*Episode premise spoilers.*
From here on out, it’s basically all arc stuff all the time. I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers that aren’t critical to discussing the basic plot of the episode, but consider yourself warned.
Team Akiridion has learned, with the most razor-thin of margins, that General Morando has made it to Earth with an army of Omen robots. To make matters worse, he’s teamed up with Colonel Kubritz. With his Omens and the forces of Area 49B backing him, he descends on the Mothership, where the Tarrons and their allies are in for the fight of their lives.
Our character of the week is Sergeant Costas, voiced by Oscar Nuñez from The Office. Kubritz’s go-to officer at Area 49B, Costas is dedicated to his job but nurturing doubts, especially when it comes to 1) Kubritz’s vendetta against a pair of minors and 2) getting into bed with Morando.
This episode is just the start of Aja, Krel, and co.’s confrontation with Morando. We open on them debating their options, but Aja insists that there’s only choice. She says, “Morando expects us to run and hide, because that’s all we’ve done since the first secton he attacked our planet,” later adding, “This is our home. We must protect it!” They’re fighting for their own safety and that of their parents, who’ve spent most of the series being stabilized in regeneration pods, but they’re also fighting because they know Morando won’t be content with only killing them; the whole town will be next, and eventually the whole planet.
To that end, there’s plenty of cool, suspenseful action to be had. Yes, the Omens follow the inverse ninja law—while it took everything Aja and Krel had to take out just one Omen last season, they’re now met with a horde of them and not immediately overwhelmed. And yes, I know the good people of Arcadia Oaks aren’t the most observant folks in the world, given that most of them don’t know about the trolls living beneath them, but there are robots openly fighting on a residential street at night, with a spaceship flying overhead shooting missiles at a neighboring house.
But like I said, a bit of silliness aside, it is cool. Aja gets some heroic lines and moves, Varvatos takes on a pack of Omens while screaming, “Varvatos Vex commands you to get off his lawn!!!”, and Morando is a ruthless and untiring threat.
Because Krel is the Akiridion character with the least fighting prowess, he’s featured less today, but that doesn’t mean his role isn’t important. Their strategy relies on him completing his full-sized wormhole device while the others hold back Morando and his army, and he has other meaningful tech contributions to bring to the fight.
As is often the case with the show in general, Krel recognizes the seriousness of the situation but also brings humor in moments. When Aja accidentally knocks him over when they run into each other in a corridor, she remarks, “Maybe when this is over, I should teach you how to fight.” They’re immediately beset by Omens and Krel replies, “I’ll take those fighting lessons now!” And I smiled when Krel struggles to christen something and grumbles, “Why isn’t Toby here right now? Naming things is really his specialty.” As usual, Diego Luna’s line deliveries are a good mix of earnest, snarky, and exasperated.
One more moment I love: when they’re first confronted by Morando, he warns that he’ll make them “regret [their] very existence.” The Akiridions are poised and ready to fight, and Krel snaps off, “The only existence we will regret is yours!” Beside him, Varvatos murmurs, “Good one.” So cute!
