ガンスミス キャッツ Ep. 03 (OVA)
Gunsmith Cats 03

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Rally, May, and Becky are being questions (and chastised) by the Chicago police for their actions in the shootout with the Russian assassin and the ultimate crash of her vehicle. However, (Detective?) Roy and Officer Kate know the girls well, hey provide some intel given to them by the ATF. Rally and May are stunned to see the Russian chick in the file. Her name is Natasha Radinov, a former Soviet Special Forces operative and she’s apparently still alive. Indeed, when the trio leave the police station, they find Rally’s car has been stabbed, a calling card of Natasha.

As Natasha rages in a home, cutting her hair with a knife, Rally and May discuss the invitation to an event by Senator Haints to give them an award for thwarting a gun smuggler. Rally isn’t to thrilled about it but May is. They are visited by Agent Bill, who’s desperate for their help. Rally won’t let him in and indeed, officers assigned to watch Rally and May’s home send Bill packing. Bill returns to his office that evening and is met by fellow agent Cathy, who provides him with evidence that their boss George Black is the mole and has re-opened the safe house where Washington was killed.

George arrives at the safe house and pleads to have Natasha take him with her, offering her money. When he learns she’s on the phone taking orders from a 3rd party, he knows his life is over, despite his pleads. Sure enough, Natasha kills him. Later, Bill arrives with Agent Jody (male) at the safe house where they discover George’s body, which has been booby trapped. Jody uses the phone to call the last place called and discovers it is to Senator Haints’ office. Bill remembers that Rally and May are going to a VIP event and knows their life is in danger. He races out the door as Jody hangs up the phone, setting off a massive bomb that knocks Bill out.

It is time for the event, but it is a rainy day and the senator is delayed in arriving. Thus, Rally and May wait in a large tent with Officer Roy and Becky. When Senator Haints finally arrives to give May and Rally their award, Natasha moves through the crowd to kill them. Before she can shoot, the wounded Agent Bill arrives and yells out a warning. Natasha shoots at the stage with her sub-machine gun, including at Senator Haints before leaving the scene. As Roy and Becky aid Bill, May tests some communications equipment with Rally before they set off in pursuit to a nearby museum.

Rally and May then split up with Rally finally catching Natasha on the roof of the building. However, Natasha sets off a bomb which takes out a water tower and sends May down a few levels on some scaffolding outside. Rally gets stabbed with Natasha’s knife and is wounded. However, Rally has a surprise ready for Natasha and sends a flash grenade up, allowing her and Rally to escape. Now Natasha begins to hunt them and finds that May has set up a number of booby traps. Natasha clears on hallway by sending a fire extinguisher down to set off the bombs. Natasha tracks the two to a woman’s bathroom, but before she can shoot, a bomb May has set up goes off, knocking Natasha back.

Meanwhile, Senator Haints is treated for his minor injuries. He’s angry that Natasha took a shot at him and wants to break off relations with her. As he discusses this with an aide, the two enter a conference room where they see Natasha from the back. Haints wants his heroin back, then tries to play down his remarks. Seeing a gun on the table, he decides to shoot Natasha. Unfortunately, the gun had been emptied and “Natasha” was in fact Officer Kate in disguise, holding a microphone. Becky steps out with a video camera and the whole thing has been shown on the large screen outside, leading the press to rush in to try to get more of the story. Roy arrives with a contingent of police and places the senator under arrest.

Outside, Rally and May are escorted out of the building by EMT persons while Natasha is placed into an ambulance. As Rally and May talk, Natasha goes nuts and busts out of the back of the ambulance, intent on killing Rally. However, shots from a wounded Bill (aided by Cathy) along with shots from a wounded Rally insure that Natasha is finally dead. Rally manages to stand up under her own power, knowing that this is what one has to do in order to survive in Chicago.

Thoughts/Review:

While I enjoyed this episode, sadly, it is the weakest of the three. Basically, this is because it follows the standard action-comedy cop movie format of the 90’s combined with a need to suddenly wrap everything up. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t entertained, but it does mean that things were pretty predictable once the Russian assassin was revealed to be alive. Having the ATF chief and the senator be villains is all part of that mold. That was a bit of a disappointment, but as I said, I was entertained.

May continues to be a highlight of the series with her love of explosives. I liked how this episode started with the girls having to deal with the consequences of their actions in the previous episode.

It is a shame there were no more episodes created. Granted, a TV series wouldn’t have looked as good as this OVA did, but a few more OVA episodes (providing they were done with the same quality) would have been nice.