Television 

Five Thoughts on Big Hero 6: The Series‘ “Aunt Cass Goes Out”

By | July 2nd, 2018
Posted in Television | % Comments

This week’s Big Hero 6 was a non-stop gagfest where Hiro decided to set up Aunt Cass with a boyfriend, in the hope it’d mean she spent less time at home, and less chances for her to accidentally stumble on his secret identity. Also, Alistair Krei wants the team to iron out the kinks in his latest project. How do these two storylines meet? By becoming Hiro’s worst nightmare…

1. I Need a Hiro

What is it with superheroes’ aunts dating supervillains? The episode definitely brought to mind “The Amazing Spider-Man” #131 (April 1974), when Doc Ock got married to Aunt May to gain possession of a nuclear facility she inherited (man, comic books are crazy). Now Krei isn’t as near a big a jerk as Otto Octavius, but he does blackmail Big Hero 6 into helping them by threatening to reveal their identities, so I was definitely gagging when he and Aunt Cass started flirting – to jazz music no less.

Likewise at the start of the episode, we reunite with Richardson, the creepy 11-year old comic book store owner with a crush on Go Go from “Issue 188.” His sole purpose in the episode – other than some great humor from Baymax at his expense by Baymax – is to inspire Hiro to find a date for his aunt. I guess it’s just as well that every guy in the city available in the city isn’t good enough for Cass.

2. East and West Coming Together

One of the most interesting things about Big Hero 6 is how San Fransokyo reflects Hiro’s biracial (white and Asian) heritage. Each art design decision is fascinating: like why do Hiro and Baymax change behind a folding screen? That screen design is itself a strong reminder of the long history of Eastern ideas making their ways West. To be frank, I don’t know anyone who has a changing screen, but Hiro having one is a great reminder of the city’s cultural fusion.

There are a couple of food-related examples in the episode too, like Fred getting takeout from a chain called Noodle Burger, a bizarre sounding fusion that a quick online search shows is a surprisingly popular idea. Similarly, Krei has a big hang-up about when Cass mentions she serves chicken fingers – while I’m now aware that’s the American phrase for chicken strips or fillets, it did bring to mind some of my white relatives who did find it odd that chicken feet was being served at Chinese restaurants.

3. What a Joke

I said this episode was non-stop with the jokes, and that’s very much embodied by its main antagonist, Mel, Mel-Krei, who’s a harmless idiot who’s angry that his cloaking tech is being used by Krei for his robotic bodyguards, rather than as a party toy. His character’s basically there to provide an excuse for a fight at the end of this edition of a superhero episode, and for Hiro and Baymax to smash some robots that resemble Krei’s inflated head (how poetic).

It's that weird dream about Alan Tudyk again.

Guest star John Ross Bowie (The Big Bang Theory)’s performance as Mel sounds a lot like Eddie Deezen (1941, Dexter’s Laboratory), further enhancing that harmless, annoying quality. I doubt we’ll be seeing his character again.

4. Nice Flying, Baymax

I was really surprised to read in the credits that Norlum animated this episode, it looks so much better than last week’s episode, which was already a big improvement over the previous episodes they oversaw. While I still noticed a low framerate every now and again, the characters still feel wonderfully alive and expressive, and the sequences of Baymax flying through the city are dynamic and beautifully planned with dynamic camera angles.

5. What Comes Next?

Overall, this episode was just an amusing piece of marshmellowy fluff. I hope that if we get another episode starring Aunt Cass, we’ll get some insight into their family’s history, instead of an implausible date. The show also really needs to decide if Krei is a bad guy or not, as he’s not showing much (if any) remorse for driving his employees insane yet. Cass does seem to bring out his nicer side during their dinner date, but snakes can shed their skin too y’know.


//TAGS | Big Hero 6

Christopher Chiu-Tabet

Chris is the news manager of Multiversity Comics. A writer from London on the autistic spectrum, he enjoys tweeting and blogging on Medium about his favourite films, TV shows, books, music, and games, plus history and religion. He is Lebanese/Chinese, although he can't speak Cantonese or Arabic.

EMAIL | ARTICLES


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