17 Jul 2006
Posted by Martin
After being decidely underwhelmed by the fourth instalment this episode adds some quite chilling horror to the medical thriller setup and is much better for it. A patient is brought into the hospital after suffering from wounds that appear from nowhere - in a supernatural twist she also seems to be suffering from some kind of possession.
I must admit that the 'possession' side of things seemed a bit hard to swallow; it seems that this show isn't content with a straight-up medical drama and so throws in a few curve balls to liven things up. What is clear is that the patient's condition is not simply medical, and requires some ingenuity and quick thinking on Ray's part to save her. Interestingly, she draws some similarities between this case and that of her first ever operation: saving a school friend from a particularly nasty condition.
I found this recollection quite intriguing, which sadly cannot be said of her flashbacks in previous episodes. Apart from a short conversation with Kenji there are not references to any of the conspiracy stuff and it just focuses on the 'case of the week' instead. With most shows this would be a hinderance but quite frankly I'm finding Ray's work on the individual cases more interesting than her own past: something that is surprising but doesn't bode well for the resolution of the bigger picture later on.
Overall this was a good episode which had me guessing right up to the end. There is a stronger supernatural element to
Ray than I expected but when I'm in the mood for some medical thriller that's grittier and more true-to-life I can always pick up the
House box set.
[Filed under Anime Reviews]
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