Amphibia Review: The Domino Effect / Taking Charge

"Welcome, brother, to the Church of Cute!" "Uhh, this a cult thing?"

For better or worse, Amphibia's very much in its first season, and while it's been advantageous on the character front, working hard to solidify each character and demonstrate their chemistry, the episodes through which they've been demonstrating their worth, for the most part, feel safe. I don't find that lack of ambition surprising, though: Amphibia is accomplishing everything that it has to with aplomb, carving out a distinct universe and tone that makes it stand out from other, like-minded shows, and leaving an impression is the earliest sign that a show's getting somewhere.

Unfortunately, though, episodes like "The Domino Effect" are a reminder that we're still in the show's first phase. As I mentioned last time, there's a formula the show's been using where an object that once seemed insignificant suddenly comes out of nowhere and saves the day, and lo and behold, Anne's toy mouse gets to hold that coveted role for this iteration, though with an unfortunate lack of unpredictability to make it at least an engaging conclusion.

What we do get, though, is an alright episode in and of itself, with Anne adopting a literal caterpillar because it reminds her of her cat from back home, Domino. There's not a lot of surprises in what ensues, with her underestimating the differences between the newly-named Domino 2 and an actual cat. Domino 2's repeated attempts to cause harm to Sprig and the other Plantars going repeatedly unrecognized (Anne tries to frame them as "play biting") are alright comedy-wise, but that means that it metamorphosing into a Coastal Killapiller intent on destroying the Plantars with its newly-gained powers doesn't come off as a surprise. Anne's ignorance to Domino 2's potential danger makes sense, but it doesn't leave any room for surprise, meaning that "The Domino Effect" simply stays true to what it knows and gets the job done in a very no-frills sort of way: what you see is what you get.

"Taking Charge," in that respect, is a step up. Anne's mysteriously indestructible phone has somehow managed to avoid problems with its charge over the course of the past few episodes, and the episode finds a fun way to address that in its premise: after watching an episode of a reality show together, Suspicion Island, someone mysteriously watches every episode out of obsession through the night, draining the phone's health to the point that it's dead by the morning. (The end of the episode revealing Anne's phone goes up to a maximum charge of 10,000%, too, is a funny way of admitting to the phone's near-immortal charge capacity.)

While the mystery element at play to "Taking Charge" isn't the best—right from the get-go, it's insanely obvious that Hop Pop, who repeatedly deflects any level of care in Suspicion Island, is the culprit—the narrative is pretty thrilling in a lot of other aspects, allowing Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop to take a journey to a new region entirely, the Misty Peaks, in search of Zapapedes that can jolt some charge into the phone. That change of location keeps the episode exciting while hinting towards what sort of more expedition-driven episodes are in the series' future.

Cartoony antics are also at an all-time high here, with all of the characters constantly bickering with one another and attempting to expose one another as the culprit behind the phone's battery loss. This is just an episode imbued with slapstick, all culminating in a thoroughly ridiculous but perfectly silly conclusion: once Hop Pop exposes himself as the person responsible, he vows to make it up to Anne by diving into a pit of Zapapedes, being shocked repeatedly and mercilessly. Then, all the kids link up to reach down and save him, and the electricity goes through each of them one-by-one, sending them flying. It's the sort of stupid gag that just feels timeless, and while it's been done before by a lot of other shows, it's so fun, and the circumstances surrounding it are so specific that it just kills.

While these two episodes aren't anything too special, "Taking Charge" at least allows Amphibia to prove its gameness for more frenzied joke-telling, and it's good to know that it can pull of some classic comedy from the back pocket whenever you need it.

FINAL GRADES:
"The Domino Effect": B-.
"Taking Charge": B+.

For the last set of Amphibia reviews for "Hop Luck" and "Stakeout," CLICK HERE.

For updates every time I post a new review, follow me on Twitter @Matt_a_la_mode.