Episode 6
If there is anything you need to know about the Phantomhive’s it’s that they’ll do anything to get what they want. They are underhanded and scheming, which makes them the perfect fit for the role they play in society. We see this in the flashback with Vincent and the first victory for the Blue House and his ultimate prize of making Diedrich his loyal German dog. Goes to show that wearing your heart on your sleeve doesn’t always let you come out on top. And Ciel follows right in his father’s footsteps.
The cricket tournament starts right off with the Scarlet Fox house vs. Sapphire Owl. Between the two, it’s pretty clear who might come out on top. Sure, Scarlet fox is a bit more vain, but they have a reputation to uphold so of course they are going to play to win. Plus, the Sapphire Owl house is your typically nerdy trope. They are book smart and not sporty at all. Which is why they have to rely on their tricks in order to take home a victory. Unfortunately for Ciel, they are also the type to play by the books. He has to convince them to essentially cheat in order to make it onto the second round. He’s lucky they have such a terrible track record because you could tell the thought of having to play dirty didn’t sit right with them. Really shows just how underhanded the Phantomhives are – but of course, Ciel has the help of Sebastian. That in and of itself is definitely cheating.
Speaking of cheating! I think they went about it in the most hilarious way! There was absolutely no way they were going to outplay the Scarlet Fox house, especially with Soma on the other team. So rather than messing with the game (i.e Sebastian flicking rocks to give them the advantage, or dressing up as a student… or doing anything with the actual sport), they decide to attack their food. Truly evil and hilarious at the same time. But, when you think about it, that was probably the best move for them to make. They don’t know how anyone their opponents would adapt to any form of engineering in the game. Soma just existing is enough of a wild card to them. So they decide to incapacitate the entire team making it so that there are no eligible players to continue. And hey! At least Tanaka got a meat pie out of it 🙂
Speaking of Tanaka, I missed all of the servants!! I love all of their dynamics on the side-line with Lizzie. And quite frankly, I’m just happy to see them all again especially, their goofy, carefree selves. I don’t think we’ll be lucky enough to see them kill people this season since we’re at a school and they can’t move around as freely, but I’m still holding out. I hope they all get more screen time.
But before that, we find out that the other match is Violet Wolf vs. Green Lion – Surprisingly a good match up depending on who is on the team. Green Lion is sincere and will try their best, but then you look at Violet Wolf who has a team of talented geniuses. Of course, we can see very clearly the range with Gregory and his drudge, Cheslock. Cheslock can pick up anything and be incredibly skilled at it. So it makes sense that he’s the pitcher (is that the term they use in cricket?). Unfortunately, Gregory does what I did in soccer practice and picks at the grass rather than actually play the game. This of course, results in a Green Lion victory and a really nice Violet Wolf insignia in the grass.
So we come down to Sapphire Owl and Green Lion in the final match. What a coincidence! That’s exactly how we ended when Vincent and Alexis were still in school. Here we get to let Edward shine a little bit. First, Ciel and Sebastian have their own tricks up their sleeves to help the Blue house, which of course has to do with the band that they’ve put together. Shoutout to the cymbals player, I think they owe ALL their scores to him. And a bonus shoutout to McMillan who gets to conduct once Sebastian takes off. But ultimately it’s Edward that realizes the trick & is really the ace player for the team. He learns Cheslock’s pitch. He sees straight through the tricks and yet he’s nothing impressive. Words can’t even describe how much I love things like this. I love seeing the perspective of one character – in this instance Edward – and his history of always feeling like he’s just an average person. He’s not special. His own baby sister out performs him. He’s mediocre. BUT then we flip to Greenhill’s perspective. Edward is the most adaptable person. He is very aware of his surroundings and acts accordingly. He learned Cheslock’s move. He adjusts to his teammates. In this way, he’s a genius. And just UGH I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. I EAT THAT UP EVERY TIME. Edward you single handedly got me rooting for Green Lion because of this. I hope you get your time in the spotlight soon.
…. That is unless Sebastian does something to halt the game. Because guess who just made his appearance~~~ That’s right! The headmaster who we want an audience with. Good luck Sebastian. Something tells me you’re going to have to work a lot harder to get what you want.
Episode 7
Okay let me just start off by saying that THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD EPISODE. Like wow! Ciel Phantomhive is not above pulling the worst tricks possible and I love that for him. While there were things that Sebastian was involved in during the episode, this was just such a great representation of how far Ciel is willing to go to get the victory. The jeering, the trickery, the borderline cheating, and playing with human emotions. GOD he’s so terrible. I love him.
Blue House really put their all into winning and I love how all of this was done by going outside the rules. Not necessarily breaking the rules, but rather they were playing unconventionally. Something that the Green House would never consider to do. I just love how many different schemes come into play during this episode. First and foremost, we are taking advantage of Lau’s group and the set of teenage boys. Truly embarrassing for all of those batters, but hey. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the win. A bummer that Maurice had to show up and ruin all the phone.
But after the provocative lady scheme, I really like that everything that follows is something that can be done on the field and by multiple players. Rather than just Ciel and Sebastian sneaking around and causing trouble for the other players. We have the defensive stance at first. Where rather than actually swinging their paddle, they will instead just block the ball. And due to the Green house’s bowls there isn’t much concern that they wouldn’t be able to have a fair ball after the fact. While it doesn’t guarantee them points, it gets them enough to get a lead and still keep the game interesting. Everything else comes to their bowls. First we have Ciel stepping up to essentially bowl poorly enough but still make the batter hit the ball. This is definitely one of those tactics where they are playing in the rules, but with poor sportsmanship. Then, to add insult to injury the entire team moves in from the outfield to surround the batter. Since he hits the ball and it’s caught, they are called out no matter how scummy the bowl was. Everyone knows this is terrible! Even to the point where the whole crowd starts calling him out. Unfortunately for them Greenhill is such a decent guy that he calls them out AND shows off just how hard Ciel has been training for this match. The Owl truly did come to hunt the Lion and this is the proof.
It’s really cool to see what Ciel looks like to others. I’ve spent enough time with him to know that he is not a good person and he doesn’t care to be one. But he has it in him to do what he has set out to do, which in turn makes people believe he is doing everything in earnest. Bluewer is one that had essentially believed that they would lose the cricket match, but upon watching Ciel (and Sebastian) he is willing to train and also put forth his best effort. In the same way this is cool to see, I also find this incredibly funny. Yes! Ciel is frail and weak! But god he has the most bonkers leg up on everyone. Good job being a terrible person Ceil. MVP.
The next trick actually falls on Bluewer and GOD. I love that it’s the two Prefects going up against one another. That just makes it all the more juicy. The first bowl Bluewer takes is to out Edward, by throwing the perfect throw. So perfect, that everyone just kind of laughed and ignored the damage it could do. But hey! I did what it needed to do. Sometimes doing something absurd and silly is just what you need to do to take home a victory. Unfortunately, that’s only a trick that worked once – I bet if the last batter was anyone besides Greenhill, we could have gotten some more points, but oh well. The way it all ended was FANTASTIC.
Okay, so once again, I do not have the words to explain how I am feeling about this. But Ciel banking on Greenhill being a good person is such a wild play. During the first hit Greenhill had, he was so close to hitting Ciel (and I’m pretty sure that’s when he got the idea) it became clear that Greenhill was not going to miss the ball. So we needed to make sure we could get him out before any point could be made. The only logical answer is to sacrifice his forehead. Ciel Phantomhive, the one who is essentially acting at all time, puts on the show of his life (though I was really expecting him to pass out for real afterwards). He gets hit, screams in pain enough for Greenhill to be more concerned with his well-being than getting a point, that Ciel takes him out with one final throw.
GAH. AGAIN I DO NOT HAVE THE WORDS BUT IT WAS JUST SO GOOD. The suspense they built in this episode just hit the right spot for me. CONGRATS BLUE HOUSE YOU WON. YOU DID IT!! YOU MANAGED TO DO IT!!! I’M SO PROUD OF ALL OF YOU !!!!
