Lupin the Third PART4 20 Review
Lupin the Third (2015) episode 20
Lupin III / ルパン三世

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Lupin steals the classic car that is owned by former, famous singer Nora Anita, who’s now elderly and in a vegetative state in hospital bed in her mansion with her long time manager and husband. Zenigata is in pursuit of Lupin, who’s not driving that fast, but discovers that the police have orders to not do anything that would harm this classic car, which is up for sale by a broker who calls it a national treasure. Zenigata can’t figure out why Lupin isn’t making his escape and is just driving through town. Meanwhile, Nora’s elderly manager thinks back to when he and Nora went for a drive in the car to a secluded spot by a lake to spend time together. He wonders if Nora is angry for him putting the car for sale when Fujiko pops in to pay him a visit.

As Lupin continues driving, Fujiko explains that they are trying to raise the price of the car at the broker’s request. The phone in the room rings and it is Zenigata for Fujiko, who tells her the game is up now that he’s arrested the broker. Lupin is driving to the broker’s semi-trailer truck, but the car acts up again and he ends up going another direction. Fujiko flees the police raid, leaving her walkie-talkie behind. Nora’s husband hears the car’s engine over the speaker as Lupin sees a piece of paper in the car and decides to drive to the secluded spot. Thus he’s able to have one last drive with Nora before she reaches out to him and dies. Lupin leaves the car at the lake and is met by Fujiko, who then leaves him because he doesn’t have the car.

Thoughts/Review:

This was certainly a sentimental episode, and yeah, I did have a tear in my eye at the end.

This is kind of an odd caper for Lupin to be involved in. However, as is usually the case, it is the fact that Fujiko wants him to do this, so he does it.

Lupin is a romantic, and I got the feeling he knew of Nora’s story with her manager-husband. As such, it was touching for him to drive the car to the secluded spot where Nora and her husband would go at times.

As to Nora’s husband, I couldn’t help but feel badly for him. His wife is elderly and in a vegetative state. It is clear that he loves her, yet everything in the house reminds him of the good times he had with his wife, which are painful memories now that his wife is nearly dead.

It was moving that Nora’s husband decided to take advantage of the open mic on Lupin’s walkie-talkie to take that last drive and imagine it with his elderly wife, only with her still active and vibrant. It was predictable that Nora would have a final response to silently express herself to her husband by touching him briefly before dying. Even though I saw it coming a mile away, I couldn’t help but tear up. She too had been on that last ride with him.

Finally, I liked that Zenigata went after Fujiko after busting the broker and having failed to nab Lupin. Normally, Zenigata ignores Lupin’s companions, so it was nice to see Fujiko get targeted.

In the end, this episode was another one to tug on the heartstrings.