Carole & Tuesday Episode 15 Review: God Only Knows

Last week’s episode left us with a bit of a bittersweet sucker punch, and Episode 15, ‘God Only Knows’, hits us with even more feels. Carole and Tuesday has always been and continues to be a series with a lot of heart!

Plot

Carole and Tuesday’s debut song, ‘Army of Two’, is slowly taking over the Mars airwaves, prompting reclusive music legend, Desmond, to extend an invitation to the fledgling singers. At his mansion the girls learn that Desmond is dying, but before he leaves the world behind, he wants to give Carole and Tuesday some sage advice. Meanwhile, Tuesday’s mother, Valerie, has started making some controversial campaign promises that threaten to shake up the careful peace between Earth and Mars.

Episode Highlights

Army of Two Debut: ‘Army of Two’ finally debuts and it looks like it’s a hit with the fans! Everyone is listening to the new single and even street musicians are playing covers of it! Seems like the girls have finally hit their stride as musicians.

Visit with Desmond: The bulk of the episode focuses on the meeting between the girls and music legend Desmond. Despite being one of the most iconic musicians on Mars, he is much more subdued than the other artists we’ve seen. He’s a solitary and soft-spoken character that commands more attention than some flashier acts we’ve seen. There aren’t any AI effects or loud basslines; just Desmond and the quiet of his greenhouse…

Androgyne on Mars: This is something that was brought up earlier in the series with Dahlia, Angela’s manager, but their transition is something that isn’t really touched on. Desmond is also an androgyne, but unlike Dahlia, they are much more open about their experience. Desmond was once a man who is gradually transitioning into a woman because of the radiation on Mars changing his genetics.

Political Upheaval on Mars: Valerie’s radical views on the relationship between Earth and Mars are causing quite a stir in Alba City. In an effort to secure more votes, Valerie proposes cutting off all aid efforts to the refugees coming from Earth… The real world parallels to the current immigration policies in the US are not lost on me…

Themes and Trivia

God Only Knows: All the episode titles for Carole & Tuesday are references to famous songs. This week’s episode ‘God Only Knows’ is a reference to a song from the landmark 1966 album Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. Created almost exclusively by Brian Wilson, it’s a majestic song with a diverse range of sounds and a beautiful melody and chorus.

On Air Discography

Carole & Tuesday is a music anime, so it makes sense that they’d have a number of great tracks featured in each episode. So, rather than bogging down the other sections with all the new songs, here’s a section dedicated to just the tunes of Carole & Tuesday!

Miserere mei, deus: Performed by Desmond (Marker Starling) is the song he sings when the girls first enter his greenhouse.

All I See: Performed by Desmond (Marker Starling), this is the artist’s last song that they wanted Carole and Tuesday to hear.

Army of Two: Performed by Carole and Tuesday (Nai Br.XX & Celeina Ann), this is the girls’ debut single currently capturing the hearts of the people of Mars.

Comments

I was really blown away by this episode, both musically and narratively. After the emotional goodbye between Carole and her father in last week’s episode, I was expecting Episode 15 to hold back on the emotional gut punches, but I think I had more feels watching this episode than any other before it.

The girls are invited to meet with legendary singer Desmond, and even with his short amount of screentime, there is a lot to unpack with the character. I’m honestly disappointed that we don’t get to spend more time with Desmond, since they are such an interesting character. Unlike some other famous musicians that the girls meet, Desmond isn’t in the spotlight; they’re alone in their mansion surrounded by butterflies and the verdant green of plants and flowers. You get the sense that they’ve really grown since their time on the stage, and despite being relatively young, there’s an ancient wisdom to them. Desmond doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore. Rather they’re at peace with their solitude and that’s honestly refreshing.

Carole and Tuesday is a series that constantly celebrates things that are genuine. The girls stand out so much because they don’t use flashy gimmicks when they sing. They just let the music speak for itself. Desmond is the same way; there is a genuine foundation for why they sing and that gives their music so much more emotional weight. You feel the music and it touches you because it speaks to a person’s feelings and experiences.

I love that the series doesn’t just hit you with song after song. Instead, Carole and Tuesday delves into the reasons why each musician sings and the emotions that go into their songs. We’ve seen this with quite a few characters, like with Skip, whose songs convey his sense of loss and pain, or Angela, who despite having this whole pop diva persona, has some genuine emotions behind her songs… It’s not just music for music’s sake’ it’s music with a purpose.

I was a bit on the fence about the political undertones of the series, since at face value it doesn’t really ‘fit’ with the whole music anime premise. But the more I watch, the more it works. This isn’t something that the series just drops in our lap. It’s been gradually simmering under the surface building momentum with each episode. Valerie’s presidential campaign was something that was always in our peripherals but with her more ‘radical’ stance on Earth/Mars relations, it’s hard to ignore the coming storm. There are some serious parallels between the current political climate in the States, not gonna lie. I see a lot of Trump in Valerie and the attitude towards Earth refugees is very similar to the treatment of immigrants here in the US. I’m curious to see how Carole and Tuesday handles this plot point moving forward.

Stupidly Frank, Honest, and Sincere

I have been in love with this series from the beginning and with each new episode I fall even more in love with Carole and Tuesday. It draws you in with the amazing music, but you stay for the genuine characters. Episode 15, ‘God Only Knows’, is a beautiful episode. Desmond is one of my new favorite characters and I’m glad that even though his time on the series was brief, it left a deep impact.

I’ll be back next week with another Carole & Tuesday review, but in the meantime, be sure to check out MANGA.TOKYO’s other amazing Summer 2019 reviews!!

NEXT TIME: A Natural Woman