This show is just fun. I genuinely love it, and not just in “this is good for something geared towards younger viewers” way. It may not be perfect, but it has a ton of humor and heart, and it slips some sly commentary in with its larger messages.
Aja and Krel are having trouble fitting in at school, since they’re still very new to the whole “acting human” thing. This concerns Varvatos, who thinks that suspicious behavior on their part may attract the hunters sent after them by Morando, the general who seized the Akiridion throne during the coup. When the kids see Eli, one of their classmates, snooping outside their home/ship, Krel decides to build a device to get inside Eli’s head and figure out how much he knows.
There’s so much here that cracks me up. I love the Akiridions’ confusion about human customs and norms, like when Krel slops food into his mouth in the cafeteria while Aja washes her hands with orange juice—at which point they wonder why everyone is staring at them. When they realize Eli might onto them, Varvatos’s mind immediately goes to torture, urging the kids to, “Drink his blood from the keg of glory!” And when Aja finds Krel grooving out to music as he works on his mindreading device, she earnestly asks, “Are you having a very small party?” The comic moments rarely feel like they’re trying too hard or relying on lazy tropes. Instead, the one-liners and sight gags are delightfully off-beat, and the whole cast gives it their all.
I also really like the balance the show strikes with the portrayal of Aja and Krel. The way they react to situations is often different and yet in-sync, like they appreciate each other’s individual strengths even if they don’t always understand them, and though they bicker and tease each other, you can feel the love behind it. And I like how nuanced their response is to their new surroundings. They’re sometimes fascinated, sometimes confused, sometimes disheartened, sometimes proactive, sometime frustrated, which keeps the story flowing and dynamic.
Our character of the week is Eli Pepperjack, voiced by Cole Sand. A holdover from Trollhunters, Eli is an excitable nerd with a perpetually cracking voice, and the new kids set off his spidey senses. He’s familiar with Arcadia Oaks’ more fantastical elements, as he gradually came to learn about trolls and other “creeps” on Trollhunters, but the prospect of aliens is a new one for him.
Nice story for Krel in this episode. His tech prowess can be a handy way to move a plot along, but here, we see how it’s also reflective of how Krel thinks and operates. Tasked with finding out what Eli knows, he doesn’t go the Varvatos-approved torture route, but he also doesn’t just try to talk to Eli, either. His mind immediately goes to gadgets, a technology-based solution to his problem. And once he’s made his device, I like seeing how he uses it, not just for telepathic reconnaissance, but also for connecting briefly with some of his classmates. I love how he bounces energetically from student to student, responding to their inner thoughts in a sincere but still awkward way. For instance, when he hears a student think My parents will kill me over a bad test score, Krel exclaims, “Then study hard! Do not die, my friend.”
Diego Luna is so good in this role. I’ve really enjoyed his other animated work, especially Zatz in Maya and the Three, but I think Krel might be his best voice acting performance. I love his matter-of-fact, slightly irritated delivery on, “We’re not torturing the Eli. He needs his thumbs.” (To which Varvatos of course cries, “I need his thumbs!”) And when Aja takes his mindreading device for a spin, his resulting freakout is pitch perfect. “No, you’re gonna break it!” he pleads, in what might be the most authentic whine I’ve heard from an adult actor playing a teen. It is 100% nerdy little brother getting upset with his sister for messing with his complicated toys, and I love it.
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