MIDNIGHT REVIEWS Shōgun Episode Ten
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
Shōgun Episode Ten: ‘A Dream of a Dream’
Series created by: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Featuring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano
Synopsis: In the wake of Yabushige (Asano) betraying those sent to Osaka, leading to the death of Lady Mariko (Sawai), Toranaga (Sanada) must put together his final plans. Where Blackthorne (Jarvis) stands in all this is anyone’s guess.
Review: So, here we are at the finale of Shōgun. A show that has managed to showcase everything that the age of prestige TV can do. It has been a magnificent ride and, for better or worse, episode ten ends things in an unexpected, abrupt way that is definitely something different to how most would imagine.
There is a sense of sadness hanging over the entire episode.
Yabushige, having spent almost the entire series as a comedic figure, is suddenly not so funny now his plotting isn’t redundant. Episode nine ends with Mariko sacrificing herself amidst a plot put together by the beleaguered vassal, and Yabushige is driven a little mad as a result. This is someone who knows what’s coming, and it’s not the plans of his master-to-be Ishido (Takehiro Hira). Ishido spends his time talking in absolutes but an earthquake is mother nature’s way of telling everyone that nothing is inevitable except her. There is the sense that Ishido is swimming against the current, even if he doesn’t know it.
Meanwhile, we have Blackthorne given a fatalist streak with these tragic events. Brought back to the village, Jarvis manages to expound that mixture of anger, frustration and sadness better than he ever has in this episode. This also leads to a highly emotional scene with Fuji (Moeka Hoshi, rightly given a little more time in the spotlight). It might be a high point of the whole series. There is a sense of sadness hanging over the entire episode and with how the show has consistently been such high-quality, part of this sadness is that there won’t be another Shōgun Day.
[The final battle’s] exclusion might put some off.
We quickly get to the other end of the emotional scale with an inspiring scene as multiple members of Toranaga’s faction try to pull a ship out of the water. Like the entire cast and crew making the show, the end results are terrific, beguiling, and the sequence is a fitting metaphor for the slow burn of Shōgun. That the makers of the show were able to trust themselves, and get the trust to make this show on the budget it needed, is a testament to everyone involved. I’ve said it before, but this show is a must-watch.
The heart-pumping scene featuring the final battle does not feature. That the show seemed to be building up to it, before Toranaga himself takes it away through his genius, actually reflects the genius of the show. Shōgun isn’t about a giant battle for leadership, despite what the title might suggest. In actuality, it’s been about the relationships these characters built the entire way through and how they react with each other. Do we need the big battle scene? Its exclusion might put some off. Is it enough that Toranaga foresaw it?
The reason why the final battle is won before a sword is drawn is a bit of a cop-out. I think if the show really was about the battle for the title, it would be disappointing. But to see the resolutions of Toranaga, Blackthorne, even poor Mariko, was the main selling point of the show and enough to keep Shōgun in the realm of greatness.
Shōgun is available to watch on Disney+.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Smith_M_D
