High Card

Episode 6

After the lore dump that we got last episode and how it established who our main villains are, I was shocked that what we got this week was just a typical heist episode. I'm conflicted because if I look at this episode in relation to the rest of the series narratively, it's a little disappointing. This is not a good follow-up to everything that we got last episode, and if it wasn't for the Klondike family stealing the card that was being auctioned in the final two minutes, this could have been episode three or four, honestly.

On the other hand, I like heist episodes; there was a lot of fun here. It's nice seeing the group act as a team, the comedy with Finn's nausea was on point, the combat choreography was solid, and it was an overall good time. My least favorite thing about this episode was its antagonist, King. This guy is trying way too hard to be a JoJo villain, and while High Card is already over the top, it says a lot when it introduces a character that feels he's trying too hard. Mad respect to him at the end for respecting his workers' paid time off, though.

After last week's episode and getting more world-building here regarding where the cards came from, it wouldn't be wise to have more episodes like this one. We're halfway through this season, and if the show is building up to a big confrontation between rivaling families, then it makes more sense to involve those rivaling families in future altercations in a more direct way. Fifty-two cards are scattered out there, and we've seen less than half of them so far. If we have more episodes revolving around obtaining the cards, it would be great if the show interweaves the situations with a sense of narrative momentum. As I alluded to last week, though, whether or not the show has the writing prowess and real estate to accomplish such a goal is yet to be seen.

Rating:

High Card is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.