Sunny Season-Finale Recap: Dōmo Arigatō, Ms. Roboto

As a long-time fan of science fiction and a seasoned viewer of various streaming series, I must admit that I found myself quite intrigued by the season finale of “Sunny.” It was an exhilarating rollercoaster ride filled with suspense, action, and a dash of dark humor – just the way I like it.

The sun sinks, bringing together an unexpected reunion, an intriguing event, a fortunate coincidence… and a thrilling cliffhanger. I didn’t anticipate it, but I’m not complaining. Colin O’Sullivan’s 2018 book, “The Dark Manual”, is unique, just as Blake Crouch’s 2016 novel, “Dark Matter” is. Interestingly, Apple TV+ has announced a second season for its adaptation of the chaos-filled dimension-jumping series based on “that” book. (Perhaps this decision was made because the streamer felt it necessary to give a distinct title to its adaptation of O’Sullivan’s book.)

Immediately following the ending credits, we return to the warehouse where Sunny seemed to plummet through the floor a couple of episodes back. At long last, Suzie embraces Zen, the son she thought was deceased, tenderly holding him close. Tragically, Tetsu is motionless on the ground, his eyes wide open and blood-streaked white with crimson stains

In the previous event, when Sunny contemplated her actions and ultimately chose to erase her own memories and restart herself, this was how Sunny coped with the fallout from her actions against Tetsu, who was putting Suzie’s life in danger. It seems that Sunny’s personal struggle and introspection spans at least the first part of this season finale, while Sunny lies unconscious as Yuki, the traitorous ImaTech technician, attempts to extract her programming

In the previous episode’s events, it seems like they were confined within Sunny’s machine subconscious, suggesting we might have to forget what we thought we knew. Regrettably, but truthfully, Yuki being the mole who leaked the disobedience code from ImaTech and onto the black market wasn’t just a figment of imagination. This revelation, much like a deeply buried trauma resurfacing through therapy, was unearthed by Sunny from the forgotten corners of her memory banks

Excellent job, Sunny! This is exactly why we’re gathered, not just the usual gangster-related matters, although they’re also present here, as well

Himé’s followers forcibly take Suzie, Zen, Mixxy, and Hiromasa away, leaving only Tetsu’s corpse with Himé. As Yuki begins to examine Sunny, he realizes that Masa designed her ports to repel any intrusion into her brain, causing Yuki’s laptop to malfunction upon his first attempt. Despite this setback, he maintains his confidence by claiming, “I’m a master of zeros and ones.” Unimpressed, Himé removes his sunglasses and later places a knife to his face, warning him that she will cut out his tongue if he can’t back up his claims. Despite her ruthless actions, including the bombing of an innocent plane, no court in the world would convict her for her actions against Yuki

In the meantime, Suzie, Zen, Hiromasa, and Mixxy find themselves confined in a makeshift pen. “Are you alright?” Suzie queries her son. The boy appears distracted by the imminent loss of a baby tooth, causing Mixxy and Hiromasa to pay special attention to him. When Suzie identifies these two as friends, Zen reminds her, “You don’t have any real friends!” Meanwhile, from up in the tree, an apple yet to fall hasn’t, just as Yoda may have said long ago

In the story, there’s something unusual about little Zen’s calm demeanor regarding his mother’s return. Initially, Masa’s introduction doesn’t mention this, but it’s worth noting that Setsubun is celebrated on the last day of winter according to the lunar calendar. In 2025, Setsubun will fall on February 2. If Zen was taken during Christmas, when Masa’s plane exploded, and Suzie found him at Setsubun, then he had been in yakuza custody for at least five weeks. It’s surprising that after being apart from his parents for nearly 40 nights, Zen appears as though she’s just come back from a quick errand instead of showing signs of relief, anger, fear, or trauma. His strange calmness left me expecting a twist revealing that Masa might still be alive and caring for Zen while pretending they were both deceased. However, the episode confirms Noriko’s loyalty, while leaving Mixxy’s suspect

In a confined setting, Hiromasa is attempting to understand, based on Suzie and Mixxy’s narratives, how Mixxy was attacked by Sunny. Despite her urgency to safeguard her child, Hiromasa reminds Suzie of Masa who perished trying to keep the yakuza from discovering a means to militarize household robots

At that moment, Noriko manages to phone from prison, and Suzie successfully answers because Zen, her resourceful and unaffected by trauma child, mysteriously concealed her device (they don’t refer to them as phones in this show) before the yakuza enforcer searched. Hearing Zen on the other end of the line brings a sense of relief to Noriko, and Judy Ongg’s portrayal of this moment, along with her expressed optimism that Masa might still be alive, further supports her as the standout performer in this quirky series

In this moment, I realize an astounding connection as I overhear the same eerie Joker-like static emanating from a prison phone call and in person – it’s coming from none other than Yoko, an old friend of Noriko’s, who just so happens to be the mother of the henchman guarding us. This woman is currently serving time alongside Suzie’s mother-in-law and the terminally ill elderly woman, Noriko’s childhood companion, Yoko. Life, it seems, has a knack for throwing up unexpected coincidences. In prison, Noriko takes matters into her own hands by choking off Yoko’s oxygen supply and threatening to finish what she started if she doesn’t free Suzie, Masa, Hiromasa, and Mixxy. Meanwhile, Mixxy stays behind to keep the henchman under watch using his own gun, while Hiromasa, Suzie, and Zen step out into the bustling festival in search of Sunny

At the Setsubun festival, Jin assumes his traditional position as the new oyabun. It’s then that Himé approaches him under the pretext of wanting to toast to a fresh start. However, her true intention is to manipulate him into ordering his homebot out, allowing her cohorts to seize it and deliver it to Yuki. Yuki asserts that obtaining this robot is crucial for him to decipher Sunny’s code

In disguise among the crowd, Suzie notices Yuki forcibly taking Sunny away. At that moment, Hiromasa realizes that maybe Masa set up an auditory trigger within Sunny to make it attack Mixxy. Zen adds that his captors from the yakuza questioned him about phrases often used by his mother. Finally understanding the situation, Suzie rushes onto the stage, pushing past a singer in the middle of her performance to announce over the festival’s loudspeaker system that Yuki Tanaka should “Find another hole to suck on.” This is a coded phrase that activates Sunny, turning it into either a fighting or killing robot. (I rewatched episode seven to verify that Suzie accidentally triggered this bot attack by telling Mixxy to “go find another place to suck.”)

Following the commotion, triggered by a drunken American woman verbally abusing from the stage, our protagonists manage to slip away. This incident seems to provide Himé with just the right motivation to stab Jin. Earlier he had criticized her for relying on machines to do her dirty work; now she demonstrates that she’s evolved to performing such actions independently. That’s what we call character progression

Sunny is attempting to escape because she’s worried about causing more pain to Suzie, but Suzie chases after her, scolding Sunny for being overly self-sacrificing. Hiromasa suggests that he knows a coder friend in Tokyo who could potentially remove the hidden murder programming from Sunny without erasing all of her memories. He also mentions that he wants to take both Masa and Suzie to a secure location before attempting this. Mixxy proposes a plan to get Sunny to Tokyo, and despite her questionable history known to Suzie, no one challenges her idea

If we hadn’t been so easily convinced by Mixxy’s proposal, perhaps the heartfelt goodbye between Suzie and Sunny would have caught our attention. Suzie makes a gesture like a butterfly, which was how Masa used to bid farewell to her before he boarded that tragic flight. Sunny responds to Suzie’s affection with a gesture that might not be intended as a loving message

Hiromasa warmly greets Suzie and Zen at his stunning Lake Biwa retreat, home to Sho the robot trash collector. This setting concludes the season. An envelope on the corkboard labeled for Suzie appears, hinting that it’s the origin of Masa’s narration from the initial scene, wrapping up the episode. However, Mixxy unknowingly returns Sunny to the grasp of Yuki Tanaka once again, likely for further yakuza-funded experiments

Subprime Directives

It’s apparent that the grip the yakuza has maintained over Mixxy was purposely not resolved to enable Apple TV+ to produce another season of the show Sunny. However, this isn’t the only loose end left unattended by the season finale. Here, in ascending order of importance, is a rundown of the questions that were left unanswered as the stage curtain comes down on season one:

Why did the blood-streaked tire tracks on the floor of councilman Ito’s residence, which only Suzie (it seems) seemed to have noticed, hold such importance?

Who is Dee, the person who used to be Suzie’s close friend but ended their friendship due to an undisclosed issue between them?

It seems like ImaTech played a prominent role initially, given how the first two episodes suggested it would be a key element in the series. However, it was soon overshadowed by the yakuza, a recurring antagonist that some might find less engaging. One can’t help but wonder if there was any reaction from ImaTech when one of their homebots ended up causing harm to one of their own employees?

What made Noriko intentionally land herself in jail? And isn’t it questionable whether an older woman would actually be imprisoned if apprehended for shoplifting and off-camera disruptive behavior?

It seems unusual that the yakuza would kill Masa before obtaining the desired code, as it might have been more strategic for them to kidnap Suzie and Zen instead, in order to pressure Masa into cooperation. Instead, they chose to eliminate Masa and capture Zen, which raises questions about their tactics

Although it’s plausible that the yakuza wished to eliminate Masa, the question remains: why destroy an entire plane to accomplish this? The series implies that the yakuza permeate every level of Japanese government and society, maintaining a covert relationship with law enforcement for their criminal activities. While I can comprehend that this alliance might include the assassination of a nuisance like Masa, it’s hard to fathom them causing the death of numerous innocent passengers on his flight as collateral damage. Such actions would be reminiscent of Pablo Escobar’s ruthless tactics

2024-09-04 15:56

Sunny Season-Finale Recap: Dōmo Arigatō, Ms. Roboto

Subprime Directives

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