Welcome back to Boomb Tube! Here, we will be catching you up on the week in comics TV, both through micro-reviews, as well as links to our full-length TV reviews. We also tend to review series that are dropped all at once weekly so there are a few ‘older’ shows mixed in for good measure. Are we missing your favorite show? Let us know in the comments!
Echo – “Chafa” (E1, Disney+)
Read our full review of the series premiere by Christopher Chiu-Tabet.
Hilda – “The Laughing Merman” (S3E4, Neftlix)
Determined to have a perfectly normal Sparrow Scout outing, Hilda, Frida, and David, along with the new girl, Louise with a camera, set out down the river, doing whatever they can to stick to the map. “We’ll have the most ordinary river trip you can imagine,” Hilda says. “If adventure calls, we’ll simply hang up the phone.” This being Hilda, and these being characters “allergic to normal,” things quickly veer off-course, almost as if they are destined for wild adventures.
At its core, “The Laughing Merman” is a musical, one that recalls the animated classics of the ’90s. Just when the kids think they have everything under control, right as they’re about to fall into a comfortable doldrum, this wild fishman appears. Once the preeminent entertainer of an undersea kingdom, the merman befell a series of mishaps leading him to this river, where he’s desperate for an audience. “He’s going to eat us any second now,” David says. “Even worse. He’s putting on a show!” Frida replies.
It’s no small feat to pull off a musical. Even with the precise timing and control animation offers, it’s easy for the material to spin out and burn out. You don’t need me to point you toward that old VHS shelf of direct-to-video sequels. In order to make a musical work, there needs to be a certain level of skill, ambition, and confidence — qualities the Hilda animators have always possessed. The central number is energetic and imaginative, and the animators cycle through styles and stagings with zeal. The merman, “the most talented fish at the bottom of the sea,” bounces and bounds and stretches across the stage. Color pops and explodes in ways we don’t often see in Hilda, with its usual subdued, pastel palette. The number only stumbles when the kids comment on the absurdity of the performance; that ironic disinterest feels out of place with the rest of the world. It works much better when they cut a deal with the merman to escape, and struggle to suppress their enjoyment.
The go-for-broke approach has been the real fuel for me this season. While Hilda Season Three feels like a sequel series — parading old favorites, coming up with a new plot to recall the original — the approach and the creativity and the loving treatment of this world have kept it alive. —Matthew Garcia
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – “Lights. Camera. Sparks?” (E5, Netflix)
In case you missed it, read our full review by James Dowling.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off – “WHODIDIT” (E6, Netflix)
Read our full review by James Dowling.
