Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 27

I suppose Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's run of absolutely stellar episodes had to come to an end sometime, and so it goes that episode twenty-seven breaks that succession of rip-roaringly fantastic instalments - In all fairness though, this only happens on account of the insertion of a recap episode into this slot in the series.

As recap episodes go, I can't imagine it being much use to anyone who is completely new to both the series and the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise, jumping around as it does in a most confusing fashion for those not already au fait with the series and making it more of a "best bits" compilation than a genuine recap in my book - With all of those great moments (and there are so many to choose from) still relatively fresh in my head, it all felt a little superfluous from a personal point of view.


There is however at least some interesting material for those of us who've been following the series from the very start, with the entire episode framed against what appears to be a discussion between Hoenheim and a much younger Pinako; a discussion which turns out to be a vaguely nightmarish dream on Hoenheim's account. As well as establishing arguably the most important "moral" of the series (that of being able to triumph over any adversity with self-belief, dedication and persistance), it does also bring us some insight into the various facets of the character of the Elric brother's father in a way that we haven't really encountered before.

Still, at least with this out of the way we can now look forward to a return to the good stuff again next week as the story promises to continue its thick and fast progression, while maybe this week away from the action will see both Bones and the show's viewers returning even more hungry and raring to go. I'm certainly eager to back into the thick of things.