Overall, I think it was actually a really good episode, but the ending sequence just ruined the entire vibe for me. But it... was meant to ruin the vibe, because it's not meant to be a happy or satisfying end to the episode, considering where we are with the characters.
I think the execution and slow build to Jod's betrayal, with the foreshadowing throughout the season and prominently in this episode, was done well. But I think the root of my mixed feelings is that they appear to be taking the character of Jod in a direction I did not want them going in.
And if they are indeed going to do the redemption story with him, I don't think they've done a well enough job selling the fact that he was actually genuinely enamored with the kids in the first half of the show. Because the redemption in these kinds of stories is typically driven by the character relationships, not the older lead's own sense of morals and ethics.
I applaud them for the way they did that final scene, though, because it absolutely gutted me watching, and the next morning, I'm still gutted. Maybe it's because we're seeing it done with real kids who actually act like kids, rather than the way this story archetype has been done before in animation and novelizations.
With where I'm at currently, it's going to be a really hard sell for me to see Jod go good after all this. I feel like they need to actually start out episode 6 showing that he feels some sense of remorse for it to really start to settle in.
I definitely think he was a Jedi at some point. Or perhaps he was stolen from his master? Maybe he was. But I'm getting the feeling whatever happened to him was abandonment-related. Maybe he was stolen from his master but left to believe he was abandoned instead.
Now that I'm reflecting more, I think my frustration is rooted in me just being so emotionally shot by the way the episode ended, and I'm not capable, therefore, of looking at it completely objectively. Even with where I'm at, I still think this is one of their better seasons of television they've made throughout all the live-action shows.
