On the first season finale of Mech Cadets, Stanford, Olivia, Frank, Maya, and Tanaka faced off against the Queen Sharg in space, where they planned to have Buddy control a black hole that would get rid of the beast. His Robo damaged, Tanaka decided to sacrifice himself to push the Sharg into the singularity… but Olivia had other ideas.
1. All in the First Five Mins
It’s a good thing Olivia’s sacrifice happens at the start of this episode, and not at the end of the last one, because there would’ve been no action in this part at all. This episode felt very much like an obituary for her, beginning with her sacrificing herself to push the Queen after Tanaka nearly got pulled inside the black hole, before we finally learn her backstory, with the now customary 2D, black-and-white flashback after the cut to black. It’s here we learn Charlie was Olivia’s mother, and Tanaka’s sister, and that the blue bird earring she wears belonged to her.
2. Two Dads, a Father and Uncle
I won’t lie, Tanaka’s reaction to his niece’s apparent demise hit surprisingly hard, with him kneeling and prostrating before his brother-in-law, ashamed of failing to protect Olivia. It took me aback too that he had a much more emotional reaction than Aiden Park, given the general conceived the Hero Force project as a way to protect her; his response was surprisingly calm, which makes me wonder if he knew on some level that the black hole had transported Olivia to another time-and-place, as unlikely as that is, but hey, that’s faith for you. (It must be quite a burden for Park to make everything seem fine all the time.)
3. Ava Gets Disillusioned
I think Ava Patel is probably my favorite character on the show, because she’s as brave and heroic as any of the other teenage protagonists, but doesn’t have a mech to depend on when the going gets tough. It therefore came as a sad surprise that she decides to leave the Sky Corps, telling Stanford that she doesn’t have the sheer ruthlessness to make decisions like harvesting the Robos for the power cells used to kill the Queen. I’m sure in the next season she’ll feel differently after reuniting with her mother, but still, how depressing is it that a young person feels she’s too optimistic and kindhearted to protect the world?
4. A Reminder Being Disabled Doesn’t Mean You’re Useless
Disability’s been a big theme on the show thanks to Frank Olivetti (voiced by former Paralympian Josh Sundquist), who in this episode declares he feels fine without his prosthetic leg, and is happy to walk around solely with crutches between missions. It’s also there thematically with Tanaka: he thought that because Tombo had lost their arm again, it was a sign his life was worth less than those of his students, and that it was time for him to go out in a blaze of glory. As painful as Olivia’s sacrifice is, it was wrong of him to believe that (he failed to push the Queen, no less), and as we see from how Tombo is given a new arm from one of the Hero Force mechs at the end, it would’ve been a waste of a good Robo.
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Olivia
Both vowing to bring her back, Tanaka and Stanford set off with Frank, Maya and Aiden to find her. Their hopes are confirmed in the final scene, where we see Olivia appear in an abstract space ala Contact and Interstellar, where a mysterious figure approaches her. Seeing as we have no idea of where the Robos come from, or why they’re helping humanity, I would hope this surreal dimension will lead Olivia to some answers (and maybe even her own Robo)… unless this is actually the realm of the Sharg’s creators, then in which case God help her.
Bonus Thoughts:
– Adam Williams turned out to not be so bad after all right? Hopefully he’ll do OK keeping watch over Sky Corps HQ.
– Toasting with soda cans: now I’ve seen everything.
Well that’s all for now on Mech Cadets folks: it’s not one of Netflix’s best animated shows, but it’s a well-written and entertaining one regardless. Like all of Netflix kids’ cartoons, another season hasn’t been officially confirmed, but it was probably storyboarded and recorded back-to-back with the first: so until whenever it drops, keep fighting the good fight – for all humanity!
