Spoilers

“The Eightfold Fence”

I really enjoyed this week’s episode of Shogun.

The fish-out-of-water feel of Blackthorne continues to be very interesting as he is trying to comprehend aspects of the Japanese culture that he just cannot grasp. The way they both dealt with the differences and the unintended slights was fascinating, and it was clearly leading to a connection between the characters.

Blackthorne has realized that everything he believed about his deal with Toranaga may not have been what he expected. Still, his instruction on the use of his ship’s cannons impressed the Japanese.

 Lord Ishido sent his warrior, Jozen, to check in on Toranaga, to see if he were preparing for war. Jozen’s presence has been a challenge for the people in place, but Nagakado, Toranaga’s son, wound up attacking him with the cannon.

The brutal imagery of the victims of the cannon attack was amazing. The horror was impressive for a TV show.

There were also some tense stand offs between Blackthorne and Omi, whose initial confrontation at the beginning of the series still plays into this feud.

It is going to lead to a terrible situation, a declaration of war. What will happen next? What will Toranaga think when he discovers what his son has done? All pretty great questions and I am looking forward to finding out what is next.