This is a mature series, Runner. Make sure your lil's are in bed. Expect no lack of viscera, (just a hint of Adult Content) and language.

 

Back for more? It's a great series and can't blame you. There's a reason why I'm writing plenty. The more I write, the faster I can watch the series! We're starting hot here and I'm looking forward to what is coming.

 

Bit more slang for you to enjoy, in case.

Gangoon – Gang Action/gang Activity

Cyberpunk/Edgerunner – Mercenary, hired out by Fixers

Fixers – Contact to hire Edgerunners, the middleman to assure anonymity for the client from the Runners

Solo – An Edgerunner that works without a Team (this was V in the Video Game Cyberpunk 2077)

Shard – Data Shard

 

Back to the adventures of David, who has landed himself in a very bad position with a team of Runners. These aren't Solos either. Proving he can use the Sandie, get gets Maine to give him a chance and bring him out on a job. Maine calls in David, passing him a shard with the plan and things get going. Of course, as Maine explains, we see the job start. Nothing you'd be unfamiliar with at the Tabletop itself. The crew gets good info, makes a simple plan and executes it. On the job, we see the whole group of Cyberpunks. They are a colorful bunch that works well together. They trust each other enough to get the job done. It also seems like they're friendly with each other overall. Not always a common thing with runners. Some do get friends, others just work with each other and call it good there.

 

We meet the crew that Lucy runs with: Maine, Dorio, Pilar, (Rebecca), Kiwi. The crew does a great job of pulling off the job when things take a bad turn at least. Ruins a lot of stuff, but does get the info they were sent after. It's not until after the job we really get to know much about them. Pilar is a show off with his long arms and fingers. Rebecca is a fighter with a bit of deception skill, looking very much a Lolita (and easily one of my favorites of the crew). It's also clear from the little time we get here, she's a devious flirt. She knows how to run interference and has no lack of proficiency with guns. Pilar, hard to know what he's good at, but likely a version of a pickpocket. Dorio and Maine are the muscle in the outfit. Both have a lot of augments just to make sure they can use the heaviest of guns and take a lot of punishment. Kiwi and Lucy are the hackers. Lucy is a skilled hacker and with her Monowire, she can be deadly with the element of surprise. Kiwi is the diver, having major skills on the Net. She'll gather information better than anyone else if its there. She's also easily one of the quietest of the group. She's got goals and drive, but the rest is quite unknown for now. This is just where we get introduced to them all. First impressions. We'll get more time with all of them as the series goes on for sure.

 

We also meet someone who can be important: Faraday, the Fixer (middleman) who contracted the team for this job on the Arasaka information. He is very tight-lipped and wants to give away the absolute minimal of information the team needs. The less they know, the less him (and the client) risk. Even better, both in Japanese and English, both Kazuhiko Inoue and Giancarlo Esposito both ooze charisma for the part. He's a business man who solves problems, and the Runners are the solutions to the problems he's paid to solve. I like where things are, and he's in a great position to do a lot. We get very little of of him here, but you know he's going to be important. Just a question of when. Never under estimate the the middleman and his drive to get something more out of the deal. Fixers get a solid cut of any Gig they get completed.

 

We finally get the full story of what happened with Maria. She'd sold the Sandie to Maine, and before the pick-up went down, she died. Without any way to reach David, Maine's just been looking for the Sandevistan. He wouldn't be quiet about and Lucy was in the right place doing the right kind of work for David to notice and use the Sandevistan to stop her. David manages to get a chance to do good by Maine. Not sure what persuaded Maine, but he does give kid a chance. Works out well for the crew to bring him on. Maine does give some advice at the end of the episode to David. Very much focused on doing what you can for the crew and to protect yourself. Still, the big advice is you trust yourself above everyone else.

 

David, for his part has 2 things going for him. He got lucky in the genetic lottery of being able to use the Sandie the way he can. He also has something of a knack for picking things up. Kid hijacks a car and starts mixing it with his augmented speed really quick. He's got the right instincts to go far in the Edgerunner world. And now, he's got the mentor to build the connections. Being a runner is just as much about what you can do as it is who you know. Honestly, liking how he's growing and developing. There is always going to be question of where he's going to go. He's taking to the Edgerunner life for sure. Brains go a long way to staying alive. Trust in your chrome, your instincts, and your brain and you'll get away with plenty. David can do that.

 

There is a B plot enacted here. At the end of last episode, we had the executive from Arasaka trying to get the Academy to lure David back there. We see the basic overtures here. The Principle contacts David here and there throughout the episode. The Principle makes it clear that he can get a full ride at the Academy (based on his Academic Performance) by simply apologizing to Katsuo. See, Corps know that they can literally get away with murder. David being an orphan now, is a prime target. His compatibility is something they want to test with another prototype. It just being the product tells us nothing. Possibly something we'll see by the end of the show. Be disappointing otherwise. But at the end David just puts a stop to the whole thing. He just rejects the offer from the school, killing this Arasaka angle. Arasaka is tenacious though, so there will be another.

 

Might as well fit it in here as well. Jacked and Coke, where the job goes down, is the site of a Side Job in Cyberpunk 2077. Lucy lives in a building very much like Judy Alvarez. The same can be said for David with V's apartment. Spent enough time in both to recognize either with just a glance. There are plenty of nods throughout the series to the game, and more than that, to the TTRPG. Honestly, there are a lot of places from the game, but since we keep coming back to these two, thought I'd mention it for those curious.

 

One thing I loved here, and throughout the series, is the hacking. The game had a good hacking minigame with the timer and the code matrix that you'd need to crack. Once you got the hang of it and understood how to play it, you could get a lot of malware loaded into a system. Just seeing Lucy hacking at the speed she is, is really impressive. It remains something I enjoyed throughout the episode and the series as a whole, plus I liked doing that in Cyberpunk 2077.Another thing to appreciate is just the use of space with the text from the calls between the runners. When it's important, those were big words and did just the right thing. David didn't see them quite like that, but that's how they looked to him. It just played very well with the scene. It's a great little bit and there's always more to notice as you watch the episode. I wish I could hack in-game at that speed.

 

Let's talk music. It was great in the game and continues to be great in this show. Let's break down what tracks are pumping durign the notable scenes. “I Will Follow” by Snot Abundance is what we're hearing when David comes to meet the crew for the job. “Me Machine” by Poly is what we're hearing as the plan to nab the data starts. Just fits pretty well with the basic tension of having to wait. That's always the hard part of any job in a game like Cyberpunk, having to copy/hack/break into something under an unknown deadline. “Firenight Fire Fight” by Aligns is back! During the chase with the Tyger Claws, it's pumping. This whole scene reminds be of the few chases during the game, which I always liked. Especially when I had a very big gun with a very big blast. “Just Wine (P.A.F.F. Remix)” by Diego Cichy Don feat. P.A.F.F. This is the track playing after the job, when everyone's at the Turbo bar relaxing. Likely a place you could visit in Night City. “Niewazne” by by Diego Cichy Don feat. Martyna Baranowska. This is the track playing as Pilar is talking with Lucy and Rebecca is talking up David. The number while Maine is blasting away the Tyger Claw was just perfect. He got there just in time to save David (and Lucy) and finish off the Tyger Claw in just one shot. All the right sounds at the right times.

 

This is a really kick ass show. The mix of action and characters is what you can get with an involved and developed setting like Night City. It really is a place that you can find anything just by knowing the right people. It makes the whole feel alive because we can see everything all together. For once, no breakdown from the game about stuff. It was easy enough to cover with just the odd lingo. It remains, this an easy series to binge. We've got characters with actual relationships we care about, clear goals in a few regards, and just a brilliant place to do it all in.

 

Later, Choom!