Whatever else occurs in a Death Note television drama episode, first and foremost we're watching for Mello here. Mello/Matt's the community whence my partner and I met, moved in and now sit together watching this show.
Which pretty much puts us on Near Watch, give or take a puppet, as we're now quite convinced that multiple personalities is a factor in this character. (S)he's both Near and Mello.
And may now be Matt too.
Near's Split Personality in Death Note (2015)
From a base-line of a clever, serene white-clad figure clutching a Mello puppet, we saw the human and dummy's voices merge (episode 4); then Near leave the house (episode 5) - apparently alarming news for Watari and L - still with a puppet, but one which now sat mute, and the white attire now bisected by grey pinafore trousers.
In episode 6, that transformation is so far advanced that the puppet has gone entirely. The previously unsmiling Near has now donned an elfin smirk.
That white mop of hair seems messier, more akin to a fringe at the front, slightly longer at the back. The lighting has lessened the white, making his/her barnet appear almost blond, maybe rosy in some scenes.
The grey pinafore, seen in shade, seems darker, closing in on black.
So let's assume that Near has multiple personalities. Mello has previously existed as a suppressed persona projected onto a puppet by Near's ventriloquism. Heard in the real world, as L responded to Mello's voice in episode 2.
Episode 5 signified the start of the personae changing places. In episode 6, I believe that we're seeing that process gather pace.
Live Action Matt in Death Note TV Drama?
I was reminded that Matt's never been as embraced in canon, as he was by the fandom. The producers probably never considered him important enough to add into the Near/Mello mix.
Flailing around for extra evidence, I alighted on the fact that the camera - towards which a desolate L peers as he realises he's been hacked - bore the codemark F1.3.
I seemed to be convincing nobody with this line of argument.
Nevertheless, that initial shot still seems to me to have elements of the first three Wammy kids. Near's still apparent in the white under-shirt and twirled hair; Mello's in the smirk, chair and dark clothes creeping over the top; Matt's in the redness (yes, I know red hair is a fan insertion) and the computer, particularly its usage in hacking.
But the snigger at the end - sans lock twisting - was pure Mello.
Death Note Drama's Live Action Mello
A hand up to his mouth - not seen in any previous Near mannerism - is half cut off by the bottom of the screen. What's the chance that a wider shot will reveal that it grasps a chocolate bar?
In short, WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE A LIVE ACTION MELLO IN THIS DEATH NOTE TV DRAMA! At least that's the conclusion in this house.
On that excitement, I'm going to pause here and look at the rest of the episode in a separate blog entry. I've waffled enough in this one.