Patlabor The Mobile Police Season 1 Episode 43 The Working Girl

The episode begins with the members of Special Vehicles Division 2 gathering at the scene of a new high-rise under construction. The building's developer has hired the SV2 to help keep the peace between the various construction workers and groups that have started to show up. Potential conflicts between these groups have been making it hard for construction to proceed in a timely manner, which the builders would like to avoid.

As the SV2 sets up their base of operations at a construction trailer, they see a woman dressed as a construction worker walking around and distributing flyers. Kanuka Clancy, having been part of the visiting crew from the American Labor Standards Bureau on a previous case, identifies her as Ruth, a labor organizer from a group called the Anti-Labor Union Coalition. Clancy dislikes Ruth, believing she is overly aggressive in her activism and could provoke a lot of violence.

The next day, the SV2 team is surprised to see Ruth and several of her associates wearing T-shirts with construction company logos arriving at the site. The members also notice that the logos have been defaced. Ruth announces a friendly protest to the crew before jumping onto an earth mover and driving it through the construction site entrance.

Following this incident, an incident between construction workers and the ALUC members is imminent. Before it becomes violent, Hata introduces Shinobu Nagumo, a freelance journalist who has been following the story of a worker who was crushed to death by heavy machinery. Shinobu explains to both construction workers and ALUC members that they could all work together to try and avoid such a tragedy by creating a safe and fair work environment. This intervention seems successful, with many members of both groups seeing each other as comrades.

As members of Special Vehicles Division 2 continue to monitor the site, Kenichi and Asuma start to worry about the identity and true intentions of Ruth. They begin to speculate that she might be affiliated with terrorists due to her insistence on striking the site despite the safety and security measures taken by the developers and construction company.

As tensions flare up, the SV2 members have to intervene once again. This time, however, they are fighting members of the Japanese armed forces who have arrived to curtail the workers' movement and the ALUC. Before an all-out battle can break out, the team realizes that Ruth is missing. They find her in the building's parking garage, where she has been shot.

In this episode, the members of SV2 find themselves caught up in a complicated battle between the workers, developers, union organizers, and military personnel. Amidst all this, the characters must attempt to make sense of and prevent potential terrorist activities, while working towards de-escalating the situation. Through the appearance of Ruth and her associates, the team is challenged to reexamine traditional notions of success in conflict resolution. Finally, the story illustrates the powerful influence of people coming together to make positive changes.