Newtopia is Awesome!

Amphibia Season 2, Episode 7A/B Review

It’s been a long and arduous journey, but Anne and the Plantar’s have made it to Newtopia. And they found out that Anne’s friend Marcy is the city’s protector in the process. Given what we know about the rest of Season Two, it’s safe to say that we’ll be staying in Newtopia for some time. Which is fine by me, because it looks like an awesome city. After getting a glimpse of it at the end of last week, this week’s episode sees us dive face-first into Newtopian life.

Scavenger Hunt

While showing Anne and the Plantar’s around the city, Marcy gets a strange message from the King of Newtopia. By strange, I mean that it’s written as clues to a puzzle that Marcy has to solve. It sounds weird to us, but based on Marcy’s reaction, this is the sort of playful thing she and King Andrias do because she likes puzzles. Thus, she drags Anne and Sprig around the city trying to decipher the puzzle and keeps impressing everyone with her smarts. Everyone, that is, except for Anne.

Having known Marcy for a long time, Anne’s always felt a little inadequate to Marcy’s brains. Now that the two are reunited, all that insecurity starts coming back. And, given that this is Anne, leads her to getting into trouble when she tries to prove herself. Guess she still needs to work on that aspect of herself, though.

As it turns out, though, Anne has skills that Marcy does not possess: Anne is a people person. She’s able to befriend others very easily, as we saw in Wartwood and again in Newtopia. Three people she just met all come to help her when she’s being attacked by a sewer gator. Afterwards, Marcy even admits that she’s always admired Anne’s social skills, something that she knows she struggles with.

It’s been speculated by some that, given her quirks, Marcy may be on the Autism spectrum. As someone who’s on the spectrum myself, I recognize many of the signs in her. But I also recognize the desire to improve my social skills because of it. So, I get where you’re coming from, Marcy.

In the end, Anne gets over her insecurities and winds up solving the last clue for the message: Bring me the Plantars.

The Plantars Check In

After finally meeting King Andrias, Anne and the Plantars have the chance to get settled in Newtopia as they plan their next move. Lucky for them, Andrias gives them his royal credit card with unlimited funds and books them in the best hotel in the city. But while the others take the chance to relax, Sprig takes the card and enjoys the hotel.

I’m sure that at some point in our childhoods, many of us got to go to a fancy hotel. A hotel that just blew away our child-sized brains at how awesome it was. This segment has Sprig essentially doing what most kids would if they were free to explore said hotel and had the funds to enjoy it all. I know I would have.

Predictably, though, Sprig almost loses the card, and it winds up in the hands of Bella, a bellhop voiced by fellow Gravity Falls alumni Kristen Schaal. Better known as Mabel Pines. In contrast to Mabel, who sees everything in a positive light, Bella’s tries being positive, but finds it hard given her job. So she tries to use the card for herself, the two fight over it, and they end up on top of an indoor ferris wheel that makes them realize that this whole thing was stupid. Fortunately, the spirit of kindness triumphs in the end when Sprig stands up to Bella’s boss for her, calling her the hotel’s best employee and threatening the guy into giving him a raise. It’s little moments like that that keep me from losing faith in humanity. Or Amphibians, in this case.

A Good Start to Our Time in Newtopia

Overall, while I don’t think this episode moved the plot forward very much, I still found myself enjoying it. It helped to establish what kind of place Newtopia is. Since the city will be the setting of the show for the next several episodes, it’s important to flesh it out.

Perhaps the most important thing we got from this episode was our official introduction to King Andrias. At first glance, the guy seems like a jovial giant, acting very playful and casual with Marcy, Anne, and the others. However, given what we heard him mention last episode, I’m still suspicious about him.

In addition, this episode all but confirmed something that I had suspected about the Calamity Box. Andrias seems familiar with it, so it must be the key to getting the girls home. Furthermore, he’s the one who points out the fact that jewels on the box are colorless now. This only gives more weight to the idea that when Anne, Sasha, and Marcy got sent to Amphibia, the box imbued them with some sort of magical powers.

What this means, I don’t know other than that we’ll be seeing Wartwood again before the season’s out. For now, though, I’m looking forward to seeing what Newtopia has to offer our heroes.

I Give “Scavenger Hunt” a 3.8/5 and “The Plantars Check In” a 4/5

So did anyone catch Polly’s line about what would have happened if the Plantar’s had found Marcy instead of Anne? Ten bucks says that’s going to inspire some fanfics down the road!

Click here to see my other animation stuff.