planned activity”). But in the DtB universe this actually means a sort of contractor-esque being without self-control. They’re a bit like the bratty teenagers of the supernatural group, acting on impulse and being very emotional. Maybe they need to suspend being like that.

Anyhow, our girl Mai is one such being.

We see quite a few crispy bodies this time around - not surprisingly, since Mai lights things on fire and she’s feeling very emotional. I’d be emotional, too, if I was hanging out with Li-san all day and then suddenly couldn’t find him. That’s got to be rough.

We also get a bit more insight into the Division of Astronomy, what they do and how they do it. Apparently it’s possible to breed contractors and hybrids…and to inbreed them. Until now, I had assumed contractors were humans who had given up their humanity in the interest of being powerful. Oh, how little I know. So, Porsche-san goes to visit DoA headquarters and there’s talk of mediums. She goes to see one in particular who appears to be the head honcho medium (actually I think she looks a bit like a mushroom). She also visits with her busty friend and we learn a little more about contractors vs. dolls vs. contractors in moratorium. Then they have a good laugh about getting old. Ha ha ha!

The neighborhood where Mai has been rampaging is being evacuated, under the excuse that the gas lines are broken. (Or maybe they really are broken. At any rate, who wants to hang around when there’s a crazy fire-girl on the loose?) Mai has stumbled into an alley by this point and when one of her friends (remember? from last episode?) sees her, she and her father try to get Mai to come with them. Huge mistake for these people. Mai lights them on fire.

Then she goes to hang out at a playground and gets kidnapped (remember? those two guys are after her to blackmail her dad?). Actually this was a pretty awesome scene. The contractor, Lucho (or Ruuko, depending on the sub group), who cuts things completely obliterates the police who have followed Mai. Body parts flying, blood spraying. It was great. I want him on my team.

Meanwhile, Li-san/Hei goes to talk to Papa. You can tell he’s Hei (and pissed) because he’s got his deep voice going on. Hot. He confronts Papa about conducting experiments on Mai (did I forget to mention he was doing that?). It turns out the glowing blue thing implanted in Mai was supposed to help keep her abilities from coming out. In that respect, kind of a failure.

Anyway, he goes on to admit that the glowy blue seed he implanted in Mai is actually what pushed her into moratorium. It effectively prevents a contractor from becoming a contractor, not by suppressing their powers but by taking away their ability to control them. He tries to tell Hei some story about feeling really bad and how the gate cursed him, etc, but Hei doesn’t want to hear it.

Hei naturally goes off to fight the Bad Men, complete with his bad-ass white mask. He runs into my friend with the invisible slicy-things and that guy not only cuts Hei’s knife-on-a-string apart, but breaks his mask. Asshole! You’re off the team!

Luckily Hei has a utility belt like Batman so he’s OK. Then Papa shows up and when he grabs Mai and tries to drag her away, she lights things on fire around him but not on him. Curious - and convenient. Hm.

Mai seems to not only have reverted into a Doll, but into a child. Bad Man demands the research and Papa gives him…a twig. Nice touch, I thought, but Bad Man was not amused.

Papa hugs Mai, tells her he loves her, and it seems to get through to her. He pulls out a knife to stab her but, in a suberb play of irony, he gets stabbed by my ex-teammate. Hei takes care of the cutty-guy - saw that one coming. Her father’s death makes Mai pretty upset so she lights Bad Man on fire, though Hei makes a half-assed attempt to stop her.

The rest of the team shows up and they’re surprised to find that Mai is singing. Apparently she has turned into a contractor and that’s her contract. Perhaps it has something to do with the seed that her father gave her? Hmmmmmmm…

So, another great episode, all things considered. Interesting to learn that contractors are born, not made (unless you count artificially and that’s cheating). Loved the addition of the moratorium to complicate things, too. I wish I knew more about what Hei was thinking, he seems to have some kind of soft spot for these lost contractors/dolls who need saving. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep watching! It’s kind of like my contract.

Next time: Who are all these people?!

Posted on Thursday, May 3rd, 2007 at 11:14 pm in Darker Than BLACK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.