Review: Golgo 13 Episode 02

This episode shows us that even the mighty Duke Togo isn’t immune from the whim of fate. His mission is as always a success despite the impossible odds of his shot; however, a stray cat distracts him after he fires causing his spent round to fall to the ground below. Fate chuckles even more when a beat cop just happened to be standing under his window when the shell hit the ground. The remainder of the play features a lot of posturing by an NYPD detective desperately trying to find the gun in Duke’s rented room, while Duke sits and read the paper. I’m not joking; he just sits there for roughly twenty minutes waiting for enough evidence, or lack thereof, to allow him to walk free.

What baffled me about this episode was the apparent lack of secrecy of Duke’s identity. He is the most skilled assassin in the world willing to work for any government or individual if the price is right. Wouldn’t the CIA, KGB, etc. want to keep his records under wraps, their own secret tool to use at the right time? No, this is apparently not the case; even the NYPD homicide detectives can easily call up records of Duke outlining how skilled and terrifying he is.

Sure, rumor and conjecture about a master assassin might circulate, but to actually be able to go, “Hey, you’re Duke Togo the skilled assassin; I’m going to try to pin this murder on you” is head slapping preposterous. Conversely, I was secretly hoping this was a ploy to give Duke his own Zenigata, an officer of the law consumed with bringing him to justice. Doesn’t seem like this will be the case though; the detective is just another man unable to outwit and outplay Duke in life’s little games.

Golgo 13 continues to be an episodic guilty pleasure. Duke may have done little, but watching the detective frustratingly find Duke has thought of every angle to cover his tracks was entertaining enough. The stories are interesting puzzles that keep you guessing how Duke will manage to come out clean in the end.