Episode 7 "Gray Boundary"
In terms of story, no new information regarding the mystery of Dr. Magata's death is revealed or understood.
Instead, this week is all about a deep exploration of the human enigma - who we really are and who we pretend to be in front of others.
Admittedly it was pretty shocking to suddenly hear English after six episodes of Japanese, but the disruption almost adds to the theme of pretending to be one thing while truly being another. When you're forced to step outside of your comfort zone, the language you use tends to be more revealing.
Or so, that's perhaps what the audience can take away about Saikawa, who has remained largely a mystery himself since the beginning of the series. Whereas Nishinosono is expressive and honest, Saikawa is quiet and, as he admits in this scene, emotional underneath his mask.
One of the greatest things about "The Perfect Insider" since the beginning has been its character studies of youth (Nishinosono) and old (Saikawa). It would seem that within Saikawa's wisdom there is also fear and regret, as he never seems too happy about how he projects himself to others.
Projection thus becomes an important thing to think about regarding the mystery itself.
Can we really believe anything we see or presume to know?
All of the characters are grappling with the idea of "truth" which makes for an extremely uneventful yet emotional watch this week. In particular, Nishinosono is forced to relive her parent's death and the events surrounding it one more time through a kind of virtual reality thought machine.
But within that machine she also appears to interact once more with Dr. Magata who is now calling herself Michiru. The conflict in this interaction is unsettling, but it does drive home the point that there is somewhat a parasitic relationship developing between Nishinosono's knowledge about herself and knowledge about Dr. Magata.
What can she (or anyone for that matter) know about anyone else when the things from her past are always threatening to change how she sees the world?
Overall, this week's episode of "The Perfect Insider" is one of those episodes that while it lacks in action, it is a heavy exploration of one of the show's most important themes: identity. While a lot continues to be revealed about Nishinosono and Saikawa (and brilliantly so), I'm starting to suspect the key to unlocking the mystery is understanding Dr. Magata.
Which may be impossible since she considers herself merely a host for others.
