[8.0/10] Returning to Wartwood alongside the Plantars feels cathartic. I’m impressed with a lot of what Amphibia has accomplished in season 2, but one of its subtlest achievements is how good the pacing of the season is. You feel the length of the Plantars journey to Newtopia without their tour dragging on too long. (Hello Gargoyles fans!) You get some quality time in Newtopia itself without the novelty wearing off. And the family makes it back to their home pretty quickly afterwards so the writers aren’t just rehashing the travelogue stories we got on the way there.
The result is that after twenty-one episodes of traveling, it’s satisfying to return to the show’s original setting, without it feeling like a respite from where the creative team chose to take our heroes instead. That's not an easy balance to strike.
Regardless, the writers reward the audience’s patience with a rip-roaring hoot of an episode. There is, admittedly, a bit of a sitcommy quality to this one. The premise of the Plantars returning from their trip after promising to bring back souvenirs for the townsfolk, only to have forgotten the task entirely, is a recipe for broad hijinks. In lesser hands, it could be facepalm-inducing. Instead, Amphibia takes a turn toward the zany and macabre, which is a mixture you can sign me up for.
The whole concept of choosing not to come clean, but rather to paint a bunch of empty boxes as shiny gifts, and then invoke an eldritch god to destroy them and get you off the hook, is pure delightful insanity. I freakin’ love the chikcalisk. The design, the score, its subtitled responses to the town’s shenanigans are all absolute aces. And Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly playing along like they’re shocked by his presence adds another layer of comedy to the proceedings.
On top of that. There’s a nice character beat here with Sprig and Ivy. Sprig being excited to reunite with his girlfriend, but worrying that she’ll be disappointed with him since he has nothing to show for his travels, is a relatable worry. The idea that the item he was supposed to retrieve is the twin to the moonshell they exchanged last season gives it extra resonance. And the fact that, at the end of the day, Ivy is more happy just to have Sprig back than she cares about “just a shell” resolves things on the right note.
Likewise, there’s a meta quality that runs through this one in amusing ways. I love how self-aware Anne is about this, noting that they’ve learned the lesson about honesty countless times at this point. Incredulous Anne is one of my favorite versions of her, so I got a lot of comic mileage out of her hilarious frustration with the rest of her family here. Of course, after the Plantars get undue plaudits for defeating the beast they unleashed, they do come clean. But in a heartening and nicely meta twist, the townsfolk are just glad they’re back to cause enjoyable mischief and mayhem again. The idea that Wartwood was too quiet and boring without their wacky adventures is a clever one.
Overall, for our first jaunt back in Wartwood since the season began, Amphibia pulls out all the stops and has a hilarious, winking, and winning installment to show for it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2024-01-25T03:47:51Z
[8.0/10] Returning to Wartwood alongside the Plantars feels cathartic. I’m impressed with a lot of what Amphibia has accomplished in season 2, but one of its subtlest achievements is how good the pacing of the season is. You feel the length of the Plantars journey to Newtopia without their tour dragging on too long. (Hello Gargoyles fans!) You get some quality time in Newtopia itself without the novelty wearing off. And the family makes it back to their home pretty quickly afterwards so the writers aren’t just rehashing the travelogue stories we got on the way there.
The result is that after twenty-one episodes of traveling, it’s satisfying to return to the show’s original setting, without it feeling like a respite from where the creative team chose to take our heroes instead. That's not an easy balance to strike.
Regardless, the writers reward the audience’s patience with a rip-roaring hoot of an episode. There is, admittedly, a bit of a sitcommy quality to this one. The premise of the Plantars returning from their trip after promising to bring back souvenirs for the townsfolk, only to have forgotten the task entirely, is a recipe for broad hijinks. In lesser hands, it could be facepalm-inducing. Instead, Amphibia takes a turn toward the zany and macabre, which is a mixture you can sign me up for.
The whole concept of choosing not to come clean, but rather to paint a bunch of empty boxes as shiny gifts, and then invoke an eldritch god to destroy them and get you off the hook, is pure delightful insanity. I freakin’ love the chikcalisk. The design, the score, its subtitled responses to the town’s shenanigans are all absolute aces. And Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly playing along like they’re shocked by his presence adds another layer of comedy to the proceedings.
On top of that. There’s a nice character beat here with Sprig and Ivy. Sprig being excited to reunite with his girlfriend, but worrying that she’ll be disappointed with him since he has nothing to show for his travels, is a relatable worry. The idea that the item he was supposed to retrieve is the twin to the moonshell they exchanged last season gives it extra resonance. And the fact that, at the end of the day, Ivy is more happy just to have Sprig back than she cares about “just a shell” resolves things on the right note.
Likewise, there’s a meta quality that runs through this one in amusing ways. I love how self-aware Anne is about this, noting that they’ve learned the lesson about honesty countless times at this point. Incredulous Anne is one of my favorite versions of her, so I got a lot of comic mileage out of her hilarious frustration with the rest of her family here. Of course, after the Plantars get undue plaudits for defeating the beast they unleashed, they do come clean. But in a heartening and nicely meta twist, the townsfolk are just glad they’re back to cause enjoyable mischief and mayhem again. The idea that Wartwood was too quiet and boring without their wacky adventures is a clever one.
Overall, for our first jaunt back in Wartwood since the season began, Amphibia pulls out all the stops and has a hilarious, winking, and winning installment to show for it.