Okay, on a second playthrough of Rain Code and I really got a better look at Martina's mindset in general.
I honestly forgot how genuinely power hungry and downright diabolical she is. It's honestly mesmerizing how into her power trip she is during Chapter Two's case. She's so confident, she even licks an open jar of poison just to make a point that it's expired.
Now the reason why I don't recall her power trip and destructive, cruel nature was because it was all wiped away as soon as Yomi ordered her executed for making him look bad. In a second, Martina's terrified and pathetic and in the same way as Seth Burroughs, her fate left unknown to the viewer until Chapter Four.
It makes me think about how police forces are pretty much conditioned and told to go buck wild, to show no mercy, to enact cruelty and subjugation on civilians until they get their way. They get off on it. It's a power trip. Anyone who tries to show restraint on the force is routinely harassed until they quit or find themselves in trouble.
And this is what I really like about Martina as a character. There just isn't any excuse for her. She wanted power and control. She enjoyed it. Being an Amaterasu Peacekeeper gave her a way to enact power over others. Kissing up to Yomi, who I'm pretty sure her "love" and "adoration" for was quite shallow, gave her power and control. And it's addicting. It feels good.
Until she realizes that it's an illusion and someone like Yomi is just using her till he's done with her. She thought she endeared herself to him so much that she wasn't disposable like everyone else in Kanai Ward. But it isn't true and Yomi can just quite literally smash her up into a cube without a problem.
The next time we see Martina, she has undergone a lot of change. A near-death painful execution scare definitely pry your eyes open with a wrench and make you take a look at just how cruel you have been as well as the system you propped up.
She's self-reflective enough to the point that she tells Makoto she will resign from the Peacekeepers even though he says she doesn't have to (which is great in itself because it's powerful that Makoto stepping aside to let her make that choice *herself*). Martina orders the arrest on Yomi, but it's more than just sweet payback. She puts forward the example that criminals are human beings and meant to be treated with equality, fairness and respect. And it makes Yomi scream and lose his goddamn mind.
But more than that, Martina knows she isn't done with atoning, quits the Peacekeepers, and is aiding in rebuilding Kanai Ward. She gains autonomy and lets power go to become a better person.
And I loved every second of this arc. My only wish is that there were more moments of it... like maybe we could have seen her when Makoto stopped her execution because that would have been at her lowest. But as it stands, I knew there was always a reason why I adored and LOVED Martina Electro as a character. I've always been attracted to stories of attack dog type characters growing past what they were and becoming something new.
Martina is wonderful because she was an honest-to-god shitty cop who got an earth-shattering awakening that reshaped her entire morality until she became someone who renounced her need for power and actually aided the society around her. Love to see it.
Not strictly important: I would also let her fucking kill me.
amandla
kianamaiart
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
