Carole & Tuesday – 15,16

Episode 15

Episode 16

「Only God Knows / Natural Woman」

I feel as though the fifteenth episode set up so much. Meeting Desmond (Yamadera Kouichi) in his egg-shaped home meant more than only inspiring Carole and Tuesday to achieve their dreams.

But before I get to that, what an interesting concept to have his home shaped like a hatching egg, symbolic for life. To Desmond, living was more than enough as long as he could ‘breathe’, which in this case is synonymous with singing. When he sang, he lived, which his AI explains is the reason he refuses to take his medication.

Desmond’s final scene where he sang ‘All I see’, his final song, was really touching. I do have my qualms with the excessive autotune as well as the sound mix. It’s difficult to enjoy a song when the vocals get overrun by the instrumentals. But I do wonder if it was done purposely because his weakened body might not have the strength carry his voice.

Regardless, the song was his last goodbye to a world he very much loves. It’s just unfortunate the world he loves so might erupt into chaos. The juxtaposition between the refugees images, the presidential debate, and Desmond’s beautiful space and peaceful/emotional song left me to wonder what messages the show was trying to convey. Is it only a comment on the music industry and the direction it’s headed or could it be that there’s a larger picture?

The people of Mars aren’t the only ones to get divided down the middle at the hands of politics. We’ve seen very similar if not worse divides right here at home (on Earth). The refugee crisis is as real right here on Earth and something people live every single day. Debates such as the one we saw in this episode are constantly happening around the world in regards to the influx of refugees. That said, RandomC isn’t the place for me to dive head first into the debate. But this show definitely gives us all something to think about.

When Desmond showed the girls where other artists came to sign their names, perhaps he meant to show them how music could bring people together, people of all walks of life. Perhaps when he sand his last song, he designated Carole and Tuesday as his heir: “Continue my work and bring people together.”

Then arriving in the sixteenth episode, we’re introduced to Flora (Hayashibara Megumi), Carole’s biggest role model. Flora and Gus’s interwoven story was touching. Seeing her as she is now, just a shell of who she was 20 years ago, was heart wrenching. She was dragged deep into the rabbit hole and never could find her lifeline to get herself out, until now that is. Gus is by her side and he’s become her brightest star.

But the cover of Flora’s “Give Your The World” performed by Carole and Tuesday at SXSW was what truly brought her out of the gutter. I wonder what role she will play in coming episodes. Even if her character barely uttered a world throughout this episode, I think she’s really interesting. Where has she been for so many years? Why does she have nowhere to go? What has she done in the meantime to stay alive? We most likely won’t get more than we just did but the mystery surrounding her character makes me want to see her regularly. I’m wondering if perhaps she’ll teach the girls to create a more ‘mature’ sound.

Since their debut, I’ve been taken by their music. In this last episode, their original at SXSW was very reminiscent of my all time favourite artist, Stevie Wonder. I was really impressed with their switch between styles as well. From Soul Pop and Jazz to soulful R&B. If anything, this is a compliment to vocalist Celeina Ann (Tuesday) and Nai Br.XX (Carole) and the musical team behind them.

I’m glad I kept with the show and moved past the Mars Brightest arc. I would get a little more into Angela’s stalker but I’d rather let the situation and the suspense evolve a little. This is already getting better and better.