OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)Hayase receives a promotion to travel to America, but thinks about whether he should see the woman he met a few episodes ago again before he goes.OUR TAKEHuh, with only a few episodes left, I’m surprised they reserved one to follow up on a story that didn’t really involve any of the recurring bartender characters. Though I suppose it’s timed well enough after the introduction of Kitakata and the true source of Ryu’s guilt. After revealing it at the end of the last episode, we get a proper explanation: Apparently, Ryu gave a guest a drink he thought would help ail their sadness, but the guest went on to kill himself, which Ryu puts on himself because he feels responsible for possibly giving him the wrong kind of drink. Now, when you think about that description logically, that sounds pretty much INSANE for anyone to blame themselves simply for giving a stranger a drink. But guilt isn’t logical, and when you think you might’ve been able to prevent something awful, like stop someone from dying, it can very easily consume you if you’re not careful. So, it seems like the focus of the remaining two episodes will be about helping Ryu finally move past this guilt and allow himself to live up to his potential, starting with Miwa telling essentially that it wasn’t his fault, but how that will happen remains to be seen.As for what’s happening with Hayase and how it involves Kitakata, it kinda goes to show how his approach to bartending is not as short sighted as it first seemed when we met him last episode. Hayase is at a crossroads in his life, choosing between a high paying job and a newfound love he thought he would never find after his wife passed. Ryu tries his usual method of handling Hayase’s woes, but it seems to not work nearly as well, so they end up at Kitakata who helps get the guy stinking drunk and force him to make a decision. It helps show that neither approach is necessarily bad, but they both have their strengths for certain situations, and in this case, Kitakata was what Hayase needed to finally figure himself out. As mundane as this show can be about expressing itself sometimes, it does at least do a good job at portraying these two different styles of dealing with people by making them drinks. That said, I’m glad there’s only two episodes left so I don’t have to force myself to squint to find good things to talk about. Let’s gooooooo.