Hitman: Reckoning

Posted at http://smarthomeschool.com/2005/12/17/hitman-reckoning/

December 17th, 2005 at 7:14 am

The dramatic final episode of Hitman was released just a few days ago. This 45 minute finale is unquestionably one of the best ones done so far, from the quality, to the humor, to the incredible parallels.

This is no predictable landing – you may think you know where we’re going, but you’ll be doubting yourself before the end. We finally discover the complete reason behind Mrs. Shepherd’s death, explaining much of Fox’s bitterness and guilt. He is finally able to start letting go, but restoration may not be an easy ride. There are evil forces at work, and it looks like we’ll be doing good if we can avoid World War III, much less get Fox, Hurst, and Gina out of Chechnya alive.

There is a high death count; not many bad guys make it out of the final episode. Evil destroys itself in the end, and here we see this principle clearly displayed. While several deaths are packaged in some of the best jokes Hitman has seen, others are fittingly sad and intense, and might even make you feel sympathetic for the bad guy.

Along technical lines, the episode begins with an excellent intro, along with a gorgeous logo that was brought back from a few seasons ago. Other highlights include an extremely realistic helicopter scene, coupled with a particularly impressive piece of cinematography. Gun fire effects are, as always, nearly seamless. You’ll have to pay for all this extra fun, however, with a lengthy download of over 200mb. I recommend some sort of download manager for this one.

I’m almost wondering if the Chechen leader was actually on set in this episode or the last. In High Treason it was obvious that he was blue screened, but I assumed it was in order to place him in the Chechen surroundings. When he is in the office, however, there is absolutely no camera movement, which isn’t traditional for Hitman. They’re either using a tripod, or I’m seeing things, or they were able to pull off an extremely convincing blue screen. I’m guessing the latter.

Finally, with this being the last episode, I’m really hoping that they will release some sort of soundtrack. The music has always been one of my favorite parts, and I don’t think I’m the only one who would enjoy listening to it either on CD or mp3.

Out of all this, perhaps the most incredible thing about the final episode is the brilliant parallel to Christ and how we respond to him. It’s particularly moving because this is one of the first times that we’re seeing obvious Christianity. Besides the conversations between Fox and Hurst, often touching Christian strains, there really wasn’t an over abundance of religious content. This fact, however, makes it all the more powerful, perhaps because it is so unexpected. You’ll also be pleased by the way the analogy was able to bleed into the literal sense of the episode.

While I had originally been hoping for a season 5 of Hitman, with this amazing ending, I wouldn’t have done it any different. This is clearly the best episode in the entire series, and a great note on which to end. You can download it from the Streaming Media Network right here.