Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045 Season 1 Episode 3 Recap – Maverick

Captive

Major Kusanagi insists it wasn’t them who shot the missile but the suited man insists on taking them in. The Major decides to play along, perhaps they’ve been setting them up from the start. They decide to go peacefully. She commands Tachikoma to go into stealth and hide nearby.

Togusa comes into the office and attempts to find Major Kusanagi by entering the dark web. He finds out GHOST is operating in North America right now. They’ve been reckless as ever. Someone called PMC has been contracting them.

Togusa raids a chatroom and disguises himself as a syndicate member. He learns that they’ve been contracted by Obsidian who has a reputation for tight security. His cover gets blown, so he logs off immediately. He reports his findings to Chief Aramaki. Turns out he’s been trying to find them for a long time.

Obsidian is located somewhere in Los Angeles, so Togusa requests to go there himself.

The Major suspects one of their informants is a double agent which led them to be captured. The agent steps in and apologizes. He says he has no choice and introduces himself as John Smith. He’s there to offer the Major a job.

New Job

Batou doesn’t want any part of it, but the man insists, saying he’s impressed by their work. He tells them he works for the government so they don’t have a choice. Their tasked to rescue a certain individual and will be compensated accordingly. Batou thinks it’s shady.

The Tachikoma regroup to find one of their broken brethren as two enemy soldiers try to find them. The robots try to find a way to fix their friend.

Togusa arrives at the site, but Obsidian won’t respond to his messages. The chief tells him their group is highly regarded amongst mercenaries. He finds his way to the Obsidian headquarters and asks them about GHOST. An attendant takes him to a fancy room where a man is waiting, pointing a shotgun at him.

Togusa explains that he’s a former Ghost member from Japan. The man doesn’t believe him due to his scrawny build. He asks for some proof. Togusa explains what he knows about the major, and that everyone calls her Queen Kong behind her back.

The man backs down. He tells Togusa that GHOST has vanished.

The major and his squad are closing in on their target in a dark room. Clown approaches him, but the target shoots him. Batou’s gun points to the major and–he pulls the plug from behind his neck, swearing. It’s was only a simulation.

The Trail

They complain that the scenario is different every time, so they can’t find their rhythm. They can’t figure out what the mission really is. Major suspects their target must be superhuman. Batou has a bad feeling about it.

Saito thinks they could be CIA or NSA, but them having the Delta Force and Air force seems suspicious. Meanwhile, Smith and his men find out where the group has been working for in South America. He plans to have them eliminated after the mission.

Togusa finds out that Obsidian’s investigation of GHOST has led nowhere. It’s up to him to look for them. The Chief tells him to be careful as its likely to be a major organization.

He goes to an shabby parking lot and is almost caught by a raiding crew. He questions some of the stall owners, but they won’t talk. There are plenty of surveillance cameras around, and the stall owner has all of her data uploaded to the web. Togusa finds data on Batou and Mokoto from her cyberbrain, and he traces the location of their last operation. When he gets there, he meets one of the Tachikoma.

Our Thoughts

Okay, the visuals may not be that great but at least its consistent. It may not be the high-concept scifi of other GITS installments but I still think this is fun (so far) for a chill Netflix show. I rate this 3/5.