On this week’s Big Hero 6: The Series, Hiro and Wasabi were assigned to design a tool for using in clearing space debris, while big bad Obake reprogrammed Noodle Burger’s robot to gather intel on Big Hero 6, and destroy them.
1. I Know a Face (Yeah)
In my review of the pilot, I asked for help identifying a couple of background characters (who were in the foreground), as their appearance was so distinctive it seemed they were a reference to some film or TV show. As the weeks have gone on, the show has demonstrated it’s great at designing unique background characters, it was still notable the man with the red cap is seen prominently avoiding a drone attack orchestrated by Obake to draw out Big Hero 6. Evidently, the time came to save money by reusing character models.
2. Fear of Surveillance
We’re introduced to Noodle Burger Boy, a robot commissioned by the restaurant from Krei Tech to learn everything it can about its customers, just from looking at them, which is why Obake makes him into Big Hero 6’s would-be assassin. This episode must’ve been written months before the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal broke, so it’s amazing how relevant it is, tapping into our current horror at how much websites are spying at us. While it’s possible one of the writers may have read Carole Cadwalladr’s early report before the scandal blew up, I reckon they just shared our initial horror at how platforms designed for something as innocent as keeping in touch with your friends became a breeding ground for the far right.
3. Agent of Chaos
Even before Obake turns him, there’s something disquieting about Noodle Burger Boy and his happy go lucky, eager-to-please nature. And when he turns, his unchanging smiley expression becomes genuinely unsettling for a kid’s show villain, as does his childish voice and appearance. It’s all very Joker, and perhaps it’s because I just rewatched it, but there’s a something a little Dark Knight about how he alerts everyone beforehand to his crimes, or how he constantly gets the jump on Big Hero 6. It’s also disconcerting how unstoppable in combat he actually is until Wasabi and Hiro outsmart him. I think he’s a fascinating funhouse mirror image of Baymax, and definitely has the potential to become the gang’s creepiest recurring foe.
4. Mix and Match
I found the conflict between Wasabi and Hiro as they collaborated on their project rather forced, and became a little bored with it as a result. Sure, Hiro’s 14, but I found the reveal that he’s slovenly and messy pretty contrived, as it was clearly conceived now to generate the bickering in the episode. Honestly, if Wasabi should be clashing with anyone over a project, it should be Fred, but as Granville points out, he’s not even a student. I don’t think Wasabi and Hiro’s end decision to swap armors – intentionally, unlike last week – really enforced any moral to younger viewers about realizing to see things from someone else’s perspective all that much either.
5. Personal Boundaries
Fred found civilians a bit clingy this week: first he found it hard to put down a frightened guy gripping onto his suit for dear life after rescuing him, and then hugged by Noodle Burger Boy’s distraught owner. Despite that, he subsequently goes ahead and invades Go Go’s when they team-up to go find Noodle Burger Boy.
Sadly there’s no pay off: I hope in further episodes Fred is reminded about the golden rule, or to grow up a little and realize empathy and comforting the distressed is as much a part of being a hero as fighting crime or swooping in and saving them.
Bonus thoughts:
– The use of 3D animation feels a bit more obvious this week, especially with the runaway cable car.
– So Obake apparently has everything he needs to know about Big Hero 6? Did all he get from Krei was Hiro’s name?
– Can Big Hero 6’s armor change size now, or did Wasabi and Hiro manufacture a whole range of custom-fitting armor?
