Wow, guys – it’s the second to last episode of Durarara!!! We’ve come so far together, you and me and this goofy cast of characters and this goofy, frustrating and sometimes infuriating show. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey, because I’ve had a blast and a half.

We begin where we left off: Mikado is sad. Kida is sad. Sonohara is sad. Boo hoo hoo, I say. (The only real tragedy is Shizzy bleeding in the rain, but if he’s bleeding his heart is pumping and that means he’s at least a little alive, so I’ll take it as a good sign.)

So Kida’s walking about, musing about how his friends are jerks but also feeling like a jerk for thinking that. And Mikado’s having a talk with Selty in which he starts to explain why he disbanded the Dollars (because the Dollars can’t be the Dollars if they’re not labeled the Dollars…so…uh…they’re just people now) and she’s all, “WHATEVER, I’m not here to talk about your stupid club!”

Cut back to Kida talking to Horada (you know, the angry guy with the butterfly tattoo) and Horada tells him, “fyi we voted you off the island and also we’re going to kill your friend Mikado and then you,” and Kida is like, “SAY WHAT?!”

Meanwhile: Shizzy shows up at the Doc’s house to get fixed. Yay! He also reveals that he thinks Kida was the one who ordered the hit, which causes Sonohara to rush out of the house in search of her friend – and she’s a better lady than I, because after the way he treated her last episode I certainly would not be in any hurry to spare him bodily harm.

So Kida knows about the plot to kill Mikado and is determined to do something about it. What does he do? He drops his celly and he runs! He runs like the wind!

Back at Mikado’s house, Selty has brought him up to speed on everything. She gives him a gentle smacking when he tries to get all “poor pooooor me,” and then she says, “everyone has secrets. What you see isn’t necessarily reality.” OK, Durarara!!: we get it already.

Selty also gets a phone call from the Doc about Sonohara’s sudden disappearance, which spurs Selty and Mikado into action. GO GUYS GO!

As Kida is sprinting through the city like a little fawn, he runs into Simon and pauses for a little talk. He tries to make jokes and be his usual funny self, but Simon sees through it and tells him not to go off and get killed. Then he gives a little speech about how it’s ridiculous to act that way in Ikebukuro – civilized society, not the actual dangerous wilds of Russia. Kida goes anyway; Simon makes a sad face.

In the super-duper secret Yellow Scarves club house, Horada is busy rallying the troops to violence when the crowd parts. It’s Moses! No, it’s Kida, come to get beaten to death by a huge mob and thus somehow atone for his past sins. Oh honey. Is this productive?

On their way to find Kida, Selty and Mikado also run into Simon and he reasons that the lack of Yellow Scarves on the street means they’re all at the hideout – Kida included. He implores Selty to save Kida and tries to warn Mikado about what could happen. In short, that it won’t be all puppies and rainbows.

Meanwhile, Horada is talking at Kida about the fact that all his supporters are gone and the new Yellow Scarves are basically the old Blue Squares, all of which is troubling for our boy, though he masks it with his usual humor. Then Horada throws a crowbar at his head (direct hit). Kida channels the pain into defending himself against a disorganized, silly attack by some of the Green Square-Scarves.

All’s going semi-well until Horada pulls a gun. Unfortunately, this distracts Kida long enough for someone else to belt him in the head with a pipe. But, luckily for Kida, Horada can’t quite commit to pulling the trigger and this gives another gang member time to intervene. Why would he intervene, you ask? Because he’s one of Anri’s slasher-zombies and she told him to. There’s a zip of steel through the air as Anri busts through the door – and a mechanical neigh as Selty and Mikado pull up.

…And Mikado, Kida and Sonohara all look at each other with a collective, “HUH?!”

Now we come to our dramatic conclusion. Or what could be a dramatic conclusion, but may end up something completely different. Durarara!! is not one of those series that feels obligated to tie up all the loose ends, so I’m not expecting that by a long shot. I do still wonder if all three are going to make it out alive (Kida’s got to have some massive head trauma, right?!) and, if they do, if their battered friendship/loveship will survive. I hope for some kind of deep, dark, open-ended but satisfying kind of conclusion, but we’ll see what direction it takes.

I will end on a positive note, though. One thing I really liked in this episode was the lack of cell phones and technology – and not just because I hate those chat scenes. Remember, the interconnectedness of all the characters is a huge running theme and in the past they’ve used phones, forums, chats, etc to stay connected. This time around I noticed a big shift away from that. Nobody’s texting (except Selty, but that’s talking for her so it doesn’t count). Kida tries to make some calls but eventually gives up and abandons his phone entirely. When characters do interact and share information, it’s face to face.

Coincidence or is Durarara!! trying to make a point about modern technology and its affect on relationships? HMMMMM…

Next time: Transcending Oneself
Last episode! One way or another, I’m sure it’ll be a doozy. (Right? I hope…?)