Mob Psycho 100 IIIepisode 4 is the series' best so far as various interesting developments finally take hold. After being stood up by Mezato and Tome on the same day as the huge conference of Psycho Helmet zealots, Mob is unaware of the imposter who has taken on the role of founder, assuming the appearance of the Psycho Helmet icon.
With the antagonist and their intentions made known, the fourth episode ofMob Psycho 100 IIIis definitely one of this season’s most exciting and eventful thus far, and it marks the solidification of this season’s overarching narrative.
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Doppelgänger
The “founder” of the Psycho Helmet Religionmakes an appearance and convinces the once-cynical believers of his legitimacy by making a giant broccoli sprout on stage in front of them. Assuming the role of the founder means that this mysterious psychic individual is capable of tapping into the immense power that is continually supplied to the Divine Tree due to the energy provided to it through the prayers and faith of the various believers across the city. While the prime suspect is set up to be Dimple through the series' communication of his eventual return to old habits through his scarcity and errant behaviour this season, as well as his contemplative reaction to the premise of other characters in the story working towards their ambitions. The big reveal was never quite meant to be an “aha!” moment, but witheverything going on in the lives ofMob and the other characters, and how the first few episodes had an especially important slice of life atmosphere, it fits the narrative that only one person has actually been paying close attention to the slowly encroaching incident that looms over the city.
Sorry, I Forgot
The start of the episode has Mob running into Mezato at school the morning after the founder’s arrival. He asks her why she wasn’t able to meet him as promised, and she explains that she completely forgot about it, citing the arrival of the founder as the reason why she wasn’t able to come. She also tells him that he no longer has to worry about assuming the role of founder of the Psycho Helmet Religion, leaving Mob confused. At the Telepathy Club, Mob asks club president Tome the same thing he asked Mezato, and she also apologises, saying that she forgot about it. When Mob mentions them, Tome admits that she was led to a fascinating seminar by believers of the Psycho Helmet Religion. She adds that the Telepathy Club clubroom will become the Salt Middle School branch of the Psycho Helmet Religion, a suggestion that is met with some dissent from some other club members. As the shot pans and shows more of the clubroom, a strange piece of candy in a green wrapper emerges in the frame before the episode cuts to another scene.
Reigen shows Mob images from the requests he received from people wanting to solve the mystery behind the supernatural deterioration of buildings throughout the city. Having rejected them initially, it becomes evident to Reigen that the roots that have spread all over Seasoning City come from the Divine Tree and are literally destroying buildings in the process. He even recalls the incident in the second episode of this season, where together withYōkai Hunter Haruaki Amakusa, Serizawa and Mob, he encountered the Demon Lord and his four generals. That building was overrun with root systems and roots, and it is the presence of the Divine Tree that may have triggered that incident to begin with. Reigen comes up with a plan to get rid of the Divine Tree and toss it into the ocean.
Brainwashed
One of the first to noticethe strange developments in Seasoning City is Teru. While trying to discuss what he has seen and felt, Mob is caught up in his popular moment and interrupts the conversation to open up to Teru about his growing popularity among girls. After that, Teru never revisits the important conversation as the two of them go shopping for new clothes for Mob. The two go their separate ways; however, after the developments at the Psycho Helmet Religion meeting is the major ways in which the fake founder has managed to garner an even larger following is through the manipulation of the economy that has arisen in Seasoning City after the emergence of the Divine Tree. Various Divine Tree products have made their way onto the streets; from sweets, to teas, drinks, desserts at restaurants and various kinds of health products. The products are all marketed to come with extra blessings from the Divine Tree, or have some kind of health benefit, but people do not realize that the products are all conduits through which the false founder brainwashes the citizens to create a legion of devoted believers who will supply him with unending energy from their prayers.Teru, having been given Divine Tree cookiesat school is briefly brainwashed by the snack, but he throws it up and is enraged by the audacity of the person using the Divine Tree to brainwash people, and heads over there to sort things out.
Tree of Might
Dimple explains that he constructed his current appearance by using the stems of the Divine Tree to create a likeness in the form of the icon of the Psycho Helmet Religion because the believers wouldn’t be able to perceive him if he remained a spirit. He tells Teru that he had never strayed from his primary goal of becoming a modern god. Realizing that talking is pointless, Teru decides that the only thing left to do is to exorcise the evil spirit. At a flower shop in town, the former Claw member, Minegishi, attempts to tell his boss the plants in their shop appear to be dying, later noticing that even weeds growing on the side of the road are affected too. As he investigates, Minegishi realizes that the big roots are coming from the Divine Tree, and that they’re slowly sucking the life out of everything around them; however, Minegishi soon collapses from having his own vitality siphoned.
Panoptes
Mob notices that the town has grown incredibly quiet, but despite the lack of people in the streets, he can’t help but feel like he’s being surveilled. This episode’s frequent zooming in on eyes is especially effective in this scene, as while Mob says that to his master, Reigen is literally staring at him but from his peripheral vision. Throughout episode 4 ofMob Psycho 100 III, the audience is guided towardsthe eyes of various characters. The brainwashed in this episode all have a strange contentment that is evident in their relaxed eyes, which often become the subject of the frame, and this relaxed expression on their faces is a huge contextual clue. This close up of the relaxed eyes of the brainwashed happens with Mezato in the beginning, and is seen with various other characters as the episode progresses. Reigen’s plan to get rid of the tree is not one Mob can do by himself, so they head to Salt Middle to get Ritsu’s help.
After reluctantly agreeing to help them, Ritsu asks his brother about the Psycho Helmet Religion, revealing that there are quite a lot of believers at their school. As a result of that, the Student Council has a mandated time for people to pray to the Divine Tree. This decision was not unanimous, as the Student Council President and Ritsu didn’t agree, which is the second time this episode decisions made by believers at Salt Middle are met with dissent. Adding to the uncomfortable feeling in this episode is the fact that it reflects Mob’s feeling of being watched through showing a consistent side profile of the characters as they walk to their destination. Suffering from a headache, Ritsu decides to get his sugar up by having a candy that he got from the Student Council President after their weird meeting. He offers Mob and Reigen sweets as well, but they opt to have them later. Unbeknownst to them, Ritsu is already gone, but they follow him to a strange building on their way to the tree, which turns out to be a base of operations for the Psycho Helmet Religion. There, Ritsu and the other brainwashed citizens tell them to stop their “foolish” plan to get rid of the tree, and Reigen comes to realize that the candy is the source of the hypnosis. They run away from the cultish gathering and stop at a nearby park, where Reigen tells Mob about the candy and Ritsu’s brainwashing, which drives up Mob’s emotional stimulation. While there, an old man tells the two to stop their pointless mission because"Lord Psycho Helmet sees all."
After running away from various sets of believers, Mob and Reigen use the path next to the river to get to the tree; however, while on their way there, there are a few things that are different about their behaviour. For one, Reigen walks ahead of Mob much like Ritsu did after being brainwashed, and he asks Mob some strange questions, like whether he thinks the believers of the Psycho Helmet Religion are bad people. Mob doesn’t think they’re bad because this was initially something they were doing for the fun and the community; however the fake founder is using that to turn it into something sinister, which must be stopped. As the camera does a similar side profile view of the characters as before, but with their bodies in full view, it uses even more visual cues to illustrate the rapidly deteriorating situation. Reigen, cloaked in darkness, tells Mob that his referring to the founder as a “fake” implies that he considers himself to be the “real” one, and adds that every organization needs a leader of some kind and now the Psycho Helmet Religion has found theirs.
Since the founder is based on a false image, Reigen doesn’t see anything wrong with his existence or his assumption of the role of founder. Reigen does a complete 180 on his plan to take down the tree, which tips Mob to the unfortunate truth: Reigen has been brainwashed, and the image of Reigen assuming the same pointing pose that other brainwashed people in Mob’s life did confirm it for him. Unable to take it anymore, Mob ditches his master and goes to the treewhile the insert song plays. A huge gathering of believers is clearly waiting for him. Mezato asks Mob if he’s going to see the founder. When he affirms, she opens up a path for him to go forth, while the scores of believers start singing his praises, recognizing Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama as the true Psycho Helmet and the episode ends with chants of “Psycho Helmet” as Mob walks towards the camera in a sequence that is perhaps one of the best in the series. The mob is live, the mob is high, and he has clearly grown.
