Danger 5 and the land of the rising sun

Japan, the land of the rising sun, is where we find this weeks instalment of Danger 5 has taken us. Following the downing of US planes by a long-believed dead pilot, the Colonel sends the Danger 5 team out to find out what’s going on, to locate Japan (which has gone missing) and to, of course, kill Hitler.

Much of the fun of this weeks episode comes from the setting in Japan. While it was fun to see the team visit France and the tropics in the first two episodes, the cultural shift in this episode heightened the flexibility of the show. It’s not just WWII Germany to contend with. The show stayed true to the shows grindhouse aesthetic by not getting too crazy with Japanese culture (I’d almost expected to find the show delve into Tokusatu parody….which would offer a somewhat appropriate nod to Ultraman – another prominent South Australian genre TV production), but the show instead remained much more grounded.

What resonates best through the episode is the callbacks in this episode to previous episodes. It’s these recurring gags that tap nicely into the silliness of the shows concept. In this episode we have Pierre encountering another friend from the past, providing an opportunity for this wonderful exchange:

“Do you remember Shanghai?”

“Of course not”

Pierre truly is the ultimate party boy. Also we have another person die in his arms while offering a cocktail recipe to him as their dying words. This week we see his Oriental lover shot to death by Claire, offering the recipe for a Chinese Whisper with her final breath.

We also delve further into the not-so-hidden sexual and romantic tension that exists in the show. With Tucker and Ilsa turned into mindless super soldiers by Hitler and his new Japanese cronies, the gang must force the two to snap out of their controlled states with declarations of love. Tucker brings Claire to with a poetic admission, whereas Ilsa needs to be manhandled by a revived Tucker following Jacksons inability to clearly state his intentions for the Russian.  The tango of romance continues.

Episode highlights:

• Claire shoots an attacker (Che?) in the groin – it’s an immediate fatal wound.
• “Arigatou!”
• A Basic Instinct scene involving Ilsa reveals a Barbie-esque lack of genitals. Could the Danger 5 crew be more like Thunderbirds than we realise?
• Benito.