Alright, time for Episode 5. After the last episode left a bad taste in my mouth, will this episode continue to maintain the momentum or will this episode crash and burn like the last?

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhFM8akm9a4[/embedyt]

Warning: Spoilers Ahead! Turn back now if you haven’t seen the episode!

We open the episode to a flashback of Ryker (Joel Kinnaman), interrogating a man (Seriously? More Interrogating people? After it went so well last episode? Whatever), about how a woman was killed by a man. The man says he doesn’t know anything and Kristin Ortega (Martha Higareda), comes into the room and stops Ryker from killing the man. Ortega lets the man go free and hugs Ryker who is said. We then cut to present day where we find out that Ryker was Ortega’s ex-boyfriend and that is why she has been watching Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), because she doesn’t want the sleeve to be damaged. Kovacs then tells her that the guy who put him in the VR Torture room thought he was Ryker and saying that Ryker killed his brother. Meanwhile, Vernon Elliot (Ato Essandoh), is with Poe (Chris Conner), down in the lobby and Vernon asks to see Lizzie. Poe tells him no and that she is getting better without his help and this upsets Vernon. Kovacs comes down to go out and Vernon wants to talk about Lizzie and Poe but Kovacs stops him to tell him to not bother him unless he has something useful. Ortega comes down as well with the severed head and wraps it in a cloth before she can leave. Meanwhile, Kovacs goes to Bancroft’s place and wants to speak to Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy). Laurens isn’t home but Miriam Bancroft (Kristin Lehman), is the only one home. Miriam asks Kovacs to drop the case and she would get him a new identity because she thinks the case is meaningless and is afraid of Laurens. Miriam says that Laurens has her and the family trapped in a web and she wants to escape it. She tells Kovacs that she has her own island with a resleeve facility and can offer Kovacs his freedom. Kovacs says no and Miriam tells him to think about it and keep the idea open. Meanwhile, Ortega takes the stack out of the head, drops it into a sewer and calls Mickey with a job that needs to be kept on the down low. Meanwhile, Kovacs enters a place that looks like a ghetto and finds Laurens there talking to some kids. Kovacs tells him that he knows about the sleeve and Laurens says that Ortega needed to be taught some respect by Laurens using Ryker sleeve for his Last Envoy. Laurens then starts to touch some of the people and hand out chocolate to them and Kovacs notices that he is starting to get infected by the people. Laurens does this so he can gain the respect and love of the infected people. Meanwhile, Ortega heads to the station and gives Mickey the stack and asks him to put it in a sleeve so she can ask about Ryker but it has to be done off the books.

We then cut back to the hotel where Kovacs sits down with Vernon who is drinking by myself. Kovacs grabs the bottle when Samir Abboud (Waleed Zuaiter), comes out of the shadows and wants to speak with Kovacs alone. Samir tells Kovacs about Ryker and Ortega and how Kovacs being in his sleeve is tearing her apart. Ortega really fell hard when Ryker lost it and she still pays the mortgage on Ryker’s sleeve. Samir wants Kovacs to keep Ortega far away from any of the Bancroft stuff or else he will kill Kovacs. Poe appears just after Samir leaves and tells Kovacs that he spoke with his AI union and spoke to Madison, the AI that manages Fightdrome. Meanwhile, Ortega goes back home to have a shower, she is interpreted by her mother shouting and firing at someone. We see that Kovacs has come to Ortega’s home and her mother isn’t too happy about it. Ortega takes the guns away from her mom and Kovacs tells Ortega that he has a lead on Bancroft that will lead them to the Fightdrome. Kovacs askes Ortega if Ryker had any defining characteristics and she tells him that he always looked mad and ready to punch someone. They reach the Fightdrome and talk to the owner named Carnage. Carnage tries to tell them that he doesn’t have anything but Ortega is able to convince him. They look around while Carnage is talking and Kovacs comes across a pod with his original Envoy sleeve. He stares at it while Carnage tells him how he got it made for him and offers Kovacs a test run on a Friday for a private show. Ortega tells them to move along so they can find the footage. We make it to the office were Carnage shows them the footage of Bancroft and we see that Issac Bancroft was at one of the fights with Laurens finding him and beating him. Carnage tells them that is all of the footage and for them to leave. Kovacs tells Ortega that he can read lips and Laurens kept saying, “Your not me, you will never be me”, while beating on his son. They decide to visit Issac’s place which is locked with a genetic look and Kovacs just shoots the lock before going inside. The two of them search the place and find a hidden door that contains a 3D Bio-metric printer that can print Sleeves. They also find a pod that is keeping a body frozen, it’s Lauren Bancroft. They soon figure out that Issac has been printing Sleeves of his father so he can be him and make sure that a deal goes through so that he can remain rich. Ortega calls for backup and to take the 3D Printer away. Kovacs waits in the house and notices that his hand is starting to bleed, Ortega notices this and takes him away. They go back to Ortega’s house and she stitches up Kovacs wounds with Kovacs asking about some of the scars on his sleeve. Ortega tells some stories and this leads to Ortega throwing herself at Kovacs. The two of them makeout and eventually have sex.

We then cut to the next morning, Ortega grabs a stack from a box and gives it to Kovacs. The stack belongs to someone named Mary, who was a girl that was killed and Ryker was falsely accused of killing her. We get a flashback to when Ryker was arrested for that murder in is home. Ortega then shows Kovacs more pictures of people who have been murdered and then tells Kovacs about the Ghostwalker. The two of them talk can they say that Bancroft, Ghostwalker and Rykers case are all connected in the big picture. Ortega get’s a call from Mickey and they go down to the police station. They see that the same sleeve Ortega used for her grandma is used for the man who tortured Kovacs named Dimi. They are questioning him about who framed Ryker and he won’t give up a name, so, they start to beat him until he talks. Before they can go further, the captain steps in and puts an end to the situation. They all step out of the room and Ortega asks for 5 mins in VR so she can finally get some answers on Ryker’s case. The captain says yes and Samir, Ortega, Dimi and a fellow officer go into the elevator. The officer is then revealed to be the Ghostwalker who is working for Dimi is in the elevator and Kovacs tries to warn them but fails. The Ghostwalker pulls out a weapon and starts to stab Ortega with Samir trying to help fight him off. This whole scene is bloody and lasts for about four minutes and ends with Ghostwalker killing Samir and taking Dimi with him. Kovacs makes it to the right floor and the elevator opens to find that Ortega is the only one left alive. Kovacs quickly gets in and takes Ortega away to get medical attention.

Wow, now that is a way to end an episode. I will also say that I liked this episode a lot more than the last. We actually got some new developments in the Bancroft case and the Ghostwalker proves to be a scary foe.

I really did like the Fightdrome and Carnage getting his hands on Kovacs original sleeve. It was nice to see that Kovacs still recognizes his real face and body, so seeing his original body sure did shake him to his core.

Also, I totally called it last review and I knew that Ortega and Kovacs were going to hook up. Once we found out that Kovacs is in the same sleeve as her ex-boyfriend, it was only inevitable that they were going to embrace each other’s bodies.

I also like how the cases are all being connected together, it really does help the plot and condense it so that it’s not long and confusing for the viewers. I just can’t wait to see more of the Ghostwalker now that we have seen what he can do.

The Verdict:

Episode 5 was so much better than the last one. This didn’t feel like a chore to get through and it also streamlined all the different cases together so that it can become something bigger and easier to follow. Also, the ending of the episode was really gnarly and awesome, it was a great action scene and a great way to end the episode.

9/10

Next up, Episode 6