Welcome back to Multiversity Comics’ Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts reviews. This week there’s more Mod Frogs, more Mega-Bunnies, but some new things too—there’s a Benson, a Dave, and Explosion Berries.
“Explosion Berries”
Written by Bill Wolkoff
Directed by Radford Sechrist
1. All-new Benson
Looking at the original “Kipo” webcomic, a lot of things made it into the show with minimal changes. The Wolf of the comic is clearly different for the Wolf of the show, but still instantly recognizable as the same character. But Benson has undergone a complete overhaul.
We never got to see much of the original Benson in the comic (it ended a few pages after his character upgrading from a background character to a speaking role), but all-new Benson is a very different story. The opening of the show is all Benson, giving viewers an immediate and strong impression of who he is. This also shows us that not all surface dwellers are like Wolf.
At first, I wasn’t too sold on Benson being so cool that he’s always playing music, even when in life-threatening peril. I’ve seen that cool-guy trope one too many times, and it has a habit of sucking all the tension out of a scene. However, by the end of the episode it was pretty clear that’s not what’s going on. Benson doesn’t play the music because he’s too cool; he plays the music to keep himself from freaking out. This came through a lot clearer in the last third of the episode, during the escape through Skyscraper Ridge. He’s opting into detachment as a way to function during times of crisis.
2. Some of the luster is coming off the surface world
In episode one, Kipo was all about seeing the wonder of the surface world. Sure, there was danger, but not it a way that actually dampened her spirits. In episode two, she starts to see the cutthroat side of the surface world and she doesn’t like it. The mercenary way Wolf treats survival is not something Kipo’s comfortable with, and we start to get a sense of why Wolf has chosen to lead such a solitary life.
Wolf clearly values her independence, but she has a deeper need for connection, and in this episode we get to see her want and her need in conflict with one another, even to the point of overriding her sense of self-preservation.
And, whether she likes it or not, she’s definitely warming to Mandu. (It was cute to see Mandu save her from the bees, and a nice way to demonstrate that even Wolf needs help sometimes, even if she’d never ask for it.)
3. Improv
As we saw last week, Wolf is a planner, and that’s useful in a world as hostile as the surface world. Still, it’s not the only way to survive, and so in Benson and Dave, we get to see a more improvisational take on survival. These two go with the flow and they rely on each other, and that works for them. . . to a point. While they’ll look out for each other, they’re not above screwing others over just because it benefits them. They’re not loners to the degree that Wolf is, but they still have that “us against the world” attitude that can land them in trouble.
This episode does a good job of showing what each character brings to the table, how well they work apart, and how well they work together, and most importantly, the value in being flexible.
Do I entirely trust Benson and Dave yet? No. But I think they’ll at least think twice before they cross Kipo, Wolf, and Mandu again.
4. Chase sequences!
Man, the chase sequences in this episode were great. We’ve already seen the Mod Frogs’ tongues in play in the last episode, but in the chase sequences in this episode they really crank up the energy.
It also means the characters have to think a little harder about how they escape. It may have been a little bit of a jerk move for Wolf to sting the dragonfly with the deathstalker tail, but it was the only smart move to get out of that chase quickly. I stand by Wolf’s choice.
Continued belowBut the Skyscraper Ridge chase was the big one. It made me think of the chase sequence inside the Death Star in Return of the Jedi, and the Mod Frog flying car made me think of a flying DeLorean, and combining those two together was awesome.
5. Not so lucky clover
So Wolf’s guess about where the burrow settlement was turned out to be right. . . but no one’s home. I find it interesting that Kipo immediately decided everyone escaped though, especially since she’s been chased by Mod Frogs with nefarious plans for humans. Me, I’d probably be thinking something had captured them, but then Kipo’s definitely more of an optimist than me.
Still, at least Wolf came back.
Probably would have been better if the army of axe-wielding cats hadn’t shown up though.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments and check back next Saturday for episode three.
