Incorporated Review: Episode 3: "Human Resources"

Incorporated continues to create a world that I am very interested in learning more about. The most fascinating part of episode three for me was the brainwashing of the children that we got to see at Inazagi. The corporations on this show have been presented in a very negative light, but showing an Inazagi employee defecting because she doesn't want her child brainwashed interests me largely because of the contrast it provides between Inazagi and Spiga.

Throughout the first two episodes it's been pretty obvious that Spiga is corrupt and a scary organization to work for, but now we've seen that there's another corporation who's gone a step further than them in at least one area. (Although I'd also argue that Spiga is brainwashing its employees in less overt ways.) That gives Spiga perhaps the first even remotely positive PR we've seen on the show, though it's only in comparison to another corporation. Spiga is, without argument, still corrupt.

Elizabeth's regard for Diana's child was also interesting to me. In the past, we've seen her carrying out the banishment of children to the red zones without hesitation (until her daughter protests). But throughout this episode, she asks about the well-being of Diana's child, and I can't tell if she wants the child to be okay purely to keep Diana happy (that is their deal after all) or because she actually cares.

I was pretty confident that Elena wasn't dead throughout the episode because that would be too easy. Her message through the ring was sad, but I'm not sure if it changes anything. I know thinking that she was dead briefly made Ben try harder with Laura, but now that he knows Elena is dead, it seems that we're right back where we started at the beginning of the episode. Her potential death felt like a momentary tension builder in the episode as opposed to anything that drove the plot forward.

Laura is, in every episode, getting lesson after lesson about how bad life is in the red zones. Ben knows how bad it is, of course, but I'm not sure that she's aware of his knowledge of it. Ben definitely doesn't realize how much is wife is learning. I think this will serve to get them on the same page in the future, where they're both aware of how terrible the corporation is and want to get out of it. I don't believe that means that they will be happy together, however, since his feelings for Elena are unlikely to disappear.

The primary gain from this episode, I believe, was seeing the terribleness of another corporation. Well, that and Laura's continued exposure to life in the red zones. Other than that, I'm not entirely sure this episode had a significant purpose in the plot, though maybe there are smaller details here that I have missed. Nonetheless, I'm rather fascinated by the idea of Inazagi brainwashing children when that's a level that Spiga hasn't stooped too, and I'm wondering what role Inazagi will play in the story in the future.