The Devil Is a Part-Timer! Recap: We’re in the Endgame Now

A new villain, an angelic judge called the Watcher, makes buying a TV really hard. A recap of season two, episode 11 of ‘The Devil Is a Part-Timer!,’ “The Devil Preaches Human Interaction.”

Season 2 Episode 11 Editor’s Rating2 stars **

Photo: Crunchyroll

We’re in the endgame of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! season two, and things are falling into place for the final confrontation. Why, then, is the show choosing now to introduce yet another villain instead of, I don’t know, deepening any single one of the many villains already around in this world. The menacing archangel with a phenomenal voice, Gabriel? No, he’s been reassigned. Olba the schemer who created chaos in Maou’s armies? Apparently we forgot all about him. Instead, this week sees the introduction of the Watcher, an angelic Judge Dredd sent to pass down judgment and punishment on angels.

But wait, none of our main characters is an angel, so why is the Watcher here? you might ask. The answer is unclear at this time, but it likely has to do with Emi’s mother reappearing, a plot point brought back last week, which again goes unresolved in this episode. Not that The Devil Is a Part-Timer! needs to answer all its questions at once, but with no guarantee of a third season, and with every week introducing new mystery after new mystery, it would be nice to get at least some answers every once in a while.

Not that the episode is focused on the Watcher, or even on Emi’s mom. No, sir, we’re buying a TV, remember? But also, we’re not buying a TV, because this week serves as a sequel to the Rika and Ashiya date episode from earlier in the season. That’s because Rika is severely misreading the situation, and dressed up nicely for what she assumed would be an outing just with Ashiya, not a shopping spree with Maou and Suzuno tagging along. Their relationship is pretty cute and funny, as Rika blushes with everything Ashiya says to her or every time he looks at her while he is absolutely clueless about everything. There is only one problem: Rika has no idea Ashiya is a demon.

Now, Chiho found out that her only friends are from another world by accident, and she’s become a big part of the team, but Rika? Should they trust her with the big secret? Maou thinks they should tell her, but Suzuno isn’t so sure as it would either freak her out or put her in danger.
Before they even try to buy a TV, Rika has to explain a few things to this group of otherworldly beings who have never watched TV, like what 4K is or what flatscreen means. Though Maou is focused on the shock and anger he feels over Suzuno boasting her budget (five times his own), they are interrupted when a stranger arrives at a restaurant they are at and starts speaking English rather loudly. Maou, who I guess either learned multiple languages on Ente Isla or picked up English from working at MgRonald’s, perfectly strikes a conversation with the stranger and gets him to calm down.

Of course, that has no simple stranger asking about a fork at an udon place, but the new villain: the Watcher. Last week’s episode teased his arrival but now we’re actually meeting him and his great afro. Turns out, the Watcher, also known as Raguel, is an angel whose job is to monitor all angels and then pass down judgment and decide punishments. His favorite punishment is making angels fall, like Lucifer. It used to be that Raguel worked together with Sariel (the season one finale villain), stripping angels of their immortality and banishing them to Ente Isla where they are eventually killed.

Raguel is in Japan looking for someone, presumably Emi’s mother Lailah. In order to find her, he is sending magic angel sonar blasts through airwaves and destroying every television in the city. This means goodbye, TV-buying episode, we hardly knew ye. With all the TVs broken, Maou moves on to the next plot point, which is that, apparently, Chiho is in the hospital in a coma. (Really? A coma subplot in the last two episodes of the season? Okay!) Turns out, Chiho is generating her own magic, after Suzuno gave her some so she could detect it and be able to hang with her magic friends. Raguel’s sonar is apparently overcharging her magic to the point where she enters a coma. While it is cool that Chiho now has some sort of magical connection, what was special about her character was that she was a regular girl. She knew she couldn’t really help them in battle, but was going to do her best and find other ways to help. With this? She is just another Emi or Suzuno.

With Chiho hurt, everyone bands together for one last truce and alliance, from Maou deciding he will mess with angels once again out of revenge, to Suzuno deciding to punish the angel for overstepping his boundaries. Of course, a big alliance between old enemies would be a pretty big moment … if we hadn’t seen it happen already every other week this season.

Next week’s finale will presumably focus on the fight against Raguel, and probably end on a cliffhanger scene of Emi and her mom meeting, but is that enough? With no actual confirmation of a third season, what are we left with? At the very least, season one had a satisfying ending that closed up one chapter of the story, but this one hasn’t exactly resolved any big plot threads, leaving only the feeling of a meal that was taken away from you after a few bites.

Snacks & Sides

• Chiho gets a fancy magic ring from Emi’s mom, who cryptically says her ability to keep two opposing beings together may one day give her the ability to mother a new Daath — whatever that means.

VULTURE NEWSLETTER

Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows!This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice

p aria-hidden=”true”>By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.