While
Andrew Rannell’s character Andrei first appears in the episode I reviewed last time, this is his proper introduction to the show. Welcome
to the Wayne is already a fun, entertaining series, and Andrei himself adds
to the fun.
Ansi has
discovered a mysterious new neighbor (Andrei) with no recollection of who he
is. Saraline and Olly are quickly
recruited to help out, and together, the kids and Andrei try to puzzle out the
mystery of his origins, particularly once it becomes clear that Andrei’s amnesia
is covering up more secrets than the average person has.
I’m
getting a good feel for the series, its characters, and its humor. All the kids are true to form here – Ansi is
apprehensive, Olly is cheerily gung ho, and Saraline is curious if annoyed. The supernatural goings-on story is different
this time around, since it isn’t about the kids tracking/fighting some sort of
beastie – rather, it’s about them helping a guy who seems to have some kind of
supernatural something going on with him.
I like that, that it’s not just a straight “monster of the week”
situation.
And of
course, it’s all very weird and funny.
While I like all three of the kids, I’m coming to find that Olly has
most of the best lines, both in writing and delivery (showrunner Billy Lopez
also voices Olly – coincidence?) Here,
his enthusiastic reactions to Andrei’s oddness really crack me up. When Andrei worries whether it’s wise for
them to being around Andrei, I love Olly’s, “Are you kidding? He’s thrown, like, three harpoons since we
met him!” And later, shortly after
they’ve discovered that Andrei’s skin starts on fire when exposed to direct
sunlight, Olly brightly declares Andrei “the coolest, most flammable weirdo
I’ve ever hung out with!” That kid just
makes me happy.
Andrei
himself is a good addition to the proceedings.
While the mystery around him drops enough hints that you can very
quickly figure out what his deal is (which I won’t spoil here,) the process of
him and the kids figuring it out is still fun, and I’m intrigued by the crumbs
suggesting a deeper mystery at work connecting him to other characters. Even better, I just enjoy Andrei’s response
to the whole thing. He’s a little
embarrassed not to know who he is, kind of freaked out by the things he’s
learning about himself, but also amusingly-deadpan about it. There’s an early scene of him and the kids
looking around his apartment for clues as who/what he might be, and it’s
peppered with him doing crazy things (like the aforementioned harpoon-throwing)
and making sort of blasé acknowledgements of them, very, “Okay, so this is happening now.” I especially love when they realize that he
glows in the dark; after asking, “What – do your bodies not do this?”, he just
sort of sheepishly comments, “Bodies – am I right?”
It’s very
endearing, a mix of over-the-top and understated that blends together
surprisingly well. Rannells’s voice work
is a huge part of that – he has a lot of great line readings, and the vibe he
brings to the character just fits in very well with the show. Plus, he gets to sing (very briefly) near the
end of the episode, and that’s always a good thing.
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