Haruhi's "Endless Eight" is Endless
For the third week in a row, "the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" aired an episode titled "Endless Eight" where the characters are stuck in an endless loop, replaying the same last two weeks of summer vacation for thousands of times. & once again, Kyon was unable to determine what it is that'll make time move forward again, meaning that next week's episode will also be "Endless Eight."
No one's really sure why the hell Kadokawa is doing this. In a way it's kinda cool & interesting how they're displaying this story. Just saying time is repeating in a loop is one thing. Actually showing it repeating time & time again is another. On the other hand, what's really the point? Is Kadokawa doing this to once again troll us Haruhi fans? Lord knows that they love messing with us. But that's just stupid & pointless. It's not like they're so short on stories that they're forced to stretch "Endless Eight" out to four episodes (at least). "Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" & "Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya" are both very long & important stories that fans truly expected to air as part of the new season, each expected to take about 5 episodes to cover. "Snowy Mountain Syndrome" was another story expected to air this season & would take a few eps to tell. So again, it's not like they needed to pad the season out.
In the novels, "Endless Eight" was only one chapter long. Fans were a little surprised that the first EE ended without it even being established as a loop, but figured that the second EE would explain this & solve the case. Well it was established in the second one, but it ended without Kyon being able to fix it. So fans figured he'd get right the next time. He HAD to. But, as we now know, he didn't, leaving us praying he does for the fourth EE episode. At the very least, the previously assumed airing order can be totally thrown out the window now.
While all three (soon to be four) "Endless Eight" episodes are all essentially the same (though to Kadokawa's credit, each episode does include completely original animation with nothing being reused or recycled), there were some key differences between the first & second times. Namely, the gang discovering that they're in a loop. But the third episode truly is pretty much EXACTLY the same as the second. There's just no reason for it to even exist. Now the question is, how long will this go on for? Are they taking the title literally & will be doing it eight times? Will ALL of the remaining season 2 episodes be "Endless Eight?" It shouldn't have even gotten to four, but hopefully that'll be the end of it. Guess we'll find out next week.