Welcome to Hopping Over the Bar where I keep myself accountable/sane by rewatching Amphibia while studying for the bar. If I ever miss a daily edition please feel free to @ or DM me to remind me to study!
Today was a bunch of review of the mock exam. brain is mush
Today I watched Fixing Frobo and Anne-Sterminator. Fixing Frobo is a fun one. I never would have expected Polly to become a tech gal, but it honestly fits great with her. Her desperation for Frobo is heartwarming, while at the same time the concern of the others is understandable, if rooted in lesser connections with Anne. Anne-Sterminator is a great…quarter season finale I guess you would call it. More Anne growth, some understanding of her parents, and her parents grow more understanding of her. Great stuff from all sides as we bid farewell to Cloakbot.
Connection: Andrias' threat to kill Cloakbot would not allow Cloakbot to escape liability for the attempted murder. With most other crimes, duress (ie someone threatening you) is an acceptable defense. Not with homicide. Also one of Mrs. Boonchuy's Anne shrines has "Law School Diploma" ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Before the release of the series' final episodes, Matt did a lot of interviews discussing his time on the show, how production was during Covid, and some of his favorite moments to work on. But one thing he said always stood out to me:
“Something worth pointing out from my point of view is that Anne has two character arcs in Amphibia…Learning to be a more responsible, more adult person…[and] another more nuanced character arc about self-love.”
The idea of Anne having these 2 character arcs gives a new perspective to the series when looking back at Anne’s most pivotal moments, especially 3A. 3A was basically “Anne Boonchuy: The Character Study” in the sense that it explores how Anne has grown throughout the show by pushing her limits in both of her arcs. Structurally this half of the season is divided into 2 parts, each for Anne’s arcs. The Cloak Bot arc(eps 1-5), is all about Anne learning to handle the burdens of responsibility towards her parents, her frog family, and getting back to Amphibia. The Mr.X Arc(eps 6 -10) is about Anne’s story of Self-Love and self-worth as Anne starts to become more self-confident and allows others to assist her.
"Anne-Sterminator" is the climax of the Cloak Bot Arc and the transition to the Mr.X arc. It’s an action-packed culmination of everything established this half of the season acting almost as a mini-season finale, taking many cues from Reunion and True Colors. It's one of my favorite episodes to come back to and I'd love to give it some attention.
Cloak Bot’s Last Stand:
This episode starts not with Anne or the Plantars, but with Cloak Bot and this is easily his best appearance yet! CB has already done so much in Anne’s story thus far but this last hurrah for his character is where he really shines as the crew gives him a full episode to do his thing instead of only appearing in the 3rd act to cause Anne trouble.
Cloak Bot has fixed himself up with some Earth technology after his last encounters, with an awesome design change, leaning into him being less of a slick stealth robot, but more into a relentless cold-hearted killing machine. With a buzzsaw of a leg, a construction claw to replace his lost limb, a nailgun with pinpoint precision, and a damaged face after “Fight at the Museum” it establishes Cloak Bot isn’t messing around anymore and will stop at nothing to kill Anne.
Cloak Bot then gets a call, from the jolly tyrant himself, Andrias. When Andrias appears in an episode, it’s guaranteed this is going to be a big one, from giving info about the temples to his role as the villain in TC, when Andrias appears, shit goes down! This episode continues this pattern, by him turning on the bomb in CB’s chest.
Andrias himself in this scene is great, the writers have found this balance of giving him the jolliness of Santa Claus, and the ruthlessness displayed in TC. It makes Andrias such a fitting villain for Amphibia because he can fit with the normal humor and fun of the show and with darker more intense moments. The Book joke is a great example, Andrias sent this robot to murder his archnemesis, the one person that can stop him and his plans, but the first thing he does is ask for a damn book and berates CB for not getting it. I’m glad the writers remembered this joke in “The New Normal” too it’s was my favorite in that episode.
Cloak Bot now desperate to kill Anne, is lucky enough to have Frobo’s signal to track and follows it with hast. This is a great way of connecting the previous segment together, something season 3 does quite a bit, for example, the vase in Fight at the Museum being central to Anne’s motivation in “Temple Frogs”.
Anne’s Expectations:
The episode cuts to Anne and her family, with Anne cleaning the house like a pro, and the Boonchuys are eating this up. Starting with Season 2, more characters have ended up joining Anne and Plantars throughout their adventures. With Marcy bringing in an infectious enthusiasm to the crew, or Sasha coming in S2 to cause conflict for Anne, each of them brings about a major shift in the status quo. However, when these 2 join, Anne always ends up regressing as a person and has to claw her back up by dealing with the toxic issues of their friendship. One of the best examples is when Sasha is manipulating Anne to let go of her sword in Reunion, she’s pressuring Anne back into who she was before meeting the Plantars.
The Boonchuys are the exact opposite because they want Anne to progress and they love this version of her and never, ever, want her to regress, creating an expectation Anne must live up to. This works so well for Anne’s arc this season of Anne’s struggle of being her best self, and when sometimes she may not be able to be that all the time, and this is what this episode explores with the Boonchuys.
With these new expectations Anne starts to feel guilty for lying to her parents and tries to tell them what’s really been going on, but just as she’s about to Cloak Bot crashes into the backyard chasing the family down for the rest of the episode.
The Chase:
The way Boonchuys get to know what is happening is hilarious. They’re technically being told the truth of the situation but every new snippet of information makes Anne look worst and worst. To Sprig mentioning how Anne punched Andrias in the face, or HopPop spilling the beans that they fought this robot before. I love the writers keeping the joke of the Plantars constantly making Anne look bad in front of her parents.
The Jokes in general in this section of this episode are really funny, however, I feel like the episode jokes a bit too much, or at the least, there are too many jokes in succession. This is a rare criticism I have for any episode of Amphibia, the show usually does an excellent job of letting a scene play and keeping tension. But I think the rapid fire of jokes in this section makes the scene lose the tension built up at the start of the episode. This works well for an episode like “Sprig’s Birthday” but here I don’t think it fits. I think losing the “Fumigator joke” and replacing it with an action set-piece could’ve worked better.
Cloak Bot thankfully makes up for this, thanks to some new characterization in this episode. CB before this point didn’t have too much character to him, he laughed and was a little cocky when he had the upper hand, but other than that not too much. But with the Bomb in his chest, he’s a lot more desperate and emotional, by just how aggressively he pummels the Anne doll, how he keeps constantly looking down at his timer, or how he even goes against Andrias’ orders to not be seen. Cloak Bot isn’t fighting for the mission, he’s fighting for his life, and will do anything to save it.
Cloak Bot in his last appearances usually could pull out anything to attack our heroes. From being able to transform his hand into a laser or an ax, or being able to suddenly shoot lasers from his eyes. However in this episode CB only uses the nailgun, construction claw, and buzzsaw leg everything established at the start of the episode, CB almost has his own move set now.
A Boonchuy Battle:
Anne and her family are now cornered in a junkyard by CB, giving them some time to hide and process what has been going on. Naturally, Mrs.B is furious and this leads to one of my favorite scenes of this season.
For the majority of the series, the personalities of the Boonchuys we’re a mystery, we didn't really know what to think about them. It was only until Hopping Mall that we got to know that Mrs.B was the more strict parent out of the 2, constantly lecturing Anne to improve herself, and pushing her to do her best.
So when it seems like Anne has been faking her change, something she loved about her, she is absolutely furious. On Braly isn't a voice actor, but with this scene I wouldn't have believed it if you told me, the way she yells at Anne is almost too real, and what she says hits even harder. "I knew it, we were wrong about you, you're still the same irresponsible little girl who used to cut class. "...gosh that's such a punch in the gut because Anne has been trying so hard to handle everything on Earth and was just told by her own Mom that she hasn’t actually grown as a person.
The CB arc has taught Anne how to handle the burdens of responsibility, and you would think by the last episode(“Fight at the Museum/Temple Frogs”) she would’ve completed her arc. Anne has already learned to have a healthy balance of handling her responsibilities, but this episode teaches Anne a new lesson to seal the deal on this arc, humility. Anne may have grown a lot as a person, but the scene teaches Anne that no matter how much she grows she will never be perfect, she may have found a balance of her responsibilities, but it doesn't mean she will handle them the right way all the time.
If this sounds familiar Anne says something similar to the Three Stones Deity in "The Hardest Thing": “No one's perfect my time in Amphibia taught me that we're all changing and learning as we go", this episode is where Anne starts to realize that. It's a strong end to the Cloak Bot arc, by making Anne realize that she will never stop growing and improving, no matter how much she has changed.
This scene also does a great job of transitioning to the Mr.X arc too by having Anne realize that she's going to need to help from her parents to prevail against CB. Anne is now accepting the help and love of others, and this power of teamwork is what allows our heroes to defeat Cloak Bot once and for all.
The episode ends with Mrs.B and Anne being able to double team the robot, in an almost too violent way. Like seriously CB gets his skull caved in, stabbed through the chest, his leg ripped off, and finally kicked into space just to be blown to pieces. The Boonchuys and Plantars head home, as the Boonchuys are now fully on board with Anne and her adventures, with the FBI now on the Plantar's trail.
Anne-Sterminator is one of the most unique episodes in the show because it takes a lot from the show’s groundbreaking season finales. Just like TC and Reunion this episode takes a slightly different tone(to a lesser extent) and acts as a cilmax for everything established in this season so far. To lessons Anne learned, her relationship with her parents, CB’s design, the constant callbacks to jokes from this season, all of it returns here. Anne-Sterminator gave Cloak Bot his best appearance yet, and a strong ending to Anne’s Responsibility arc. That and the whole host of other things I mentioned makes Anne-Sterminator one of my favorite 3A episodes.
The visor went up in blue. Through the toggles, numerous icons sat in the vision's corners as the visuals grew sharpened with each second.
Blurs turned to corners. Blurs turned to an enclosed space. A room.
Identification buzzed. The scanner hidden deep within the robotic unit's eye sockets continued inactive, unable to measure the exact length, width, and height of this space overall.
Current estimation probability:
3.65 Meters in Width
6 Meters in Height
With diligence, the limbs pulled into view. They were intact, the color of steel. The steel appendages bumped and stretched from its designated pivots, experimented the range of each ball-and-socket joint until a warning signalled of stress.
Full rotations — successful.
Stability — minimal.
On further inspection, the statistics listed on the robotic interface had numerous areas highlighted in red.
Longitude.
Navigation.
Power source.
Factors that detailed a lower probability of survival. Factors that ranged from memory capacity to limb reach were all below the livable threshold a robot should task under.
It was continued stress. Continued lack of previous memory cohesion.
Sound registered. Seventy-six degrees on the robotic vision, an entrance opened up. Further analysis confirmed the entrance was none other than a standard wooden door, and a new specimen stood next to it with its short stature.
Its eyes were wide. Bloodshot. Harbored a plate with organic material — almost dropped from loosened grip and what looked to be bodily fear.
Fear then diminished. Changed to excitement as the body rushed forward into the interface's proximity, voice registered into the sensors.
> "Oh, hey! You're finally awake, Evil Frobo, I was getting worried!"
Voice Pitch Recognition — High.
The motors in the joints had become active again. The limbs whirred and clicked, the claws open and hovering over the small, sphere-like specimen as it frowned more for unknown reasons.
> "I swear, I could've put you on manual. You're not going to reach out to Andrias, are you?"
The pollywog stared even more, lip trembling a bit. In addition, its expression could indicate furrowed eye ridges, a sign of understandable sources of frustration.
More data should be expunged to understand facial expressions. More data should be expunged on the title of 'Andrias' also.
Find associations, then understand.
The limbs retracted in the meantime., and returned to their rightful places.
> UPDATE IN PROGRESS
However, the interface shut down to the simple face of the pollywog again, voice registered into frame.
> “Okay. Okay. That's good. You're not on evil mode."
She sighed — relief detected.
> "The fam said this was a bad idea, but I don't think you're a bad idea. You're just like Frobo, a little dangerous, but it's healthy to have a lil' bit of danger, amiright?"
Response pending.
> "Like when we saw you with that whole timer bomb on you, I knew that I had to do something. Jess and Ally once said that if one knows the basic materials and functions then you can practically solve anything as long as you put your mind to it."
> "And I saw you struggle and I thought I can help and I was right!"
The pollywog grimaced. Her (Pronouns Updated) fists balled up, another sign of aggression.
> "You were struggling. Andrias probably coded you with so many bad lines in your system, but now you don't have to go through it anymore. You can hang out with us here. With me, the fam, and everyone else. We can basically be best friends if Frobo's okay with it."
The pollywog rubbed her arms — stub arms. The specimen currently acted out of estimated guilt and discomfort, but more context was needed to understand why.
Why the current output. Why the current destination.
> NAVIGATION. . .
> ERROR
The pollywog made eye contact again. Previous seconds had her stare elsewhere from the interface, emotion uncertain to the database.
She sighed.
> "I had to do what's right. After all, you're just like Frobo. You're practically a baby, and I'm just glad you seem responsive already."
She then jumped more into the vision, a smile adorned on her current expression.
> "Oh, but before I go get the gals, we need to name you."
> "I can just call you Evil Frobo since it fits, but you aren't really evil. You're not evil now, that's for sure. And Frobo is currently charging so I can't really ask for his opinion."
Her elation rose to a predicted one-hundred percent.
> "So what'll it be, New Frobo?"
New Frobo?
> "What name do you want? It can be anything. Absolutely anything, as long as it's right with you!"
New Frobo?
Name?
Alias?
Current status label?
> DATABASE SEARCH - PREFERENCE LOGS
> SEARCH CATALOGUE [A-Q]
> SEARCH CATALOGUE [R-Z]
> PENDING. . .
> CONFIRMED
The pollywog cocked its head, face wrinkled in recognized confusion.
> "Barns and Novels? The store?"
The pollywog jumped when a stern 'affirmed' rang from one of the available speakers.
> "Oh, you can speak, that's cool. So you're really sure about the name? It's pretty long.”
She grew relaxed when the 'affirmed' came back. Trust — recognized.
> "Oh, alright. As long as you’re okay with it then I hereby pronounce you Barns and Novels, and I'll give you a nickname just to keep it short, too!”
Nickname — affirmed?
> "Barns...no uh. Barnaby? Gah, no. Too fancy pancy.”
The pollywog rubbed her chin and clenched her teeth. Then exclaimed out with a stub arm in the arm.
> “I got it! How's Barnie sound?"
BARNIE.
> PENDING. . .
Nickname.
Nickname — affirmed.
The pollywog smiled more. She tapped her feet against its robotic chest in an identified moment of excitement, squealing under her breath.
> "Oh oh oh, that's great! I'm gonna tell the fam about this, don't go anywhere, I’ll be right back!"
The pollywog retreated back to the entrance and closed it completely. The enclosed space returned to its previous activity, and the interface buzzed as it compiled the events that occurred.
Under an updated alias. Under an updated, preferred 'nickname'.
