I really like this episode. It’s a fun blend of the alien and mundane, and even though everything revolves around one central plot, the show is able to do a nice range of stuff within that.
Zadra has just received word from the Akiridion-5 resistance that General Morando is planning to come to Earth, armed with a ship full of his deadly Omen robots. The resistance is ill-equipped to stop the ship, but when Krel learns that they have access to a large number of low-level drones, he gets an idea: code a mobile game, sync it to the drones, and then get the whole town playing it. Suddenly, everyone in Arcadia Oaks is a remote pilot.
Okay, I do have to say that it’s morally squicky to enlist someone in a war without their knowledge or consent, having them unwittingly pilot drones used in a dogfight in space. There are a couple mitigating factors here. For one, the ship is mostly occupied by evil killer robots who aren’t sentient, and of the few sentient beings who are on board, one is a murderous war criminal. Additionally, the goal is specifically to damage the ship enough that it can’t leave Akiridion-5, not kill Morando. But still.
That said, it is still a really fun episode. I love jumping between scenes of Krel creating his game/Aja getting people to play it and Varvatos making his own preparations for Morando’s possible invasion. Assuming that the ship’s arrival is a foregone conclusion—he leaves the Mother Ship before Krel gets his idea—he’s trying to recruit warriors, which involves trying to convince everyone from the local police to his chess buddies that a warship is on the way. It’s especially good when people around him start playing the game and he doesn’t know what it is. “Tell Varvatos what is happening, or he will expose your entrails to sunlight!” he rages.
The character of the week is Mary Wang. She’s voiced by Lauren Tom, who you might recognize variously from The Joy Luck Club, voicing Amy on Futurama, or playing the mom on Andi Mack. A recurring character, Mary is a one of the popular kids at school, a typical teen who’s blithely oblivious to any of the weird goings-on in Arcadia Oaks. She’s the lynchpin to Aja’s plan to spread the game around town. Aja urges her to share it on all her socials, saying, “Make it go viral, Mary. Infect everyone!”
Another good episode for Krel. Obviously, it’s his plan that drives the main plot, so he has plenty to do. Ethical questions aside, creating this game is a nice demonstration that Krel isn’t just a brainiac who’s brimming with knowledge; he’s also brimming with ingenuity, coming at a problem sideways and thinking up with a creative solution to a tricky situation.
Diego Luna has some terrific line readings in this episode. Here are a few of my favorites:
· As Krel does some hacker magic to link the game to the movement of the drones, he’s gleeful about the backdoor he found into the system – “Morando’s getting sloppy!” he proclaims in a singsong voice.
· As people start to play the game and our heroes watch the drones start to fire on Morando’s ship on a screen, I love how excited Krel gets, immediately followed by his attempts to play it cool – “I can’t believe it!” he enthuses. Then, confidently, “I mean, of course it’s working.”
· At a crucial moment, Eli doubts his ability to pull off a critical hit, and Krel’s pep talk gets off to a dubious start – “That’s right, Eli, you can’t!” he says. When Aja scolds him, I just love his argumentative tone as he retorts, “I’m going somewhere with this—give me a secton.” Never change, Krel.
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