Welcome back everyone, to another episode of SpyXFamily! I have another really good episode for you this week, a fantastic balance of comedy and wholesomeness, so lets jump right into it.
Like I said, I think this was another absolutely perfect episode of SpyXFamily. The balance of comedy to wholesome family moments was spot on. Giving us just enough to laugh at while still progressing the family dynamics. Meanwhile the jokes themselves were, once again, layered and filled with punchlines. The best jokes in SpyXFamily’s arsenal are the ones that play on character expectations, with multiple characters being present and having their own punchline, as well as audience knowledge of what is actually going on. As an example, lets take a look at my favorite joke of the episode: Anya apologizing to Damian while Loid watches on.
The core of the joke is simple, and is based on the characters and their interactions. Anya has spent the entire episode trying to apologize to Damian, with Becky getting in her way. And each time Damian stops and wonders what this weird little girl is doing, reacting strangely each time. At the end though we see that instead of being annoyed with her, Damian has instead been crushing on Anya. Playing back all of the previous scenes through his eyes, showing how much “cuter” Anya looks in them. Eventually running away rather than face his feelings, punchline 1. Meanwhile Anya is bawling her eyes out, not because she feels guilty but because she is reading the minds of the bullies and hearing all their insults, joke 2. And then there is Loid, seeing all of this and freaking out that Anya got rejected as the punchline, joke 3. All of these only working because we, the audience, have our own knowledge of the situation. With Becky closing out the half as a final epilogue style punchline, screaming into the room Loid fake-called her to. There’s just so much going on for this one joke, I love it.
And Damian! I’ve always enjoyed Damian. He’s set up to be this complete asshole, this bully. But we get the rug pulled out from under us as it’s revealed that while yes, he is a bully, that isn’t his relationship with Anya. Instead he actually likes her because she’s the only one not kotowing to his every whim. But he can’t reveal that! That’s embarrassing, his goons and the rest of the class can’t know! He can’t even accept it himself. All of this adding another layer to any of his interactions with Anya. On top of that, it also adds another layer to Loid’s comedy. Because he thinks that Plan B, become friends with Damian, is dead. Yet he’s closer to success than ever and all he needs is Damian to admit it! This is what well planned comedy looks like people! Layers, on layers. Like an onion.
As for the wholesome half, this was cute and sweet. These aren’t just surface level, made-up, bullshit problems. Figuring out how to talk to your kid, how to communicate, care for them and prepare them to succeed in life without alienating them is hard. Seeing Loid figure out that he hasn’t been the best dad is heartbreaking. And then there’s the why! On paper it’s presented that Loid is only thinking of the mission, that he needs to be an “ideal father” to save the world. But the closer you look into what he says, and has said, the more it looks like something Loid himself wants. He does all this so children can have a happier life than he did. And here he is, raising a kid for a mission, being what he believes is a subpar dad. It’s heartwarming in a way all the best comedies are.
And we can’t forget Yor either! She only had a small part in the episode, that of being supportive of Loid and questioning her own place in the family, but it was still sweet. This idea that she cares enough to comment but still feels like it isn’t her place. Only to be comforted by Loid and told that, yes, you are just as much a member of this fake family as him or Anya, is sweet. Forget all of the outside family stuff, like shopping or kidnapping and shit. Give me more of this! Just the three of them feeling out what it means to be a family inside their little apartment, having legitimate heart to heart moments. Because it’s stuff like this that gives the comedy an emotional core to always fall back to, just like say… Great Teacher Onizuka, one of my favorite series ever made.
So yeah, all in all I think this was another successful episode of SpyXFamily. Easily some of the most fun I’ve had with the series yet, with only say… episode 4 matching that. Episode 5 had some fantastic animation, but I felt it was lacking a bit in the comedy department. Meanwhile the others were either still trying to find their footing or focused to much on the SoL stuff rather than the family stuff. Maybe that’s a silly distinction, I dunno. All I can say is that I had a lot of fun and emotions for this weeks episode and I’m glad to see it continuing to succeed.
