Few months ago, I helped out a guy who was trying to push his pick-up truck after it died in the middle of the bridge. I was tired after a 12-hour shift, and I was going to be another motorist who was going to go around the guy and keep on moving. For some reason, I decided to pull up behind his truck, put my flasher on, and was going to help him push his truck to the nearest shoulder. When I approached him, he was panicking badly as the traffic behind him slowly started to pile up. Turns out he was running low on gas and thought he could make it to the gas station before he ran out. So I gave him a gallon worth of gas from my fuel-can I usually carry just in case. All in all, it took about 4-5 minutes worth of time, but I still felt pretty good about it as I was the only one who didn't go around his truck that day.
After watching this episode, I just had to ask myself if I saw something as gruesome as someone getting killed in the middle of the road with a hammer, would I have stopped to intervene in anyway? The answer is: no, I probably wouldn't have stopped. I would be fearful for my own safety. I would have called the police, but it still probably wouldn't be enough considering the person who is dying would benefit the most with an immediate intervention. The conundrum here is am I a bad person if my failure to take immediate action cost someone his/her life because I fear for my own safety? Regardless of whatever I decide to do, whether I'm driving away or stopping to help, I am making a choice. I would have made that choice after fully understanding the situation that was unfolding before my eyes.
Obviously the most disturbing thing about that murder was how everyone (except one guy) appeared not to understand what was taking place. It's like trying to distinguish accent and dialect shortly after being introduced to a new language. They didn't need to make any choice.
But then... I just had to wonder how could that be? The Sybil System isn't without problem. The very existence of the Enforcers is the proof. So then, why those witnesses didn't feel horror, fear, nauseous, and etc? When the male pharmacist was stabbed, the female didn't start panicking immediately. She was startled by the loud noise when the killer slammed the male on the table and then she started panicking once it set in something amiss here. All our emotions are primal and innate. Our survival instinct are honed based on those set of emotions. So what surprised me that how any of those people didn't appear to feel any kind of emotion. They can't be desensitized, or unable to feel those extreme emotions. There has been enough episodes to hammer the point in (no pun intended) that even under the system, people are still able to retain those primal and innate emotions we are born with even though the system is designed to actively suppress extreme set of emotions. Then why those people didn't react in any way? Was this just mere plot device to make a point against the Sybil System? If that's the case then it instantaneously makes this episode the weakest one of all thus far which went against the established order and understanding of the very nature of this world.
While we are all fascinated with Makishima and how his mental make up allows him to circumvent the very nature of the system, we probably aren't giving Akane her due credit. She is managing her Crime Coefficient and Psycho Pass in a rather interesting way too. Like most people, as the show pointed out several time thus far, Akane shouldn't have been able to manage her PP, and CC. In fact, they all feared her CC would be compromised when she agreed for that vivid reenactment/re-living of her memories. And yet, there she is, able to suppress all those extreme emotions as a result of her traumatic experience which lead Sybil System to render unfavorable verdict against anyone. Were all those people who witnessed that murder shared similar trait to Akane who knew how to control their emotions? I don't believe so. While I don't think Akane isn't unique in her mindset, her type of mental make-up still should be rare. Akane is the fruit of the intended design of this system, but I don't think the system has run its course long enough to turn more and more people like Akane. As far as we understand, Sybil System has been in place no longer than 2-4 decades. That's not enough time to turn up product like Akane in a frequent basis. So once again plot device comes to mind to explain this curious reaction of the crowd. But then the reaction of the victim herself when he took out the hammer suggested she was starting to grasp that she was in danger. So why those people didn't react to what was transpiring in front of them.
My own conclusion is that I should wait for more episodes before I can make up my mind. I also hope sincerely this wasn't just a cheap way to make a point against the system in a simple shock-and-awe fashion. There were few very hard to miss Tarantino movie like exaggeration in at least couple of the violence. I also find it hard to believe that if someone is dying in these streets for any non-violent reason those bots would just come to gauge that person's distress level. Surely there would be some kind of medical override to intervene to keep someone from dying? I also can't accept the ascribed explanation that these people didn't feel anything or react negatively because they are too used to peace. It was pointed out in the episode how the stress level in the surrounding vicinity immediately went up when the video of the killing surfaced, so I would rather like to think that even if murder was an alien concept for those people, they just wouldn't go home and wouldn't think about it later even for a second. Finally, I have to say that as I watched this episode, I immediately thought about the mass killing incident in Norway and couldn't help but wonder how that event will shape the people of that country in the coming years. Norway is probably one of the safest place to live in the planet as far as crime goes.
Btw, Makishima was reading something interesting, wasn't he?
Very much looking forward to how this series is going to shape up from here on.