"Thanks for helping me, guys." "That's what we're here for." "Not me. I'm here for the drama.""Anne Theft Auto" and "Breakout Star" are two incredibly different beasts—even moreso than other episode pairings last week—but in spite of their differences, they form an effective pair, playing to different strengths entirely and ensuring that, when put together as a double-feature, they're all-encompassing of everything great about Amphibia at this point in time.
"Anne Theft Auto" is perhaps the more traditional of the two, focusing on Anne and Sprig on another misadventure, this time taking ol' Bessie (the Plantar family snail) for a ride without reading her instruction manual, which Hop Pop makes a requirement. Anne's reprehensibility is probably her leading trait, and it's a somewhat predictable means of driving some conflict and lesson-learning into an episode, but "Anne Theft Auto" is able to nail it because it doesn't just save those morals for some last-minute resolution out of a botched attempt to solve her mistakes as usual. When she and Sprig take her off-road, leading to Bessie retreating into her shell and effectively leaving the two trapped in the woods, there's no easy escape, and sending out Sprig to get Hop Pop and solve her problems only goes so far. (In a fun twist, one of the townsfolk that he mocked in an act of road rage earlier is his only chance of hitching a ride to Hop Pop, and he gets punished accordingly in the form of the most nightmarishly slow ride of his life.)
Ultimately, she's stranded in the woods with nobody else but Bessie, and she eventually succumbs to reading her instruction manual, only to be immediately captivated by it. It's not particularly glorious as far as hooks go, and the show plays it straight, spinning out hilariously over-detailed excerpts from the account of Bessie's history with the family, but there's a legitimate sense of development in Anne actually stepping it up here. Instead of just trying to Anne her way out of the situation, she demonstrates some level of responsibility and levelheadedness, and it just so happens to save her life from a horde of terrifying hedgehogs.Everything about "Anne Theft Auto" is more low-key than its title would suggest, but it's all the better because of it. Sure, there's not some grand revelation at the end that puts Anne in a better place than she was before; if anything, the ending of the episode, with Anne pulling an all-nighter on the manual only to laugh maniacally in learning that Hop Pop's ready to put her behind the wheel for more practice, is almost subversive of how Amphibia episodes usually like to end. But the real lessons come from within the episode itself, and instead of merely bookending a zany adventure, the meat of the episode is the most vital part, and I like that change of pace.
"Breakout Star," meanwhile, shifts into a different gear entirely. If "Anne Theft Auto" was more oriented around the Plantar family in relation to Anne, "Breakout Star" is all about Anne's tenuous relation with the townsfolk. It's something that's gone relatively unexplored, aside from a few nods here and there, but this is the first episode to really go knee-deep into her perception as a monster in one of the most ingenious ways possible: when she wakes up one morning with zits, instead of turning her more hideous in the eyes of the town, they're warts, and as frogs, that makes her utterly gorgeous.Suddenly, Anne goes from a sight for sore eyes to a celebrity, pursued by her newly-gained f-Annes and, in another exciting breakthrough, has her popularity weaponized by Mayor Toadstool in hopes of winning the next month's election in spite of his ongoing embezzlement scandals. We haven't seen much of Mayor Toadstool, nor have we seen any of his adorable assistant, Toadie (voiced by Wander himself, Jack McBrayer, who continues to be cast perfectly in every project he's ever appeared in), and "Breakout Star" is an exciting opportunity to give them more screentime and bring Toadstool's sleaziness to the forefront. He's a hilariously oafish character in his incompetence, but the episode is able to perfectly illustrate the extent of his corruption, grooming Anne with wealth, fame, and massive statues just so he can use her for a boost in ratings. Even if he's not too much of a threat here, who knows what sort of shenanigans he could get caught up with in the future?
All of that is balanced, too, by how much of a chance "Breakout Star" is to show off the Plantars. When fame distorts Anne's thoughts and turns her into a diva, she gets full of herself, but it's only once all or her zits go away one morning (y'know, as zits do) that she realizes that they're the one constant to her new existence. It's a lesson she's learned countless times before—that all the Plantars genuinely care about her, even when she does stupid stuff—but seeing it play out to this level makes it even more potent. Even when Anne is at her worst, Hop Pop's aware that the real Anne is somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down, and there's something moving about their ability to bring her back in touch with herself at the end of the day.Anne could continue to live a lie and reap the benefits, but what's the point of doing it alone? She recognizes that the clamor surrounding her isn't genuine, and (rather dramatically) wipes off the fake acne that her family helped her gather as a means of having her back in front of all the townsfolk, eliciting the expected screams and soiling Toadstool's campaign. Will it set back how she's viewed in the town? Straight back to square one. But it's just good to know that Anne knows what, and who, really matters.
FINAL GRADES:
"Anne Theft Auto": B+.
"Breakout Star": A-.
For the last set of Amphibia reviews for "The Domino Effect" and "Taking Charge," CLICK HERE.
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These two episodes seemed to illustrate well the dynamic of the show, it's characters and morals and I appreciate's Amphibia's own style on delivering lessons. I liked them even thought the consecuences and resolutions of the characters were kind of predictable.
ReplyDeleteAs a cartoon fan I have seen the same plot of breaking the rules taking dad's car or when popularity gets over your head many other times, the difference with Amphibia is how it manages to use its humor and its unconventional character dynamics to settle and put together the narrative, having also a different, not all straightfoward pace to reach the climax.
I think even minor characters like Polly or that old Lady have an important role in their brutal albeit short interventions to carry a comedic tone between the plot events.
My only complain is that, even thought Anne's the focus, I kinda wished to see other characters grow learning from her, learning about his point of view and experiences. Like for example, I think she was right trying to ride Bessie to get some experience because the manual wasn't as much practical as it should.