I can see why this is the lowest rated of the Lupin the Third seasons I've watched so far. Both Part 4 and 5 had pretty gripping central narratives that paid off well, but this one was much more of a mixed bag. Weird to say it was at its best when it was leaning on Sherlock Holmes (usually something I'm not terribly fond of in anime), but that portion of the plot had some pretty neat twists and paid off well. I can't say the same for the Tomoe plot, which was more convoluted and ended anticlimactically. She might have more influence on theplot going forward given how many of the women from this season are still in play, but it's hard to say how much future seasons of the show will bring in characters like Mattea and Mercedes. I'm not sure I'd want that anyway, they don't have the kind of magnetic appeal that Rebecca, Nyx, or even Ami had. It is pretty apparent that Moriarty is destined to stick around, which might lead somewhere interesting, but his role was almost entirely on the sidelines this season and even then, it wasn't pivotal at all (Goemon and Jigen got info leading to Tomoe's location, but Zenigata intuited the same from meeting Mercedes).

That said, this is still Lupin and I still enjoyed their various antics. Getting to see Jigen go full hard-boiled in a couple of episodes, some time travel shenanigans, and even the brushes with the fantastical were intriguing. I think this worked best when it was just focused on side stories and one-offs, and I got enough of those to have a good time going through this.