Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex E04 Interceptor

"I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes."

Episode 4

A police detective working in the Laughing Man task force is murdered after he calls Togusa, requesting to see him concerning suspicious activity by superiors in the police department.

Before being murdered, the detective posts Togusa an envelope that contains a series of strange photographs. Togusa soon realises that none of the photos has been taken by a camera. Investigating further, it is revealed that the detectives on the Laughing Man case have all been bugged by their superiors with an "interceptor", a nano-machine that allows constant audio and visual monitoring of the subject via their own senses.

In order to provoke a response, Section 9 leaks this information to the media, forcing the police commissioner to provide a public denial of personal wrongdoing, instead blaming an underling.

It is at this point that the hacker, the Laughing Man appears. Hijacking an official's cyber brain, the Laughing Man issues a threat to the police commissioner that his lies have promoted his return, and that if he did not come clean with the truth, the Laughing Man would remove him.

What I liked

This story was a little low key for me at first, I wasn't sure where it was headed. Although the issue of police corruption is important, surely, I thought, Ghost in the Shell could aim a little higher? The ending put my mind at rest.

This episode also focused mostly on Togusa, the most 'human' of Section 9. It is easy to see why he is a valued member of the team. While Kusanagi is a combat giant, Togusa has to rely on traditional methods of investigation. The diversity of Section 9 has to be its biggest strength.

Kencf0618 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What we learned

The emergence of the Laughing Man looks like it will be the main story arc for the season. The Laughing Man seems to have a vendetta against the Police Commissioner and hints at a dark secret he is keeping out of the public eye, possibly involving his corrupt relationship with the Cerrano Genomics corporation.

I also learned that the funny laughing logo that Anonymous uses has actually been taken directly from the logo that the Laughing Man uses to disguise his identity.