That was probably the best overall S x F episode in a long time. Certainly the best non-Damian focused one. It showed up two faces of the series at close to their best form – a mostly serious and tense A-part, and then some very effective screwball comedy in the B-part. It’s also nice to see Yor not being reduced to comic relief, and the harsh reality of her profession not being glossed over. I’d even go so far as to say it might be the best usage of Yor in the series yet.
This mission is serious business, and rather plausible as compared to most of the cloak-and-dagger fantasy in Spy x Family. Yor has her hands full now that the secret is out – that likely thanks to a phone call the guy posing as Olka’s husband made to his parents (which rightfully pisses off the Director in a big way). As Anya and Loid trough up at the buffet, Yor lives it up with her charges in first class – except it’s a death trap. The info has been sold to a bunch of assassins and it’s “first-come, first-served” to grab the bounty on Olka and her son.
Yor takes lives here, though at least in this case it’s self-defense. The problem is that in order for the cruise to reach the rendezvous point and the handoff to happen, those protecting the Gretchers can’t afford to cause too much of a ruckus. Bodies must be disposed of, damage must be explained. And with the cat out of the bag, the director orders Yor to move Olka and Gram to second class, though with a ship full of assassins that’s not any respite. It also brings them to a part of the ship where Loid and Anya are allowed to go.
Those two are tied into the Yor story very effectively here. Loid, of course, has spotted that something weird is happening on this ship, even if he has no idea just what that is. He’s trying to complete what he sees as his “assignment” – to relax and act like a father. Anya isn’t making things any easier on him with her tantrums, and Loid puzzling over what a real father would be about them is highly amusing. But then Anya too lamps that something untoward is going on, picking up on the thoughts of assassin “Chain and Sickle” Barnaby (Kobatake Masafumi).
What follows is essentially boilerplate Spy x Family misunderstanding comedy, but a very good example of it. Anya is trying to manipulate Loid into not intercepting Yor in action (her fantasies are pretty hilarious, especially Loid being most bothered by the fact that she hates frogs, itself a clever Japanese pun). Loid is trying to figure out why Anya is acting so batty, even for her. And Barnaby is no pushover, clearly no run of the mill hitman. It’s nice to see S x F show off some tonal diversity, something I wish we saw a lot more of.
Nicc
November 13, 2023 at 1:52 pmYes, it was good to see an episode highlighting Yor doing work as a part of the Garden, and it’s been a long time coming. Their cover has been blown and the assassins know where they are. The fake Mr. Gretcher doesn’t seem to be very good at being a bodyguard, such as making a critical mistake with the earlier phone call with his parents. It’s time to relocate, but not before taking care of an assassin who has already tracked them down. Unlike the earlier comedic showings Yor’s absurd strength here is shown to deadly effect. The Director seems to be very good at his job too.
Not only are there are lot of assassins on the ship, but they’ve also been guided by a man who is somewhere in the bowels of the ship and surrounded by surveillance equipment. He’s been selling the information to them. At least one of the assassins thinks they should be working together and to be discreet about it, but that may be a hard sell for some with the winner-take-all stakes. Yor and the others have to keep things discreet too. If dead bodies are being seen, the ship may turn back and now the Coast Guard gets involved.
They have move down to the level where Anya and Loid are having dinner. This was a fun sequence as Anya spots Yor doing work and has to distract Loid. True to form, Loid notices the bugs and the suspicious characters. Still, I wonder if Loid would have noticed the masked Yor. He already doesn’t see anything unusual about his wife’s superhuman strength. It looks like the plan to stay discreet is already busted as Barnaby attacks out in the open. It looks like it’s going to be a long night on the ship.