I watched “Escape to Amphibia.” It may not be fully fair to compare it to “Not What He Seems” in Gravity Falls - especially since I haven’t finished Amphibia, and especially since different shows will have different narrative desires. I’m going to compare them anyway. I hope people forgive me for comparing apples to crab apples.
“Escape to Amphibia” appears to be the major action turning point, the drama, the reveal, the showdown where lots of which has been built up breaks loose. We’ve been waiting long for the return to Amphibia. Here it is. That’s similar to “Not What He Seems,” where everything breaks loose, and we get the season-and-a-half built up reveal of what Stan is hiding and who the Author is. Functionally, it seems these two episodes intend to operate the same way.
However, “Not What He Seems” comes off better from a satisfaction standpoint. This is because it’s the buildup of mysteries that we’ve always had. Literally from Episode 1. We’ve wanted to know who the Author is. We’ve wanted to know what Stan is up to. GF has always promised that this would be in the scope of the show. Fans are at their wit’s end to get the explosion and reveal.
But that isn’t the case with Amphibia. We didn’t get introduced to Mr. X, a major antagonist of S3, until S3. We didn’t expect an urban-centered showdown with a group of friends we’d never met ‘til S3. So it can’t compare to the excitement, investment, relief, and thrill of “Not What He Seems.” It doesn’t feel as natural or as much of a payoff.
Now, both shows introduce FBI agents late in the game. GF works because they aren’t main antagonists. They don’t overdo their presence. Their simplicity is their strength. They’re more “background” and means to an ends (rather than the flamboyant personality and direct, ongoing antagonist Mr. X is).
In GF, the FBI reinforce what the heart the show has always been - character relationship investments (Stan, Dipper, and Mabel’s love and trust). They add tension to the mysteries central to the show. But Mr. X is both too colorful a personality, distracting us from the emotional tensions Amphibia introduced us to (Anne, Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly’s love for each other, which wasn’t touched in “Escape to Amphibia”), and Mr. X is too “basic” - a straightforward villain type. So the FBI becomes more intrusive to the narrative of Amphibia, rather than reinforcing the emotional centers.
To be clear, Mr. X would be a cool character in other shows. I could see him in many cartoons where people would fall in love with him. I would, too! But he doesn’t match the tone of a show that was initially about the rural, daily lives of talking frogs.
And to be clear, the group coming together to bust the frogs out of the FBI compound was fun. It was cool to see everyone we’d befriended in S3 become relevant. It also highlights the diversity Amphibia S3 has intentionally included (ex: racial diversity, and intentionally placing women in scientific positions). The diversity feels natural and nicely done. For instance, Amphibia has always been a story where women are central and important, and they set it up that way with Anne and her two girl friends. I loved that. The trio of characters isn’t the overdone “two boys and a girl” cliche that drives me batty. It’s about three girls, which feels very real to me. I am always stoked when children’s media have girls’s relationships highlighted and central.
Now. Despite this being a complete tonal shift, I admit I loved the Star Wars vibe when Anne fought the FBI agents with the pseudo-lightsaber. It just looked cool. Black suit. Red saber. Heck yeah. Also, it feels more relevant, not just because Anne and her parents sparred earlier in the episode (so dorky! so pure!), but because we’ve seen Anne fighting with swords before. It’s an established skill she has. It’s a skill she’s grown in Amphibia, though if the show had shown the learning curve more, this moment might have been even MORE satisfying. But it was fun! It hit at guilty pleasures, so I couldn’t complain.
The moment where Anne opened the portal with her blue powers was epic and cool (the blue powers I’ve always liked, btw - well-established magic in this world, plus tying back to the music box we’ve always known about and wanted to learn about). And when the frogs stared out at a changed Amphibia, it was heartbreaking. It shows there’s no going back to the idyllic norm of S1. That makes me sad because S1 is what got me invested in the show, but it’s extremely well-done, and I give kudos to the writers for shoving wrenching emotions in.
If I read this episode right - and I’ve only been writing qualifiers to be careful - it’s a good analogue to “Not What He Seems,” and maybe I can write a more confident, robust analysis later.
P. S. Sprig with his red hair tuft and beanie - his human clothes - were always real cute.
Oh yes. The ending to the cute show about a teen girl stuck in a pastoral frog world.
In which our main character got magical girl Blue powers to fight a robotics-enhanced immortal newt king invading urban Earth through magic. While her best friend fought their third bestie who was mind-controlled by the evil collective consciousnesses of generations of ancient newts. And her parents used FBI-sanctioned guns to fight giant herons. In which our main character stopped the moon of the amphibian world, which was used for advanced technological experiments, from hurtling into the planet… died… met God through a computer text chat… and was offered the job of being Deity Replacement.
Yeah.
I definitely could have predicted that ending.
Well, Wally is a newt, and kings might be expected in this setting, and we know Anne is from an urban Earth setting, and there’s very subtle foreshadowing of her powers in Episode 1 while fighting the mantis, I think, and there’s giant dangerous wildlife early on…parts of it can be guessed at, but not in this exact arrangement.
I guess I can’t be 100% sure if you’re making a serious discussion point or adding a second jocular remark on top of me, so sorry if my response goes unintended directions! I read this as serious intent, so gonna respond as real discussion! Because discussions and chatting with cool folks is fun! <3
I think some of what you wrote is like looking at an ingredients list with flour, eggs, and milk, and saying, “It’s going to be a pastry.” But the very generic endpoint category of “pastry” doesn’t mean we predicted anything because that’s so vague. A fantasy setting having a king isn’t really predicting, is it? What I’m looking at is whether we’re going to create a carrot cake, blueberry muffins, or a croissant - at the very least, get in the ballpark category of “it’ll be a cake.” And it’s not that the end result is a cake that makes it unpredictable - it’s when they add pickles, Cheetos, and tomato soup to the recipe.
Of course, given the premise of S1, we know that the music box’s lore will get addressed, that the girls will go home, things like that. It’s the “how” that I’m teasing as tonally unexpected. A robot army invading Earth, provoked by the collective consciousnesses of ancient newts overtaking Marcy’s body, and Anne stopping the advanced research base moon from hitting Amphibia and meeting a deity on a computer chat - that’s the pickles and Cheetos in my cake.
To be clear: Mostly my original comment is a tongue-in-cheek, loving-teasing remark about how much Amphibia expanded beyond its season 1 scope. It’s not criticism or dialogue, it’s an in-joke, love-laughing at how much the story grew. I want it to be something people can smile at, not the least of whom are those who adore the story’s growth and end.
That said, I do have opinions about whether or not Amphibia expanded too far beyond the scope and tone when season 1 told me, “We’re making a pastry.” I’ve made liveblog remarks about it. I’ve chatted in depth with folks on discord. But if anyone’s interested in me making a more official post on tumblr now that I’ve finished the series, I’d be happy to do so.
I made my comment on impulse, rather than a well-organized response, but, yes, it was intended to be sincere, not a joke. Judging by your previous posts on the matter, I had interpreted your original response as somewhat negative, and felt compelled to state the shift wasn’t totally out of nowhere. (emphasis on “totally”: as you stated, big parts of it couldn’t be predicted from Season 1) The pastry metaphor was certainly illuminating. If I recall correctly, even dedicated theorists had no clue about the foreshadowing about the Three Stones Deity from Anne’s post dental-visit rambling, because it was so bizarre. I believe I’ve read speculation or extrapolation that Disney over-emphasizes comedy in its shows to the point plot-heavy, complex series (e.g., Amphibia, The Owl House) have jarring tonal shifts between higher-comedy first seasons and later, more serious season. If that is true, then perhaps executive meddling is behind the big shift in scope and tone between Amphibia’s Season 1 and Season 2-3 (or, rather, starting about midway through Season 2; I believe that’s when things got significantly ‘serious’) On a peripheral note, I wonder if Cartoon Network has the same problem of demanding comedy-heavy shows to the exclusion of variety in tone, or even shows that are simultaneously funny but also serious. (e.g., like the ‘silly’ episodes in the original Teen Titans, some Kids Next Door episodes with absurd exaggerated premises that are nontheless played very seriously, the occasionally absurd premises or Looney Tunes-esque sight gags of Courage the Cowardly Dog) Additionally…yes, I would be very interested in a “more official post” on Tumblr now that you’ve finished the series. It’s good to support Tumblr’s meta communities.
Ooo, those are good thoughts. I like what you said about corporate oversight impacting narrative-based animation. I think this holds especially true for animated series that have been forced into the “children’s media” bubble when the showrunners wanted an “all ages” or older demographic. It’s increasingly easy to see warring between creators wanting mature elements and areas of society being incapable of processing that animation extend beyond children. The first seasons become ways to gain approval while playing it safe, proving to their overlords this show will fly; then, once established, they’ll grind into the deeper meat they were hoping to.
When watching Amphibia, I had expected a growth in narration akin to Gravity Falls, my bias there being that it comes from Matt Braly and that the first season’s tone isn’t extremely different. So I expected growth, increasing stakes, and narrative-centric drive, but I felt jarred by certain shifts incorporating new elements. It’s the combination of elements especially that felt wonky to me. The best analogy I can make is Tales of Arcadia… it’s odd, maybe disparate, to incorporate magic-based trolls, high-tech aliens, and semi-legendary medieval figures in one interrelated franchise. It’d be less tonally awkward to write those as separate stories. But do those semi-oddly combined elements provide their share of entertainment? Yes!
I believe that a show’s first season should be an appropriate taste to what the whole show’s scope and tone will be (room for growth, of course, but setting expectations). And so something like Trollhunters, going from low stakes troll adventures to an epic battle at the end with trolls makes sense. But going from trolls to aliens was bizarre. (And 3Below is one of my favorite shows of ToA!!)
I’ll make sure to place more cues in tags to convey my emotions. It’s true that I wasn’t fully throttled about some shifts in Amphibia, so it makes sense you thought I was being negative, and I appreciate you looking at a positive angle on a show. Shows like this warrant the positive angle. I want to clarify for all folks now I didn’t hate *any* of it either and don’t feel like it warrants complaints. I wasn’t disenchanted by directional choices. It’s more like… I have lots to chew over in Season 3? “Chew over” is the word. It’s not something I would have written. But did it entertain me delightfully start to end? Absolutely! The big drama that occurred when Andrias entered Earth and he had that showdown with Anne was thrilling, and the farewell between Anne and Sprig as emotional as I’d hoped. In many ways, Amphibia’s unique combination of elements will make it more meaty to talk to with others, adding to the fun of being in fandom. Thanks again for chatting. I’ll see if I can squeak meta out of my work hours sometime.
Oh yes. The ending to the cute show about a teen girl stuck in a pastoral frog world.
In which our main character got magical girl Blue powers to fight a robotics-enhanced immortal newt king invading urban Earth through magic. While her best friend fought their third bestie who was mind-controlled by the evil collective consciousnesses of generations of ancient newts. And her parents used FBI-sanctioned guns to fight giant herons. In which our main character stopped the moon of the amphibian world, which was used for advanced technological experiments, from hurtling into the planet… died… met God through a computer text chat… and was offered the job of being Deity Replacement.
Yeah.
I definitely could have predicted that ending.
Well, Wally is a newt, and kings might be expected in this setting, and we know Anne is from an urban Earth setting, and there’s very subtle foreshadowing of her powers in Episode 1 while fighting the mantis, I think, and there’s giant dangerous wildlife early on…parts of it can be guessed at, but not in this exact arrangement.
I guess I can’t be 100% sure if you’re making a serious discussion point or adding a second jocular remark on top of me, so sorry if my response goes unintended directions! I read this as serious intent, so gonna respond as real discussion! Because discussions and chatting with cool folks is fun! <3
I think some of what you wrote is like looking at an ingredients list with flour, eggs, and milk, and saying, “It’s going to be a pastry.” But the very generic endpoint category of “pastry” doesn’t mean we predicted anything because that’s so vague. A fantasy setting having a king isn’t really predicting, is it? What I’m looking at is whether we’re going to create a carrot cake, blueberry muffins, or a croissant - at the very least, get in the ballpark category of “it’ll be a cake.” And it’s not that the end result is a cake that makes it unpredictable - it’s when they add pickles, Cheetos, and tomato soup to the recipe.
Of course, given the premise of S1, we know that the music box’s lore will get addressed, that the girls will go home, things like that. It’s the “how” that I’m teasing as tonally unexpected. A robot army invading Earth, provoked by the collective consciousnesses of ancient newts overtaking Marcy’s body, and Anne stopping the advanced research base moon from hitting Amphibia and meeting a deity on a computer chat - that’s the pickles and Cheetos in my cake.
To be clear: Mostly my original comment is a tongue-in-cheek, loving-teasing remark about how much Amphibia expanded beyond its season 1 scope. It’s not criticism or dialogue, it’s an in-joke, love-laughing at how much the story grew. I want it to be something people can smile at, not the least of whom are those who adore the story’s growth and end.
That said, I do have opinions about whether or not Amphibia expanded too far beyond the scope and tone when season 1 told me, “We’re making a pastry.” I’ve made liveblog remarks about it. I’ve chatted in depth with folks on discord. But if anyone’s interested in me making a more official post on tumblr now that I’ve finished the series, I’d be happy to do so.
Oh yes. The ending to the cute show about a teen girl stuck in a pastoral frog world.
In which our main character got magical girl Blue powers to fight a robotics-enhanced immortal newt king invading urban Earth through magic. While her best friend fought their third bestie who was mind-controlled by the evil collective consciousnesses of generations of ancient newts. And her parents used FBI-sanctioned guns to fight giant herons. In which our main character stopped the moon of the amphibian world, which was used for advanced technological experiments, from hurtling into the planet… died… met God through a computer text chat… and was offered the job of being Deity Replacement.
