Episode 15
Light
(Hikari)
We pick right back up with Jessie getting pegged by Senora Drago. Jessie then tries to rally Tanya and Marshall into battle but they still can't keep up. It's revealed by Anna that this is Earth Team B (Jessie, Tanya, and Marshall) VS only one girl. Captain Lahrri Feldnut, winner of the last Great Competition and current Cosmo Beauty. Spelling her first name looks annoying and Feldnut just reeks of comic potential so look forward to me referring to her as Feldnut from now on. The dub calls her Fernando, but fuck that noise it's 100% Feldnut here at Jkyle.com. The match continues and they get MURDERED 100 to nothing.
Jessie ends up in the hospital after the match and Akari is there when she wakes. Jessie is a bitch to Akari and asks if Tanya and Marshall are ok. We see they're outside. Tanya is freaking out and tearing paper while Marshall sips a cup of tea because she means nothing to the series. Ok, maybe she's doing it because she knows their team has 10 wins. Back to the room where Jessie asks what kind of person Tomoe Midoh was. Akari does the usual "mother was kind and smiled a lot" routine and asks what Jessie's mom was like. Jessie doesn't remember ever having a mom but she had a little sister. It was just those two. No mention of her father. 99% of the time the males don't matter. Of course, when you consider the number of predominantly male series and female series where EVERY guy is a big deal (I'm looking at YOU Sailor Moon) it's logical that someday you'd get to see a series where my gender is for the most part wallpaper. And here it is. Akari wonders if Jessie's sister, like in soap operas (or just TV Shows if you ask the Dub), looks like her. You know I have seen my share of soap operas (how did YOU think I got into wrestling?) and I have never seen a plot like that. Damn American television. We get no plots like that AND they cancel Haunted.
AHEM, back to the show as Jessie reveals her sister was sick all the time. Flashback shows Jessie learned how to run by stealing bread to feed her sister and herself. There's a Le Miserabe joke there but I'm not smart enough to make it. Young Jessie comes home and begins to make a sandwich with the bread and some skanky looking half gray lettuce. She notices her sister is not coughing which is an improvement. A moment later she realizes her sister isn't coughing because she isn't breathing.
Back to the present where Akari begs Jessie to stop but Jessie ain't going to because this is HER origin episode dammit. That and Akari is too sheltered in her opinion. Jessie cries and continues. She is seen in a church where a priest finds her. She tries to run which is kind of pointless. It's not like she's an altar boy. Plus the priest is black. Every shame of the priesthood I've seen is white. This man has his urges under control, which is nice to see since the only other person of colour in this series is Tanya and she's a crazy African who acts like a monkey. I'm not offended but if you are I see your point. And don't tell me that Akari is of colour being Japanese because she is WHITE. WHITE WHITE WHITE. The priest says Jessie can find forgiveness. Jessie busts out the "no god because bad things happen argument" but the priest calms her and takes her to see an exhibition race of his against Tomoe Midoh. Interestingly the priest is the only person in this series who ever calls her Tomoe Kanzaki and he does it here. The priest says Tomoe has been touched by the light of God and Jessie sees what he is talking about when she sees them race. The priest tells Jessie to not run for food but for herself so she can feel the light.
In the present Akari is jealous because she never got to see her mom run. Akari is glad they’re talking. Jessie points out that she's been a bitch and Akari should hate her. Akari doesn't because Jessie's aggression pushed her to compete. Jessie gets up to leave and Akari tries to stop her. Jessie still hates her or so she says.
Feldnut is seen training. She's supposed to run paced for two laps and then on her final go full speed. Jessie watches on. After the first lap Jessie jumps in to race her, confident that she's a better sprinter. Well that and Feldnut already ran a lap. Opportunistic, aggressive, and blonde. Yup, Jessie's American. Jessie is surprised that Feldnut isn't fazed and DEMANDS she show emotion. You'd think she'd learn to keep emotion out of it since Akari whupped her ass thanks to her bond with Itchan. Jessie hits the finish line first but after Feldnut hits it for the third lap she just SMOKES Jessie. Jessie sees the light on Feldnut. Feldnut misses Tomoe's record by .3 seconds and Jessie stands crushed.
Akari is with Miracle now and she tries getting information on Lahrri. Miracle. Miracle logically points out that Akari's team is dead last and Jessie's is first so she should worry about herself. Tanya runs in to tearfully inform Akari that Jessie's left for home in New York.
Akari runs to catch Jessie but gets there too late. She decides to take a flight to follow and bring Jessie back (ALA when Itchan followed Akari and brought her back to the Antarctic school) but Miracle stops her. Turns out leaving the Satellite is grounds for expulsion. Marshall gives Akari a note from Jessie that says "I'm sorry." Miracle tells Akari that Jessie is a lost cause. Miracle leaves and Akari does drama crying, hoping Itchan will help Jessie.
Jessie is back in the slums. A group of men try to rape her but she foils one of them. They responded by laying a royal ass whupping on her.
A church employee known as Alf (Alfred in the dub) saves her and the thugs vocalize the first "shit" we've heard in a while and run off.. Jessie meets the new orphans who've either seen her on TV (in the dub) or wonder if she's met fast people (in the sub). Jessie goes to meet the priest who's blind now.
Turns out he was running in races to pay the bills and the mob got pissed when he wouldn't compete in fixed races. The priest wants to know if Jessie's seen the light. Jessie begins to cry in his lap because she has but it was by losing. We can hear Akari writing to Itchan, praying that Itchan will tell Jessie to keep running.
Time it took to write this:55 minutes
Cryptic Miracle Quote:
"Instead of worrying about those who have left, concentrate on those who have chosen to stay."
Lezbenocity/Flame Factor
Nothing. It's character development day.
Additional thoughts
Everyone has their favourite character and if Jessie is yours this is a double-edged sword. On one hand it's very much the Jessie show. On the other hand it's a fitting swan song for Jessie's quest to be Cosmo Beauty. Interesting how Jessie brought Akari up but couldn't handle being bested by anyone else. A great thing about this show is that it's full of moments like the ones in this episode where we find out WHY people are the way they are instead of just seeing their antics until they grow stale.
Final Verdict
Nine Flashbacks out of Ten. I prefer Ayla but this episode was full of things that make Jessie into a three dimensional character.
