Spoilers for case 4 of Great Pretender, so if you haven’t finished it I recommend not reading!
While I loved the show, this was everything I found wrong with Case 4
The previous cases show what kind of life Edamura lived up until he was recruited by Laurent. He grew up thinking his dad was a human trafficker, someone he respected and loved as a kid, and was someone who would not visit his dying wife. Edamura was abandoned in this indirect regard and was forced to take care of his mother. However, his mother ends up dying and now he has neither a mother or a father but it’s alright because his father was never really guilty in the first place right? Wrong. I absolutely can not get over the fact that his father chose to be a con-man over a father. This is where his father directly abandons him. I’m not even as upset that he chose to help Laurent get revenge for Dorothy, but that he chose a life where he KNEW there was a large chance there was going to be terrible repercussions for both him and his family. Edamura was just a kid and lawyers make plenty of money, there was no need for him to take on those cons. Also because of his father Edamura is forced to grow up with the label “son of a human trafficker”. Not only did that mentally effect Edamura, but it effected how other people saw him. It forced him to feel like the only way to live was by taking from others. I absolutely despised how Edamura’s father knowingly manipulated him. Imagine you are living your life and you are knowingly being manipulated. You can recognize people are pushing you a certain way, but it’s fine becasue really it’s not that big of a deal, such as Laurent manipulating Edamura to continue doing cons, but then you come to find out that a large portion of your life was planned out. That those little manipulations were nothing compared to what was happening behind the scenes. You had unknowingly been lead to someone else’s advantage and you never really had a life of your own. You have no idea what could have been because it was taken from you. Now imagine it’s your father, or someone else you looked up too, manipulating you. I don’t know about y’all but the idea that someone who was supposed to love me guided me through their own plans without my knowledge or consent is extremely upsetting and quite frankly a smidge unforgivable. I absolutely hate Edamura’s dad and can’t stand the way he was forgiven.
Idk why but Laurent really pissed me off in this case. At the beginning it was fine. The chemistry between him and Dorothy was meh, and I liked seeing his story, but when I realized he had been manipulating Edamura the entire time I was actually livid. The show lead me to believe that he was a good guy, but after this case I am rethinking my initial judgment. Laurent doesn’t kill, deal drungs, traffic humans, or anything that was addressed earlier in the show, but he has manipulated someone to a caliber I don’t think I get behind anymore. At first it was okay, that was just how their relationship was, Laurent dragging Edamura into the life of a con artist and Edamura grumpily being dragged along, but now? Laurent had taken away Edamuras choices and lead him on a path to bring closure to himself. I’m all for some good old fashioned revenge, but directing the life choices of someone who you barely know was a huge no-no for me. Edamura was mentally toyed with by a man who never really saw Edamura as just Edamura, but as a means to an end. His choice to put Edamura in a human trafficking business was also in horrendous fashion. Not only does Edamura have an indirect history with human trafficking, but like the show constantly says, he is emotionally sensitive. He put stress on Edamura to convince the chairwoman of his loyalty, and in response the only thing Edamura could do was sell kids despite not wanting too. Edamura really changed during this case (and I’m not talking about his looks) for the worse because of Laurent, and I honestly I don’t think Laurent is a good person anymore, which is sad because I used to love his character.
Okay so there might have been a logical reason for the previous cases antagonists to be involved in case 4, but honestly I hated it. To me there was legitimately no reason for them to come back. Their partnership didn’t make sense and it made it seem like the show was trying to throw in a bunch of random plot twists. However, I did kind of take their return as symbolism. As I said before, I don’t really like Luerant anymore because I feel like his manipulation was too much in this case. I feel like the return to these antagonists and their supossed turn to a better life drew a bridge between them and Laurant. They got better while he got worse and they kind of met each other in the middle if that makes sense. In all honesty I would have liked their return if Edamura really had gone dark, but that will be in my next point.
When Edamura “betrayed” the team I was honestly excited. The show had established a good lead up to Edamura betraying them and honestly I felt like it’s what I would have done. I’m not gonna lie, Great Pretender had the perfect opportunity to establish Stockholm syndrome. A vile woman who comforts a man who lost his friends and even felt betrayed enough to “kill” his father. A man who felt abandoned by the world in both abandonment and death and only relied on himself until he was dragged into the world of being a con artist. I forget her name, but they both clearly felt strong familial bonds towards each other and I honestly don’t know that I would have had the strength to leave that safety despite the severity of her crimes. I genuinely believe the plot should have gone more in this direction rather than the “Let’s forgive everyone becasue they have issues”. Having trauma and issues is never an okay reason to abandon or manipulate someone. It’s a reason but should not be an excuse. Also dark Edamura was kind of a vibe and I’m going to miss it
Please keep in mind that these are freely up for discussion and do not fully reflect my feelings on the show. There were many things I enjoyed about it but I needed to get this off my chest. I’ve dealt with manipulative people in my life and it really bothers me when I see it in shows and no one acknowledges it or wants to address it. If you having anything you want to point out that needs fixed as it is canonicallyinaccurate, add, or want to discuss I’ll be more than happy to accommodate!
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