Deep Insanity: The Lost Child Episode 3

Deep Insanity: The Lost Child Episode 3

Exiles of the Asylum

After watching Deep Insanity: The Lost Child Episode 3, I sat here and procrastinated for an hour because I really didn’t feel like writing about it. But, now that I’m mentally prepared, it’s time to power through this review so I can do other things.

The big piece of information we got from Episode 3 is that there are people who live within the Asylum known as Exiles. The origins of these exiles are unclear, but there are a few theories surrounding them.

The most likely theory is that the Exiles are natives of the Asylum and have been there from the very beginning. This is evidenced by the fact that Exiles were present in the Asylum even during the first expeditions into its depths.

El-Cee from the anime series Deep Insanity: The Lost Child
El-Cee

However, another theory, which could be partially correct, is that the Exiles are refugees who fled their homeland and took up residence within the Asylum. Just because the Exiles may have been refugees at one point doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t be considered natives now.

For example, if their ancestors fled to the Asylum thousands, or perhaps even hundreds, of years before the rest of the world learned of the Asylum’s existence, I’d call them natives. But that’s not the only way Exiles could be both refugees and natives.

It’s also possible that there are multiple types of Exiles, as it simply refers to those who live within the Asylum. Some may be natives, and others may have arrived there as refugees. In either case, their existence is a problem for the private companies that wish to profit from the Asylum’s resources.

If they’re natives, they own the land. And if they’re refugees, then they need to be protected.

Drug Run

Larry and Shigure meet one of these Exiles when they enter the Asylum on an unofficial “mission” to gather powerful drugs. They’re hired to do this by a drug dealer they meet in the Cliff Town underground.

While collecting drugs for a dealer probably isn’t something Sleepers should be doing, Larry has an ulterior motive for accepting the job. He’s searching for the source of Randolph Syndrome in hopes that it will help him learn more about his own brain injury.

Such exploration isn’t something Larry can do while on official missions as a Sleeper. However, I’m not really sure why he needs to accept an illicit request in order to enter the Asylum without permission. I guess he figures that if he’s going to break the rules anyway, he might as well get paid to do it.

El-Cee pointing to a plant in the Asylum from the anime series Deep Insanity: The Lost Child
El-Cee pointing to a plant in the Asylum

The main problem I have with this drug run that Larry and Shigure go on is that it doesn’t seem to have mattered in the end. Okay, Shigure met El-Cee and Larry “learned a lesson,” but the actual drug run didn’t mean anything.

We never see them interact with the dealer after they return from the mission and the samples Larry collected are never mentioned again. Did they hand them over? Does Larry still have them? Are they going to help him learn the truth behind Randolph Syndrome? We have no information.

And, although I’m going to discuss the “lesson” Larry “learned” in the next section of this review, I don’t think that matters at the end of the day. Will that really affect the series going forward? Probably not.

So, what we’re left with is just an episode that (barely) introduced the character of El-Cee, who I’m guessing is the titular lost child. I mean, she’s the first actual child character we’ve met so far and she lives alone in the Asylum.

Larry’s Brain

I don’t hate Larry’s character. The fact that he can’t feel pain or fear due to a brain injury is a pretty interesting concept that you don’t see explored in media very often. However, whether or not he becomes a truly good character will depend on how his disability is used going forward.

In this episode, he learned that even if he can’t feel pain and even if he doesn’t fear death, those around him don’t want to see him injured or killed. I think that’s a pretty good lesson. He was willing to sacrifice himself, but now he knows that’s not acceptable to his teammates.

Where does his character go from here, though? That’s why I questioned how this is going to affect the series in the future. Larry probably won’t offer to sacrifice himself again. But does that matter? I wouldn’t really expect him to do that again anyway because it would just be repetitive from a storytelling standpoint.

Larry and Shigure from the anime series Deep Insanity: The Lost Child
Larry and Shigure

With all of that said, I’m not entirely sure what I’d like to see from Larry. I don’t want his brain to be fixed, because that would remove what makes him unique. But, I do want to see him learn to use his disability in a positive, non-destructive way.

How does he do that? I don’t know. Being a sacrifice, or at least being used as bait, seems like a great way for him to use his disability to the advantage of his team. But there must be other ways he can benefit them without putting himself in harm’s way.

Maybe there is no positive way to use his disability. Maybe coming to terms with that is how his character grows from here. I’m interested to see how it all plays out for him.

Conclusion

What do you think of Deep Insanity: The Lost Child Episode 3? Where do you think the Exiles come from? Will Shigure be able to follow through with the assassination of El-Cee? (Probably not.) And how do you feel about Larry? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 4 is available now.

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