Blade Runner 2039 #6: We're now halfway through the series so we're still in the phase where we're accruing mysteries not solving them.
Cleo hangs on long enough for Lexi to find someone who can help, and it turns out he's a Replicant. He examines Cleo and informs Ash the bullet went right through her and missed any organs. Ash decides Lexi is going to stay with Cleo while she (Ash) heads to San Francisco. The Replicant quips that he thoughts they were insane enough traveling through the Central Valley but they must be suicidal if they're going to San Francisco. Ash thinks they're all settled when the Replicant pulls a gun on her, saying that she once dismissed him as spare parts. I don't recognize him, but I figure this incident happened before or during the first series if Ash was speaking about Replicants that way. He notes that he's one of the models that lived beyond their expiration date, so we'll see where this confrontation goes.
Meanwhile, Rash immediately proves herself a better detective than Luv, who seems dimmer by the day. After realizing the blind guy at the pier isn't going to tell them the truth about the spinner crash from a few days earlier, the pair visit Mr. Hollis, one of Selwyn's scientists, to learn more about Isobel. He's visibly rattled, so Rash knows they're barking up the right tree. Hythe appears then, as she figured they'd go after Selwyn's people, and commits to killing Wallace since it's the only way she'll be free. Again, Luv is incompetent, and Rash manages to "retire" Hythe, a sad moment given how far she'd come. Rash tells Hollis they'll give him a moment to pull himself together before asking about Isobel. Dun-dun-DUN.
I'm going to guess we're all going to converge in San Francisco next issue.
No/One #5: This issue gets meta quickly, as much of the drama revolves around the podcast Julia and Teddy run.
Of course, it isn't all the drama, as Aaron recants his confession. As Teddy exposits in an editorial meeting, the confession is really all the district attorney had on Aaron: Richard Roe is out there committing murders with the actual murder weapon, and No/One is the one who "caught" Aaron in the Carrie Blast Furnaces. Without the confession, the PPD doesn't have anything linking Aaron to the crimes directly. Ben learns about Aaron's change of heart when Vince visits him, and he's furious, particularly when Vince asks if he told Aaron just how circumstantial the case against him was. Ben charges into the prison, but Aaron refuses to see him.
But the podcast drama takes center stage with a "The Wire"-esque feel. In the editorial meeting, JC suggests they name Aaron a potential candidate as No/One, which Julia notes makes zero sense. JC suggests they "get creative;" Julia notes it isn't season 17 of "Law and Order." Frustrated, JC orders Julia and Teddy to discuss No/One's identity in the next podcast. Eager to please, Alejandro suggests Michael as a candidate, since apparently Ben identified his body from photos and not the body itself. (Alejandro admits he got the theory from Reddit.) Julia is pissed about JC's mandate, but Teddy tells her to get off her high horse and either quit or accept her job is to do what people like JC tell her to do. Julia realizes he's right, so I may actually look forward to the next podcast.
At the prison, Aaron's high powered lawyer, Roger Dennehy, predicts he'll have him free by the end of the month. As Dennehy drives home, No/One pops one of his tires and informs him that he's got to keep Aaron in jail because he's guilty. No/One threatens to expose Denney's "criminal enterprise:" compromising witnesses, buying jurists, etc. Later, No/One breaks into Dennehy's offices and takes out his goons in short order. It's a Batman-esque tour de force, making it clear that No/One isn't just relying on the suit to protect him; dude has skills.
The issue ends with the DA dropping the charges against Aaron and him leaving prison. Julia's mother pins it on Aaron's relationship to his dad, who is loading up a gun in the issue's last panel.
Before getting to the podcast, I'll note that it's interesting No/One is so convinced of Aaron's guilt. It definitely implies a connection between Aaron and No/One before Aaron (allegedly) became Richard Roe and whoever No/One is became No/One.
Turning to the podcast, Julia and Teddy do what JC demanded and go through the potential candidates as No/One: Donovan Kemp, Vince Harmon, and Alejandro Rios!
The most interesting revelation is that Donovan Kemp is a former "local two-sport legend in basketball and football." If his progressive activism gave him the motive, his athleticism gave him the ability. To that point, I wasn't surprised that Vince is a suspect, particularly when we learn he was an Army Ranger before he became a cop. I hadn't thought about it, but they're right that Alejandro Rios also fits the profile, given he's a gym nut (which we saw in a conversation between him and Julia in a gym) and a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu. Alejandro is also apparently under some form of police investigation.
Despite the fact JC and Teddy demanded Julia engage in this discussion, Julia realizes they're uncomfortable with it and uses it as a form of revenge against them. She goes on a tirade about how irresponsible this brand of supposition is in the first place and the podcast ends in chaos.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #37: This issue is a "Dark Droids" tie-in issue, though we only get brief allusions to the larger event. Mostly, it's focused on Kligson, the cybernetics expert to whom Boba Fett sent T'onga to fix Valance's memory.
Boba Fett's father Jango and Kligson worked together as bounty hunters back in the day, and, when Kligson was injured in a heist, Kligson had Jango take him to a space station orbiting a moon. It turns out droids worshiping Ajax inhabited the station and agreed to help Kligson when he revealed his family were the ones who sheltered Ajax and community before the Jedi came for him. (Interesting the Jedi came for Ajax...)
In the present, the droids agree to bring Valance to Kligson, who's now a deranged cyborg eager to wipe clean Valance's memory so, I think, he can inhabit his body. Just Valance's luck.
Also Read: Local Man: Gold #1
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