1. The A.E.G.I.S. recruitment video
Like most of the elements of “The Tick”, the A.E.G.I.S. organization has an obvious corporate comics parallel, although in this case it’s kind of a fun mashup of two very much diametrically opposed organizations from Marvel Comics. Their outward appearance and general mission statement is obviously a play on Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D. (a fact that the recruitment video The Tick and Arthur watch in the episode’s opening makes an overt nod to). They present themselves as a defense agency for the world, using superheroes registered within their ranks to combat the most insurmountable enemies. The aforementioned recruitment video shows an ancient cartoon warrior triumphantly cutting the head off a medusa figure and hoisting it above their head in victory. This medusa head morphs into the A.E.G.I.S. logo itself, a severed head with many snakes coming off it. It’s another not-so-subtle reference to Marvel, only this time it’s Hydra, the nazi-adjacent terrorist organization. This dichotomy is no accident. While the more intriguing stories involving S.H.I.E.L.D. do sometimes present internal conflicts about the way they go about their business, there is almost never a time where they aren’t portrayed as the undeniably good organization pitted against the evils of the world. Because “The Tick” is essentially a parody, they play with the formula a bit by blending the image of a militarized defense agency in good standing with the people with symbology most reminiscent of the enemy. It creates an intentionally eerie feeling at the end of the recruitment video, as the clearly biased Arthur sits in awe, while we the viewer get a sense that there may be something untoward going on behind the scenes. The Tick, who remarks that the video is “kind of cool”, seems gleefully impervious to indoctrination. An essential element of his character is that, while he’s not dumb, he kind of has the attention span of a dog or a small child. There’s a sense that this video couldn’t possibly have the intended effect on The Tick, and because he’s defensive of Arthur, he’s extra wary of anything that pulls him away from their path of Destiny.
By the by, “Destiny” keeps being referenced as if she were a literal woman (which is something that could also be said about the first season). Will we ever meet “Destiny” as a character? It would feel like an extremely “Tick” gag for The Tick to talk up Destiny for full seasons and then revealing her to be an actual person in the end.
2. “I was a minute late”
Near the beginning of the episode, Dot has a dream about her childhood – specifically in the final moments of her father’s life. You’ll recall that her father was crushed under one of the Terror’s vehicles, right in front of Dot and Arthur. In the dream, Dot’s mother chastises her for causing them to be late getting back from their shopping trip. Only, when she’s explaining this dream to Overkill later, Dot doesn’t remember it happening that way in reality. In the dream, her mother repeatedly says that they were “a minute late”, which comes off as particularly odd and specific phrasing after watching her husband get crushed to death. Recall that in episode 1 of this season, Dot had a moment of precognition in a coffee shop, where she saw a man trip and fall while carrying a tray of coffee, just before it actually was going to happen in real life. Dot’s dream lends more support to the idea that she may have precognitive powers, and that something in her subconscious is trying to help her unlock them. Has she always had these powers locked away? Could she really have saved her father? Or does it only feel that way now, because of these powers finally revealing themselves?
3. Kicking Strong Arm 6000’s Robotic Ass
The history of cape comics is littered with signature moments of overpowered (OP, as the kids say) superheroics. Spider-Man single-handedly stopping a train, Superman reversing the rotation of the Earth to bring Lois Lane back to life, and Wolverine regenerating himself from a single cell all come to mind as moments where already powerful characters became even larger than life. The Tick has always used displays of strength and invulnerability as comedic beats, but I almost can’t think of a funnier or more cheer-inspiring moment for the character than his taking down the unbeatable Strong Arm 6000, A.E.G.I.S.’s patented superhero evaluation device. The setup is classic comedy: Arthur goes first, the instructor brusquely assures him “oh you won’t win”, and Arthur gets tossed across the room in a game of arm-wrestling. In steps The Tick, who rips the arm out of the wall while yawning. It’s a moment you see coming, but the delight is in seeing Peter Serafinowicz have so much fun with it. There’s not a single person watching the episode who would want the robot to win, so when The Tick triumphs, I like to think of it as a shared moment of triumph between all of us.
Continued below4. Pearl and Edgelord
“A.E.G.I.S. and You” introduces two notable ancillary characters, the first of which being an Alex Jones/Infowars-lite parody character we only see through the eyes of a depressed Superian, allowing himself to be taunted through online video content. His name is E. Morgan Pearl, and his game is whipping up people against Superian after Superian assured everyone that The Terror was gone for good years ago. While the Pearl character definitely has a point (at least as far as the public knows), we don’t see enough of him to know how significant he will be, and he’s not particularly funny in this first appearance.
The better character introduction is that of “Edgelord”, a dark web version of Q from the James Bond series, who can get Miss Lint anything she might want for her supervillain comeback. The character has a striking look (probably most accurately referred to as “emo”), a fast-talking yet deadpan delivery, and a strange self-confidence about them. Edgelord is the character you immediately want to see more of, as there’s a sense that they’ll be another character like Overkill that could potentially serve as a quote-factory, providing a handful of one liners with each appearance. Also, why do I feel that “Edgelord” would be an avid E. Morgan Pearl viewer?
5. “Spoon!” watch
The Tick: “Mmmm! Buttery in all the right places!”
The Tick: “Man, I dig your crazy mouth music!”
Edgelord: “I’m Edgelord. I walk between the raindrops.”
