The Fable – Season 1 Episode 18 Recap & Review

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Episode 18 of The Fable begins with Fable visiting Yoko at her home. Fable asks Yoko if she gathered details about the assassination task he told her about in episode 17. Yoko tells Fable she memorized all the murders in June, from four years ago. She shares details about each case with Fable. Yoko wants Fable to tell her which case he’s after. 

Fable tells her to stop at the June 20th parking lot case. Yoko tells Fable a man named Kenji died after getting his throat slit. Fable asks Yoko to give him details about the girl who accompanied the gentleman. Yoko tells Fable the girl was Hinako, a runaway who was 16 at the time of the incident. Also, Yoko says Hinako was seriously injured by the accident. 

Fable connects this Hinako from the incident to “the Hinako” audiences know in the present. He believes this accident caused Hinako to become handicapped. Then, we cut away to Kainuma wandering Taihei’s streets. Kainuma internally discusses his evil Misaki-centric plans. He blames Fable for enticing him to tread this path. 

Kainuma visits Misaki’s apartment and drops his bag. Isaki greets Kainuma but Kainuma ignores him. Isaki realizes Misaki’s the same model Kuro involved himself with in the past. Isaki returns to Rei’s hideout and tells him what Kainuma had in the bag he dropped. Rei gives Isaki details about Kainuma’s upbringing.

He discusses what Kainuma’s mother would do to make Kainuma happy. Rei suggests that Isaki let Suzuki handle the Kainuma situation. We cut away to Suzuki chatting with Sunagawa’s hire and his hitman. Suzuki tells the hire he has an exclusive partnership contract with Rei. The hitman wants Suzuki to share details about Fable. 

Suzuki wants the same thing. Both sides share what they know about Fable through their experiences and tales. However, Suzuki mocks the hire and hitman for losing against Fable. A brief shootout occurs. Suzuki holds the hire hostage. He shares his knowledge about guns, shooting, and other things. Then, Suzuki silences Sunagawa’s hitman and hire for good. 

Later, Fable confronts Hinako at the park during her physical therapy session. Fable offers to help Hinako but she’s not interested. He tells Hinako that there’s a chance she might be able to walk again. Fable says he’ll stop by again to observe Hinako’s progress. Hinako suggests he mind his business. Then, we see Sunagawa chatting with Matsu.

Matsu tells Sunagawa he removed the hitman and hire’s bodies. Also, Matsu says he’ll destroy footage of Suzuki committing the act on Suzuki’s behalf. Matsu confirms Suzuki’s interest in Fable and Sunagawa’s happy his hire and hitman died for free. Sunagawa promises not to hunt Fable down. Moreover, Sunagawa hopes he can achieve a better position in the future. 

Suzuki returns to Rei’s agency. He tells him the hitman and hire didn’t have intel on Fable. Rei tells Suzuki to take a break. He and Isaki plan to handle the Kainuma situation. Then, we return to following Fable. Prez tells Fable the people at the animal event loved his drawings.

Fable thanks Misaki for helping him with those animal drawings. He shows Misaki pictures he drew of Shozo and Jackal. Misaki and Prez try to hold their laughter in. Fable presents Misaki with a drawing he did of her. Misaki loves the picture and Fable says she can have it. Kainuma leaves work irritated over Misaki’s love for Fable’s drawing. Kainuma wants to hurt Fable to make him pay. 

Then, we cut away to Suzuki at Rei’s agency. Hinako arrives and tells him a strange man (Fable) bothered her today. Suzuki wants to help Hinako with this man but Hinako tells him not to. Suzuki asks Hinako to tell him what this man looked like. Suzuki visits the park and notices Fable. He confronts Fable about Hinako. Fable says he’s waiting for her. 

Suzuki tells Fable to leave Hinako alone, kicks Fable in the face, and departs. Then, we cut away Misaki returning to her home. Rei and Isaki greet Misaki. They inform her about the building’s bugs and hidden cameras. Rei and Isaki persuade Misaki to let them into her home. Misaki calls her workplace and leaves Rei and Isaki alone in her home. 

Rei asks Kainuma to search for Kainuma’s hidden cameras. Later, Fable visits Yoko and tells her what happened to him today. Fable confirms Suzuki attacked him and Yoko confirms Hinako doesn’t have a brother. Fable questions if Suzuki is a hitman much like himself. After Rei and Isaki complete their business at Misaki’s home, they return to Rei’s agency. 

Rei and Isaki observe the footage. The former laughs because Kainuma didn’t hide his identity when installing these hidden cameras. Nonetheless, Rei asks Hinako to book a two-bedroom apartment. Rei wants to rent it within a week. Rei also wants Hinako to create business cards for them using a specific device.

The episode ends with Rei looking devious. 

The Episode Review

This episode of The Fable serves as the calm before the Rei storm. From investigating Misaki’s home to having Suzuki go on an intel-gathering side mission, Rei is arguably above Kojima on the tactical front. Moreover, this new story arc is doing a great job of giving our supporting characters significant tasks. Yoko is one such example of that. 

It’s fantastic seeing her complete assassin-centric research on Fable’s behalf. At the same time, we’re hopeful that Yoko will use her feminine talents to help Fable conquer Rei and his cronies by the season finale. It’d make those two bar episodes she starred in feel less pointless and more important. Also, the clock is ticking for Kainuma, and many viewers could care less about the guy. 

After Rei’s spiel about Kainuma and Kainuma’s internal monologue about what he wants to do to Misaki, it’d be awkward to feel sympathy for him. On the other hand, it’s great that we received more information about Kainuma’s “Monster Parent-Child” origins. Lastly, it’s unfortunate to see Sunagawa’s hitman and hire bite the dust. 

Although they semi-fulfilled their narrative purpose during that Kojima fiasco, it’s a bummer fans won’t get to see this hitman have his rematch with Fable. But all in all, episode 18 of The Fable should leave fans hungry for the next one.