BEM – 05

「SWEEPER」

Watching this show makes me all giddy. It’s like I’m a little kid waiting for the heroes to show up to defeat the monster, and every time they do it’s time to pump your fist and cheer. It’s more than just nostalgia, though. I’ve grown genuinely attached to these characters, and if they were infallible or unperturbable they wouldn’t be anywhere near as compelling as they are. Bem, for example, very rarely arrives at the scene before the carnage takes place, which makes sense since he seems to be relatively new to the protecting people business. He’s been getting better at this, though, and even saved a couple lives this time around. He’s also batting a 1000 when it comes to saving Sonia.

As for Sonia, she used to live in Upper, but was moved to Outside by her superiors, and her viewpoint is changing as she’s forced to observe the harder living conditions of those who weren’t born in the more affluent regions of society. This ends up giving her the flexibility to at least consider that the humanoid monsters aren’t out to hurt anyone. Whether that flexibility will extend to Belo’s friend remains to be seen, but he didn’t accuse the monsters of murdering his father this time around, but rather the Unseen Council. It’s safe to say that his father got involved with the same seedy organization that’s turning twisted humans into monsters, and either outlived his usefulness or crossed a line he shouldn’t have. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how deep down the rabbit hole Belo’s (former) friend is willing to go.

The titular villain of this episode suffered no such qualms or doubts. For a man with the self-proclaimed desire to become a vacuum cleaner, he had a shockingly large body count. When he was a boy, his mother neglected him, allowing him to live in squalor. Eventually, it reached the breaking point and he murdered her, considering her and her lover simple trash that needed to be cleaned. That view spread to the whole of mankind, which led to what had to be the most poignant part of the episode – Bem begging the Sweeper not to throw away his humanity. To watch these humans turn into monsters must be torture for Bem, Bela, and Belo, who would give anything to be human, to be accepted. But then the police department attempted to capture Bem and it was left to Bela and Belo to bail him out again. Honestly, seeing these three defend each other brings me such joy. Their bond is so important, and a fantastic foundation, but as Bela’s attendance at school and Belo’s young friends show, it’s nice to have the choice to expand past that. At their core, they want to be understood, and don’t we all? They’re monsters only on the outside fighting humans who are monsters on the inside. At the end of the day, they’re already human in all the ways that matter. It’s the rest of the world that needs to change.

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