REVIEW: ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Season 3 Episode 4 – “The Last Volume”

While there’s a decent amount of plotting and moving pieces in The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4, what stands out the most, in terms of time and place, is what “The Last Volume” delivers. We’ve spent so much of the series within the walls of the inner palace that finally spending time in Maomao’s (Aoi Yūki) original home, the Red Light district, lets the story develop beyond the central relationship. The pacing is a little too patient, but the sparks of life and the interesting character interactions are more than worthwhile. 

More than anything, it’s great to see the return of Suirei (Nazuka Kaori), who is taking refuge in Ah-Duo’s (Kaida Yuko) villa. Between Suirei, Ah-Duo, Maomao, and the talked about Shisui, this is a formidable group of women. All of them have seen the underbelly of the palace and power structures and have lived to talk about it. Maomao’s talk with Suirei is enlightening not just because she learns more about the former apothecary of the encyclopedia that she seeks, but because it reminds us of the significance of her bond with Shisui. 

With Ah-Duo’s help, both Maomao and Suirei realize Shisui would never be careless. If she knew there was trouble ahead and knew she could play a part, she’d have left something behind. The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4 remembers, in a pivotal moment, Maomao and Suirei’s similarities as they both leap at the realization of Shisui’s contingency. It’s not just joy that she left the necessary material behind, but joy over their faith in her cunning. She was brilliant, and Au-Duo, through only stories, knows this. 

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4 remembers Maomao’s significant bond with Shisui.

This brief celebration of wits is just one of a few moments where The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4 deals in the camaraderie and plight of women, as the courtesans at the Verdigris house get more time in the spotlight. While the threat of the locust plague is the most pressing issue, it’s fun too to see how Maomao responds to this life around her, especially as it unveils her own ignorance despite her otherwise observational skills. 

All of which comes to a head in her interaction with Jinshi (Takeo Ōtsuka) in “The Last Volume.” As we’ve seen so far in Season 3, Jinshi and Maomao’s relationship has developed but there’s still an unmoored, vague understanding between them of that that change is. They’ve both seen one another at their most vulnerable, and he openly comes to her for guidance without it being under the guise of her job, while she also asks for favors of him for help. At first glance, their back-and-forth here seems par for the course. 

The two discuss the findings of the encyclopedia and the distinguishing traits between regular locusts and plague locusts. Jinshi’s fatigue remains as he tries to figure out ways to stop the unstoppable. From bonfires, bans on sparrow hunting, and trying to sell the public on grasshopper dishes now being elite, the two run over every scenario while knowing that this is just a sign of incoming adversity. 

Jinshi and Maomao’s relationship continues to develop even if they stand on uncertain ground.

This sense of severity is cut when Maomao tries to sell Jinshi on the grasshopper dishes, inviting him to dine with her in the effort to convince him. There’s no denying his feelings for her, as he readily eats the grasshoppers only because of her teasing gesture to hand feed them to him. It’s another sign of their bond, her easy teasing and commitment to the bit as she feeds him dinner, while the rest of the Verdigris house watches on in shock.

Chou-u (Natsumi Fujiwara) is even perplexed by the show. So much so that he later tries, with some help, to draw the truth from Maomao, asking her what her type is. Other courtesans such as Joka similarly allude to her feelings and the fragile stability of men, suggesting that Maomao’s station in life will always prove difficult. 

It’s with the three Verdigris princesses that Maomao’s perspective on Jinshi is best depicted. The “white sorceress” has plagued the season so far, but The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4 drives the threat home. Pulling traffic away from the Verdigris house, she, if rumors are true, has created a venue where she performs mind-readings to an audience of government officials, promising immortality and riches to those who seek her out. 

Privilege and vanity raise the stakes in “The Last Volume.”

It’s not just the threat to the Verdigris house that’s at stake here. In Maomao’s eyes, there’s also the disproportionate effort Jinshi puts into solving the locus plague while other government officials chase probable scams for the sake of entertainment, happy to live the life of leisure and easy comforts with no thought for anyone outside of their standings. The gulf of privilege has never been wider, and Maomao understanding the difference, and seeing the work Jinshi does, is just another reminder that she’s thinking about him more than she’d like to admit. 

The Apothecary Diaries Season 3 Episode 4 can’t escape the sense of set-up that each season takes a while to shake. But the intrigue is impossible to ignore especially with the ever-strengthening dynamic between Maomao and Jinshi. The stakes continue to rise in “The Last Volume,” as the women of the world seek to find answers to their hardships while privileged men luxuriate in the easy fortunes of their birth and fail to see the harm their senseless extravagance reaps. 

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