‘Shōgun’ just released “the best TV episode of the year”, according to critics

17 April, 2024

Shogun

Warning: spoilers ahead

The latest episode of Shōgun is receiving high praise from critics, with one calling it “the best TV episode of the year”.

The Japanese series has so far been hailed as “the new ‘Game of Thrones'” thanks to its “cunning” plot twists, but has also been praised for its “elegant” production. It’s expected to run for ten episodes, with its latest episode ‘Crimson Sky’ having just aired.

In this episode, viewers watched Lady Mariko, Lord Yabushige and John Blackthorne attempt to escape as hostages in a truly nail-biting episode filled with twists and turns, including Mariko’s shock death.

Esquire was impressed with the “brilliance” of the episode, calling it “the best TV episode of the year so far.”

“Of all the insane deaths I’ve seen on Shōgun so far—Nagakado slipping and shattering his head on a rock, Yabushige boiling a prisoner alive, and even Hiromatsu stabbing himself in the gut—I never thought Mariko would die, let alone by dynamite! Somebody call me an ambulance—I’ll need some major recovery before I see you all next week.”

Shogun
‘Shogun’. CREDIT: Katie Yu / FX

Meanwhile, Vulture agreed episode 9 was the “best of the series so far”, adding: “Rather than be taken alive, [Mariko] stands against the door and makes a last protest against Ishido. And, with that literally explosive moment, the episode ends. Remember, Shōgun warned us from the start it would break our hearts.”

The New York Times also had lofty praise for the episode, saying it was “a deception by which even the ingenious Lord Toranaga would be impressed”. “So no, there’s no battle for the future of Japan to be found here, or at least not the kind we’ve been conditioned to expect,” they wrote.

“There’s just one woman, her mind and soul stretched to their limit by the overlapping dictates of her faith, her family, her society, and her own heart, pulling herself together for one final defiant act. In death, she finds the purpose she felt she lacked in life. It is both a triumph and a tragedy.”

The AV Club branded the episode with an A grade, writing: “This is the kind of death Mariko has wanted all along, not a shoddy seppuku job and not some weird joint suicide with her husband she doesn’t even like. She declares, “I, Akechi Mariko, protest this shameful attack by Lord Ishido… and by my death—” she is cut off by the explosion, her body absorbs it, and the others are thus spared.

“Martín’s melodic chanting plays over the credits. Our dear Mariko, heart of the series, is gone. But on her own terms. What will our Anjin do now?”

Check out some more reactions to episode nine of Shōgun below:

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