Amphibia Spoiler Review: Spider-Sprig/Olivia & Yunan

SCREAMS INTO THE VOID WITH PAIN AND SUFFERING!

Now that that’s out of the way, this week’s Amphibia brought us two new entries with “Spider-Sprig” and “Olivia & Yunan.” One is a fun little romp poking fun at superhero movies and the other one flipping destroyed me. Let’s dive in!

“Spider-Sprig” is now my new favorite parody of the superhero genre. In eleven minutes, Matt Braly and his crew were able to very lovingly poke fun at the tropes of Marvel and DC. Even the antagonist of the episode had a nod-to-Spiderman name, Robert Otto, with Brad Garrett wonderfully voicing the HOA lackey turned supervillain.

We open with Sprig, who is inspired to leave his mark on Earth after watching a movie shown to him by Mr. Boonchuy. This is so relatable as we all go through those feelings of wondering what our purpose is and if we will be remembered. Heck, that’s the entire plot of Pixar’s Soul. And as Sprig gets older, it makes sense that he wants to try out different paths for him.

While being a superhero vigilante is out there, it still fits Sprig’s character. It’s been well established that he loves to help people. He yearns to be accepted by everyone as we saw in the season one episode “Cracking Mrs. Croaker.” While he has selfish moments as all kids do, Sprig usually puts others before himself. He has an incredibly strong moral code and wants to serve his community.

Though, his entire drive this week is attention-seeking and making friends. There's a touch of jealousy that Anne got to make a difference in Amphibia while he has to stay in the shadows. Polly got to make new friends with the I.T. Gals, so it's understandable that Sprig is feeling squashed having to hide after the events of "Mr. X."

But Sprig becomes instantly popular as Frog-Man and gets blinded by his own delusions. He doesn’t seem to recognize Otto as a threat. Sprig is thinking, “Cool! Someone is playing along with me!” until things turn for the worse. It's only when Molly Jo holds him accountable that Sprig's moral compass comes back into play, learning what a true hero does.

I also have to appreciate that the story didn’t go the way I thought it was going to turn. When Otto found Cloak-Bot’s arm in the garbage, I thought it was going to possess him and try to take over his body. It would lead Sprig to have to save Otto for real, prompting the change of heart in Otto's character. The creators instead call out the "Hero Insurance" superhero trope and turned it on its head, keeping the focus on Sprig’s character. Sprig saw firsthand how his attention-seeking damaged the city and actually put more lives in danger. It was a nice little arc overall for Sprig that really fit who he is as a person.

Also props for making a guy from the Homeowners Association a villain. HOAs suck and have a deep-seeded history with racial inequality as they were created to keep out people of color from communities prior to the Civil Rights movement. These effects still ripple into the present day. I don’t know if this is what Matt Braly and crew were trying to do, but I got a good evil snicker seeing Robert Otto basically being an HOA dude tripping on his power high and turning into a true antagonist.

When compared to its episode counterpart, I can already hear whispers about “Spider-Sprig” being the dreaded F-Word:

Filler!

But I don’t see this as filler. Season three has introduced us to a slew of new characters every week on the Earth side of the story. It really feels like they’re forming the Avengers team. At some point, Andrias will come for Anne and the Plantars. He will start his invasion. Every week, the story has brought in new people to aid Anne and fight for Earth when the time is right. I could see Robert Otto on the front line since he’s passionate about protecting his neighborhood.

The only real gripe I have about “Spider-Sprig” is I wish it aired before last week’s “Mr. X.” I spent the entire episode dreading how much attention Sprig was getting for his superhero antics. We know Mr. X and Jenny are actively looking for Anne and the Plantars. They have all the technology in the world to assist them, and here is Sprig on the local news and going viral on the internet. Character-wise, this episode fits Sprig’s journey as a person. But in the overall narrative, it didn’t flow as well after the events of last week. Now if Sprig’s Frog-Man antics come up the next time Mr. X shows up, then my gripe is wiped away. But if it doesn’t, then I wish this episode was executed differently or shown earlier in the season. Maybe if the entire thing was an AU sequence like the non-canon stories in “The Shut In!” Then there would be no fear of Mr. X's repercussions. We’ll have to wait and see in the long run.

BUT OH MY GOSH "OLIVIA & YUNAN!"

I said last week how excited I was for this episode and man! It did not disappoint! In fact, it broke me! I am a broken person now. Thanks, Matt Braly, cast, and crew! I hurt so good! Please continue to wreck my emotions! I'm having the best time right now!

I’m glad they opened the episode with some background for Olivia. On the surface, she seems like she’s from a hoity-toity rich upbringing. But the reveal that her destiny is to protect the land of Amphibia gives her character so much significance. In a way, she reminds me of Valeriana. Both characters present themselves one way, but they each have a much more important role when it comes to the overall story.

It also established more of Olivia and Marcy’s past together. One thing I mentioned in my Essential Episodes of Amphibia article prior to season three was how important it was to get Marcy up to speed with Anne and Sasha. She only had half of a season to get established with the full cast. This opening flashback help shed a lot of light on Olivia and Marcy’s relationship. Olivia could tell that Marcy loved the world of Amphibia, cementing the human as a true ally.

Olivia is a quiet force of power too. She might not be the brawler that Yunan is, but she has her own skills and morality. Amphibia is something she wants to fight for in her own way. Her passion to save her world is more than enough of a call to action for her to get her hands dirty and punch out some robot eyes.

 At first, I was a bit surprised how against humans Yunan was. We can’t see everything happening 100% of the time with every single character so we have to assume relationships are developing off-screen. I had assumed from Marcy’s Theme Song Takeover that she and Yunan were on good terms as they appeared to have a lot of interactions together.

But the more I thought about it, the more Yunan’s anti-human stance made sense. She of course battled Sasha in “Toadcatcher” and Sasha outsmarted her. Yunan witnessed the reveal that Marcy had tricked her friends into coming to Amphibia during “True Colors.” And even though Marcy was equally duped by Andrias, it’s not hard in Yunan’s eyes to have the perception that Marcy was his ally in taking over the world.

It ended up being a really great setup for Yunan in the episode. We know she’s arrogant and doesn’t work well with teams. There's probably some kind of past trust issues hiding in there somewhere. Paired up with Olivia and Marcy, Yunan had no choice but to rely on the other women to help her face her greatest fears.

I must throw out how much I ship Yunan and Olivia. It’s clear they’ve known each other for some time. It’s the little interactions showcasing their familiarity that make the ship sing. Relationships are in the details, not the grand huge moments which can be nice, but not always needed. Confiding in each other or playfully teasing the other is a very effective of showing affection. This episode did feel more like the shift from friendship into something more (I LOVE A "FRIENDS TO LOVERS" TROPE). With how queer season three has been, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some established characters get together.

BUT I AM ALSO SCARED FOR OLIVIA AND YUNAN! Andrias knows they betrayed him. I hope they’re okay the next time we check in with this loveable duo.

 Something that continues to amaze me with series like Amphibia, Gravity Falls, and The Owl House is how much they can push a heavier narrative on a Disney Channel show. I was raised in a generation of television where things like stabbing Marcy and possessing her just weren’t allowed. The fact that these creators trust their young audience so much is so admirable. It allows for such amazing storytelling.

This brings me to Marcy.

I have been typing and deleting over and over a slew of babbling nonsense ever since I watched "Olivia & Yunan." I struggle to put into words how I feel about Marcy both in this episode and in the series as a whole. This young woman has been on such an emotional roller coaster. The trauma will be real and definitely will get to her later. She’s felt betrayed by her family, scared to lose her friends, was stabbed violently, and now she’s being possessed by the Core. They even changed Marcy’s name to “Darcy” in the credits, which I assume is short for “Dark Marcy.” I’ve searched for something eloquent to say about her story and what happened to her in this episode, and the best I can come up with is:

I’m just really sad for Marcy.

What gets me about Amphibia ending is we’re probably not going to have a lot of time to explore the effects of all of these events with Marcy. One of the most compelling things about Catra in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is we explore her trauma and see her work through it. Now of course, Catra started in a different place than Marcy. She started as an antagonist while Marcy is a protagonist. It’s a different narrative journey.

But there is a ton of coded writing with Marcy about overcoming trauma, all of it physical, mental, and emotional. There is a very powerful story for these creators to tell through her. All the pieces are there. So many children and adults experience trauma. Media is a cathartic and safe place to explore those past pains. It doesn’t work for everyone, which is totally fine. But for some people, media is a healing device. My biggest fear with Amphibia ending with season three is we won't get to fully explore Marcy's pain. I don't want it to be a quick, magical fix in the show's finale. That would feel like such a slap in the face when these creators have proven their skills with handling heavier topics. We’re coming up to the halfway point of the season. While I always trust these creators with their work, as a fan, I can feel the end date pressing in on the show. The time clock is running down. I hope they can tell a truly meaningful story about Marcy and her journey.

 I gotta talk about Andrias for a moment and him looking away from Marcy's possession.

I love villains. I’m a total sucker for them. I adore a complicated villain every single day. And I love Andrias as a villain. But when he is debating with the Core and then later looks away as Marcy is possessed, those moments felt like they came out of left field a bit. If he genuinely enjoyed Marcy as a person, it’s very difficult to tell when this occurred. He played up being nice and amicable to everyone. He tricked every single person on the planet. If he was having doubts, then it was never clear to me as an audience member. It makes me wish there was an earlier scene where we saw him hesitate and reconsider his actions. Like maybe in season two when Marcy and Andrias found the secret library and were studying together. That would be an ideal scene to slide in some foreshadowing that he's having doubts. It didn't need to be a big deal. There just needed to be one prior moment.

That would also set him up as a narrative foil to Marcy. The creators did a fantastic job peppering in through season two all the ways that Marcy was starting to feel guilty the closer and closer we got to "True Colors." She constantly had little sad looks in the background and they wrote her tons of foreshadowing. If they did the same with Andrias, then I feel the moment he hesitates and looks away with Marcy would land so much better.

This is the smallest of nitpicks though. Just because the execution of one character wavered a bit, didn't mean that the entire episode wasn't super solid. This was an amazing episode!

 Some random thoughts to round out Spider-Sprig and Olivia & Yunan:

-The Kamen Rider homage! I love that these creators are living their best nerd life through characters like Mr. Boonchuy.

-Internet savvy Polly is the best version of this character. I can’t wait for her to get back to Amphibia and have a conversation with Wally, who is pretty much the conspiracy theory side of the internet.

-Baby Yunan was ADORABLE. I also love she’s scared of grubhogs.

-The Moss Men and the Shadowfish are from another world! That's an interesting piece of new lore!

-I love that Yunan wears the Moss Man's flower in her hair!

-TJ Hill’s score is great. The song I keep going back to is when Olivia sees her mother again. It starts sweet but quickly warps into a distorted tone. He really smashed the music this week!

With only two episodes left until our hiatus, you can feel the season starting to ramp up. Reaching the halfway point, I do have questions waiting to be answered (WHERE ARE MARCY AND SASHA’S PARENTS!?). But so far, season three has been super solid. Every episode feels purposeful in one way or another. “Spider-Sprig” and “Olivia & Yunan” were both fantastic entries!

I can’t wait for next week!