http://content.imagesocket.com/thumb...goon_093da.jpg
Don't forget to use the spoiler title

Anyway, the death note requires that the user knows the victim's name and face.

Chief Yagami is the only one who saw Mello's face; Light only knows his name, so he can't use the Death Note on Mello.

A sketch isn't enough to count as knowing the face.

fricking awesome ep...though it was predictable that one of these days light's dad is going to kick the bucket...the way that this ep was done was truly breath taking and dam right touching...i was soo close to breaking into a tear but at the back of my mind knowing that light doesnt really give a dam just pissed me off soo much T_T

mello is pretty screwed now...light knows his real name and together with a picture he can have misa do all the dirty work...i wonder how near would react to this ~ was he able to predict the future? :3

Since his dad died from ordinary gunfire, does that mean that his lifespan before making the deal was only about a day longer?

What a weird episode...but really good...
Mello looked a teeny bit better this time,and not as scary..
also ...misa and light must of been doing something..*shifty eyes* his like shirt was unbuttoned..and you know the stuff misa was wearing...
well i guess its normal for them..^^ im not against misa X light...
I did somehow want raitos dad to write mello's real name before he died though(even though i love mello..but not as much as light <3),but i can't understand how Light couldnt of done it.Or am i completly lost.How many notebooks has everyone got?
mello's gang had one..i knew that..then somehow the jp police somehow got ryuuk's note book...and then i thought misa passed hers onto light...and then howcome light's dad could see his lifespan..urgh its really confusing..and then theres the bit where the new shinigami gets his death note back..
umm someone help me understand?Who's got what!?and whY!?

Poor papa Yagami :(

Light can't kill Mello because he doesn't know his face.

Misa loaned her notebook to Light so he wouldn't lose his memory, and could use it himself later. Light sent the police Rem's notebook so they could talk to Ryuuk and make the deal. And they recovered the original notebook from Mello's buddies, which they then returned to the shinigami(Light wanted to get rid of it anyway). Now Light is borrowing Misa's notebook and the police are holding Rem's notebook.

Light's dad could see his lifespan because technically he wasn't in possession of a note.

They made massive cuts compared to the manga, but I think it was for the better. Without revealing too much about the manga version of events, I think the way they handled it in the anime made Light look smarter than in the manga. This version reinforces the point that once Light makes a plan to take you down, you do go down, whereas the manga, Light kind of gets..unlucky. And they wind up involving certain elements which just kind of make the whole thing a little ridiculous. However, it was unfortunate that they left out the detail sort of that Light didn't really want his father to be the one to get the eyes.

However, it's also kind of interesting just how much the investigative team actually hinders whoever is L at that point. It's arguable that if the investigative team wasn't constantly being tricked by Light in the first arc and pressuring L into making choices that L didn't want to make (releasing Light and Misa, stopping surveillance on them, etc.), L might have been able to beat Light even though Light had the advantage the whole time because he was the only one who knew about the notebook and how to use it. However, now that Light is the second L, the investigative team is also a hindrance to him for much the same reasons--they're not ruthless enough to do what needs to be done. Arguably, even without the Kira angle, Mello should have been killed on sight if not by Souichiro, then by the team when they entered the room and saw he was holding a bomb trigger--they might all have died because they hesitated. So, Mello gets away, and even though he doesn't have the notebook anymore, he knows more about it than Light would like him to know...

I'm wondering why Souichirou even felt the need to threaten Mello with the notebook in the first place. He had a gun pointed at the guy, he could have killed him in seconds. In what way is it better to write his name down and watch him die 40 seconds later?

Yeah, that never really made that much sense, even in the manga. Though, after watching the episode, I feel that besides making his choice not to kill him more dramatic, presenting it this way also emphasizes that Souichirou does not want to kill Mello. He uses the notebook because it allows him to slowly threaten him by saying "I wrote half your name!" in an attempt to subdue him without having to actually take a life. The investigative team, especially Vice Director Yagami, is very much the antithesis of trigger-happy.

I'm wondering why Souichirou even felt the need to threaten Mello with the notebook in the first place. He had a gun pointed at the guy, he could have killed him in seconds. In what way is it better to write his name down and watch him die 40 seconds later?

Mello threatened to blow up the place if they didn't put down their guns. Light then instructs the team to go along with Mello's plan because this will be the chance to see his face. Read the manga, it's a pretty simple explanation.