Shogun Episode 5 Recap: English Rabbit Stew, Tatarigami, and the Gardener
It’s hardly believable, but five episodes in, Hulu’s adaptation of Shogun is still getting better. After the shocking end of Episode 4, which saw Ishido’s delegation blasted to pieces by cannon fire, you’d think we’d spend all of our time on the consequences of this major decision – and while it certainly played a role, Shogun masterfully continued the theme of cultural misunderstandings and complicated personal relationships in Episode 5 to build even more intensity.
English Rabbit Stew, Tatarigami, and Uejirou – here’s our recap and explainer for Shogun Episode 5.
Buntaro is Alive – and Grumpy
Diving right into the clean-up of the carnage Episode 4 left off at, we see an army arriving at the fishing village in Yabushige’s domain – it’s Toranaga, fully prepared for war. At his side rides the husband of Mariko, Buntaro, who’d been thought dead after his heroism in Episode 3. Cinema’s rule of “if you didn’t see the body, they ain’t dead” held true once more.
Of course, this is an awkward situation – Mariko slept with Blackthorne in Episode 4 and there are obviously some deeper feelings brewing there. Things get even more complicated when the new arrival is ordered to make his quarters in Blackthorne’s house, since his wife is still needed there as a translator.
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English Rabbit Stew
Shogun’s dinner scenes have been among my favorites and this strained context is where we get treated to another one – featuring English Rabbit Stew. Remember when Blackthorne was happy to try Natto in Episode 4 and seemed to enjoy it, despite warnings from Mariko and Fuji?
Well, it seems like his Japanese dinner guests aren’t as open-minded. English Rabbit Stew is one of the dishes mentioned in The Forme of Cury, a recipe book written in the 14th century in England, so it’d be a staple of cuisine by Blackthorne’s time. As he mentions, it’s a communal meal, shared with everyone, which is why he’s disappointed when everyone declines tasting it.
All jokes about British cuisine aside – and there are plenty to make – excluding the unfamiliar sight and smell of the dish, the guests probably would’ve liked it, had they taken a bite. It’s the key difference between Blackthorne and most of the Japanese we’ve met so far – he may not agree with or like many of their customs and rituals, but he remains open-minded. Very few of the Japanese seem to be like this. They outright refuse to see things his way or try new things.
But that’s just the start of the dinner. When Blackthorne asks Buntaro about his escape and the samurai declines to answer, instead asking about the Englishman’s war stories – which he’s not inclined to share either – things devolve into a drinking contest. This does little to relax the whole affair and ends up with Buntaro showing off his marksmanship – drunkenly whizzing arrows an inch from his wife’s face – and forcing Mariko to tell Blackthorne about her family history.
For us viewers, this clears up why the samurai is so unhappy with his marriage to her – it could not be a more dishonorable match for him, a disgrace he’s faced with every day that makes him overlook what a gem she is.
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Of Pheasants, Tatarigami, and the Gardener
Episode 5 contains another major misunderstanding that comes to haunt Blackthorne – it’s all about that stinky pheasant. See, the pilot isn’t quite as ignorant as he may seem in the eyes of the Japanese. Hanging wild game for a while to let it mature was common practice. It eased the skinning process and made the meat you got from it more tender. However, something obviously went wrong – perhaps the temperature wasn’t right. Blackthorne is a sailor. The man probably heard that this is what you do with wild game, but had little practical experience. So the pheasant starts to rot and stink – so badly, in fact, that the village head holds a meeting about it.
But you heard what Blackthorne said in his broken Japanese: “You touch – die.” It’s a delicious and tragic misunderstanding. He merely wanted to express that no one is to touch the bird, but everyone in the house took him at his word literally. He’s their lord. His word has that power. It’s not something Blackthorne was in any way prepared for.
And so no one touches the bird for a while. People start whispering that a Tatarigami – a type of malicious spirit – is living in Blackthorne’s house, meaning it, along with its inhabitants, is cursed.
So all of this comes together to lead to the death of Uejirou, the gardener Blackthorne has taken a liking to. Knowing he’s going to die soon in any case due to his health, Uejirou does what the Japanese think is honorable – gives meaning to his own death. To solve everyone’s problem and dispel the rumors about the Tatarigami, the gardener steals the rotting bird and throws it away, for which he’s punished by death, according to Blackthorne’s unwitting decree, who is shaken by this development.
Unbeknownst to himself, Uejirou’s death actually has a very important meaning for Toranaga’s cause, as it allows his spy in the village to cover his tracks by framing the dead gardener.
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Toranaga’s Schemes and Lady Ochiba
Toranaga is once again outmaneuvering everyone. He gets Yabushige to rat out his nephew Omi as the manipulator behind the death of Ishido’s men. He berates his son, giving him an important lesson on politics and intrigue, despite the situation generally playing out exactly as he wanted – as he says, it’ll be easier for them if Ishido comes out of Osaka. He divides Yabushige’s strength by giving Omi the cannon troops, using the young man’s ambitions to check those of his uncle. His resignation divides the council, because obviously, they’ll find it hard to agree on a replacement unanimously.
All this – only to almost die in a landslide. Death is never far away in Japan, as Mariko said in the previous episode. This natural disaster not only shows how futile even the plans of a master like Toranaga are in the face of nature and chance. It illustrates what Mariko explained to Blackthorne previously and drives home the point of why Japanese culture and its relationship with life and death is so different from what the Englishman is used to. It’s not just sayings and superstition – at a moment’s notice, the ground can open up and swallow you, leaving behind no sign of your existence. Life is valued so little, because it can get snuffed out so easily. It’s what Blackthorne has been grappling with throughout this episode and, really, ever since he arrived in Japan. This may finally have made him understand.
Thematic meaning of the landslide aside, I’m interested to see how much damage the disaster did to Toranaga’s army – even though he survived, his carefully laid plans may have been ruined.
I will say: I have not read the books this show is based on, so any speculations about the future made here are just that – speculation. But from what we’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be surprised about Lady Ochiba, who returns to Osaka Castle at the end of Episode 5, doing the bidding of Toranaga as well, wittingly or not. She was previously in his capital at Edo. In the flashback we’ve seen in the second episode, she seemed to be making some intense eye contact with Toranaga, as if they shared some secret. And now she appears to be taking control of the council, urging Ishido to go out and confront Toranaga – which, as mentioned above, is what the man wants.
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Finally, I’ll say that the development of the relationship between Fuji and Blackthorne is very touching – we see him giving her father’s swords to Toranaga after hearing their real story in order to give them some proper history to be proud of and there’s this tender moment after the landslide, with him reassuringly holding her hands as she gets treated. And all that after the plenty of misunderstandings they had, including the pheasant affair.
TL;DR – Shogun Episode 5 Recap
Toranaga arrives at Yabushige's village with his army. He berates his son and promotes Omi to weaken Yabushige’s power base.
The council in Osaka is divided after Toranaga’s resignation, just as he planned. Ochiba, the heir’s mother, returns and wants to take the reins from the council.
Buntaro is alive and his marriage troubles with Mariko are explained – she comes from a disgraced family, so the union is a dishonorable one for him. He’s suspicious about the relationship between Mariko and Blackthorne.
Mariko wants to cut personal ties with Blackthorne and act professionally from now on.
Cultural misunderstandings and the language barrier lead to Uejirou, Blackthorne’s gardener, to be executed, which Toranaga’s spy uses to cover his tracks.
A landslide almost kills Toranaga, but he’s rescued with the help of Blackthorne. His army has likely been damaged heavily by the disaster.
