Note: Although I am aware that Amazon Prime did a exclusive early access for the first three episodes of Babylon, I will still cover it one episode per week so there won’t be blank weeks later down the season. Thank you for your understanding.
Babylon really had quite a start! The episode wasn’t particularly action-packed or exciting at all times, but it did a good job at laying down many connections and pieces involved in a huge case that would cause scandals and maybe even redefine politics if it’s solved! I must say I’m quite intrigued and the cliffhanger at the end of the episode made it all the more interesting.
Let’s start from the beginning though, public prosecutor Seizaki and his partner Fumio do a raid on a farmaceutical company after suspecting them of paying universities for faking research results to make their products look more useful than they are. During the investigation phase of the case, they find a stain on a piece of paper and realize it’s blood. This leads them to Inaba, an anesthesiologist who was involved in the pharmaceutical company and is now dead. Due to the circumstances surrounding the death, it’s very likely to be ruled as suicide.
As Seizaki and Fumio dive a little deeper into the investigation of this possible suicide, they discover a connection between Inaba and a very powerful politician who is now in the run for Mayor of the city in some upcoming elections. A man called Ano who is the secretary of the candidate was one of the last people to visit Inaba. As the investigators follow Ano they find out that there might also be prostitution going on with another powerful man from Shiniki, the city where Babylon takes place, all with the purpose of getting votes from him.
Seizaki also asks one of his friends from university, a journalist, to help in the investigation of the candidate. As the investigation takes shape, it seems like quite a good place to start the story and then, at the end of the episode Seizaki gets a text from Fumio and he runs to Fumio’s apartment where he finds his partner dead by hanging. Quite curious that there would be another suicide and seemingly unprompted by anything.
All in all, I’m satisfied with the first episode and I’m intrigued to see what will happen next. I will kind of miss Fumio, but it’s obvious that Seizaki is the star of the show. I like the tone of the show, how it looks and how it’s presented. I must say the writing is a little bit clumsy at times, like when Seizaki’s friend claimed they were best friends since university. It’s always a bit clumsy to me when characters say things to other characters that they are supposed to know, but well, I can live with less than stellar writing and it’s just the first episode.
I’m curious to see how it’ll develop from now on.
Possibility of watching: High
Possibility of blogging: High
The source novel author also wrote the story for Kado – The Right Answer.