This is the bit where I complain about The Daughter of Twenty Faces. But I think it’s important to get straight that a lot of the aspects I’ve come to dislike about the series actually developed quite naturally out of the very strongest moments. Credit where it’s due, the writers tried to push the story ambitiously – but I wasn’t taken along for the new style ride.

The obvious killer moment in The Daughter of Twenty Faces was episode 6(spoilers by the gallon), which turned the plot up to 11 and broke things apart. Even during this peak episode I thought moments displayed the lack of accomplishment in execution which has plagued this show. Pushing unrealism too far too often. The gunfight saw some miserable losses, but with little sense of brutality. It was all last gasp heroics. The clichéd traintop fight scene, the (perpetually underwhelming) Tiger succeeding in foolishly losing his weapon, Muta staying alive just long enough. Somehow, even with the bodies piling up, it didn’t feel dangerous.

Frankly the series was never at its best delivering action. And amidst the riveting chaos, I was thinking somewhere in my head, was this story better as a caper? Better when nothing mattered? And then, well shit. The arrival of the brilliant. The episode leapt into the extraordinary. Twenty faces himself in a cocky failure to some egotistical punk. Or so I thought.

This was a hell of a twist. And I think The Daughter of Twenty Faces then critically went from adventuring to twistsville, and didn’t quite survive the transition. Because the setting lost its primacy when it was just background for the latest villain. Because Chiko made less sense without the context of a tale of seeking the world. The moments of average production seemed to stand out more under such circumstances.

Which made me think of the carefully set up betrayal twist of The Tower of Druaga. Druaga might be quite an important show for me in that from episode 2 I knew it wasn’t going to be amazing, but I still looked forward to watching because of what it might throw up. A more madcap series, which pulled off its big plot twist in an ordered fashion. Signposted 10 miles off.

The Daughter of Twenty Faces lacks that constant liveliness, but delivered a massively important twist with a flourish. I didn’t expect surprise from each moment of The Daughter of Twenty Faces, so when it turned up it was near traumatically exciting. But somehow, a bit like Druaga’s “hey, new tower!” coming out of nowhere, stunning but unfulfilling. It had a massive impact, but left me unsure where we were going. This uncertainty is exciting, but the shift in continuity meant that the show needed to be recentred. It almost needed to start again, which did not bode well.

For a show which had already started with a stutter, it seemed a bit much to then veer off into the mundane within a few episodes of its finest hour. Prior to Whitey McHypnotist taking the stage, it looked like the show was conflicted in dealing with the episode 6 fallout. The machine man and the tale of the failed actor suggested mini-arcs in the company of our heroine. Some would work, some would not. With the shift in tone the new idea seemed to be the delivery of something more dramatic. A serious arc to rival the culmination of the capering era. What we got was simply a longer and weaker mini-arc dressed up as something important.

With this new subplot, The Daughter of Twenty Faces diverted into bafflement – into androgynous magic dollwomen. I didn’t mind the machine man, who was unbelievable, but only a brief intrusion, diverting as such. But this lame creepy white haired villain seemed to be major in the plot. And she’d embarrass most series. She’s been a let down. She’s unoriginal, lazily designed, and jumps into by-the-numbers villainous acts almost wilfully.

Then, seeking to overcome the inappropriate by unpredictability, the Man himself cropped up – neatly both being and not being the most obvious candidate. But he appears to have some mystical power of his own. He simply cannot be human. Humans often find loss of blood mildly inconvenient. We have what appears to be a redefinition of the show as pure fantasy, with this new villain spirited away with the end of the arc. Providing only a sense of futility to the whole contrived affair.

I was scoffing at this by-the-numbers bad guy on the “path of hatred” abducting Tome for the lulz and then having a deathbed conversion. There should be a moratorium on humanising villains by having them suddenly go soft at the end. But all the while I was near to being being hooked again. Because the arrival of Twenty Faces came so soon, springing into action unexpectedly. I was left saying to myself – think for yourself, work this our, what’s he doing. And nothing made sense. Off he jumped again and I was perplexed but increasingly disinterested. Absorbed in the moment but ultimately dissatisfied. I’d lost touch with that investment in the world which had allowed me to overlook earlier failings.

Superstrength and so forth didn’t used to be for the good guys. Until The Daughter of Twenty Faces started busting out science as magic, shrugging off wounds and fighting epic “darkness”. Until Twenty Faces stopped being like Chiko and became a pair of silly eyebrows. If you want a “chivalrous” thief then have him play deceptions which border on slapstick, because being knifeproof is just creepy. All the new direction has done is made me dislike Chiko’s idol.

He jumped to certain death. And I willed Chiko. Jump! Jump into the air! After all, the universe has come unhinged, why not try? Right now there’s a tale which isn’t solid enough to feel real, but lacks the budget or the flair for delirious expressiveness. Just an inconsequential arc really. A trick without consequence. A stalling game from a series which is still searching for a new driving logic now that the age of the comicbook thief has passed.