Joey Sakamoto – The episode begins with Suzie (Rashida Jones) remembering arguing with Masa Sakamoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) after he showed up drunk for one of Zen’s (Fares Belkheir) school plays. He led her to believe that there was a problem at work that only he could take care of. He also insults her during the encounter by saying she doesn’t know what it feels like to care so deeply for something. It’s not long before Mixxy’s (Annie The Clumsy) announcement of the train reaching its destination that Suzie is drawn out of her reverie.

After disembarking from the train, Suzie, Sunny (Joanna Sotomura), and Mixxy find themselves at what appears to be an abandoned, rundown train station. The situation only gets worse when they learn that there is no service and the shuttle that would normally take them to Mixxy’s parent’s house has quit running. Both Sunny and Suzie appear baffled that Mixxy didn’t know this and there is a very brief debate about how to proceed. The arrival of a mysterious Japanese man with a black eye practically makes their decision for them. Much to Sunny’s displeasure, it’s the two hour hike to their destination.

Noriko Sakamoto (Judy Ongg) drops in on an old friend unannounced to discover that she is hosting her grandson’s birthday party along with a long list of guests. Despite Noriko’s disposition, things immediately get awkward the moment the elderly woman starts grasping at excuses for not inviting her.

As Suzie, Sunny, and Mixxy continue on their trip, Suzie continues to have a mixed bag of memories, including everything from time with Masa to her encounter with Hime (You). It is Sunny who draws her out of the reverie this time by bringing up the possibility of Masa’s father, Hiromasa Matsumoto, being involved in the plane crash. Suzie immediately makes it clear that she’s not interested in even broaching that topic. She does, however, have to urinate, which spirals into a whole embarrassing debacle when Mixxy jokes about her raggedly stained granny panties. Suzie claims they are her lucky panties because they came from an economics professor that she slept with in college.

Noriko makes a brief stop at Suzie’s house only to discover that she isn’t home. At the same time, Sunny, Suzie, and Mixxy make a brief stop. As night approaches, Mixxy tells Suzie about her and her mother relocating to the farm after her father’s death. Sunny discovers an abandoned hatchling and decides to keep it, despite Suzie demanding that she leave it. Shortly after resuming their travels, they discover that the guy from the train station has been trailing them.

Although the man passes by them without incident, his very presence and their next course of action lead to a huge argument. Matters certainly aren’t helped when Mixxy admits to getting them lost and Suzie doesn’t as harshly as Sunny thinks that she should. Despite the slight snafu, they soon arrive at what appears to be another train station. After Sunny is put into sleep mode, Mixxy shares an intriguing story about how trees share nutrients through their roots with other trees when they are attacked by fungi. They eventually fall asleep but a mysterious dream about Masa and Zen causes Suzie to abruptly wake. It is during this time that she not only discovers Sunny has kept the bird but she’s been draining her battery to keep it alive.

Things go no further than this for the moment thanks to the unexpected arrival of a feral bear. Much to their surprise, Mixxy begins belting out Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ to scare it off. Even more surprising, it appears to work.

It is all good vibes once Mixxy, Suzie, and Sunny arrive at the farm. They are welcomed and treated to a meal but the good vibes die the moment Suzie learns that Sunny’s bird died. When Suzie joins her at the farm’s incubator, she admits to taking the bird because she wanted to better understand what being a mother is like. This eventually leads to Suzie demeaning herself for not paying closer attention to all the signs Masa was exhibiting before the crash.

Suzie becomes emotional when the farm’s Priest (Koun Ishige) arranges a small ceremony for the fallen bird. Mixxy comforts her while Noriko and something about the two of them holding hands causes Sunny to suspect that Masa’s strange behavior leading up to the events of the plane crash had to do with her. Sunny later shares these suspicions with Suzie as they fall asleep together.

The episode ends with Suzie waking the following morning to find Sunny missing and a ransom note, along with Hemi’s fake pinkie finger.

 

Sunny Review

I can’t say I was a huge fan of this episode. It wasn’t that it was bad and I enjoyed the whole trip in the woods, Sunny’s desire to relate to Suzie on a maternal level, and what little bit of the farm was shown, but the biggest portion of it felt like fluff/filler. Although the bit with Suzie’s granny knickers was funny, I didn’t really and still don’t understand the significance of it. The man with the black eye trailing them the entire time only further confused matters for me. To be honest, I am not even entirely sure what to make of the episode. I’d have to give it a 5.0 out of 10.

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