Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I am eager to dive back into Spy x Family, and also supremely embarrassed to admit that I somehow skipped an episode the last time I checked in on the Forger family. What’s more, I managed to skip the first half of one the show’s rare two-parters, missing out on all the context that apparently existed for episode twenty-three’s high stakes tennis match. I have neither explanation nor excuse for how I managed this feat, and can only sincerely apologize for my dumbassery.
Fortunately, while the context is less than ideal, this does in fact mean we get to enjoy another episode dedicated to high-octane underground tennis matches, with presumably even more clandestine skullduggery than the last (next) episode. Tatsuya Endo always nails the full-on Twilight missions, so I’m expecting great things from this preposterous assignment. Let’s get to it!
Episode 22 (For Real This Time)
We open on Fiona Frost, still stewing in her feelings regarding Twilight’s changes in temperament. Lovely pastel watercolor backgrounds for this idyllic vision of the family enjoying a day in the park
“Right now you are like a chipped knife.” I’m quite interested in seeing how the story develops this genuine tension – whether Loid will find a way to successfully integrate his new emotions into his work as a spy, or if he will at some point have to disappoint one side or the other. As ever, the distance in tone and consequences between the two sides of this narrative engender a friction that can’t fully be resolved
That tension drives the story’s drama, humor, and character conflicts, so I imagine Loid resolving his personal contradictions would essentially signal the manga’s endgame
“Actually, a bouncy Twilight would be so adorable. I love him.” Frost doesn’t actually seem to mind Loid’s transformation; she is infatuated with him personally, not the resolve he previously represented
“‘The Lady in the Sun’ is our target for this mission.” It might have been accidental, but I kinda appreciate how jumping from the second half of this arc to the first illustrates the coherent solidity of standard narrative structures. Unless you’re doing something particularly ambitious structurally, most genre narratives can be extrapolated from either their first or second halves
We learn the painting’s previous owner was a colonel whose actions were instrumental in ending the war. He was apparently in possession of information that could reignite the flames of war – something we, having watched the following episode, know to actually be more accurately referring to the flames of war between himself and his wife. But that’s the thing about MacGuffins like this; their actual substance doesn’t matter at all, they merely need to drive characters towards conflicts. In the end, you can either turn the substance of your MacGuffin into a joke like Spy x Family does, or leave its nature hanging in the air as a tantalizing secret – the gleaming prize hidden in Pulp Fiction’s briefcase, or what Bogart described as “the stuff that dreams are made of” in The Maltese Falcon. Like with horror, leaving the true nature of the heroes’ prize up to the imagination allows the audience to fill in the gaps with whatever is most meaningful to them
“It’s also known as ‘the ticking time bomb under thin ice.’” A secret so important even mixed metaphors are barely capable of describing it
“It will be very risky to infiltrate.” The seeming non sequitur of “we must retrieve this dossier, therefore it is imperative we participate in this underground tennis tournament” also feels like a humorous play on the ease with which any objective can be tethered to any narrative challenge. If you feel constrained by the existing variables of your narrative, you are quite likely inhibiting yourself with invisible walls regarding continuity and invention
“Was there really no other way?” Twilight nonetheless chafes at this bizarre transition
“Yes, but why tennis?” “I just figured he’s really into it.”
Love these spectators just flinging themselves against the walls of this tennis cage match
Nice dynamic cuts with impactful shading as the pair demolish their first opponents. Rather than emphasizing fluidity, the heavy shading here creates a great sense of physical power, visually echoing how our spies are essentially brute forcing their way through the match
“They’ll be playing against my Boric Brothers next.” A pair of brothers who are apparently hopped up on the latest experimental steroids. The fundamental joke of this arc is simple but robust in its variable applications: what if we took an underground fighting ring, and instead had the competitions take the form of one of the least threatening sports ever invented
Meanwhile, Yor’s off freaking herself out over the relationship between Loid and Frost. I’m still waiting on more characterization for her outside of her relationship with Loid, but it does feel quite natural that she’d have all these persistent anxieties regarding her viability or worthiness as a wife, mother, and normal person in general. Loid’s always had to perform normalcy for his work, whereas Yor has essentially hidden away from personal relationships, prompting this persistent fear that she’s not doing it right and will soon be abandoned
And with Anya’s assurance that he will “win and bring home a fabulous prize,” Yor realizes that she should trust in Loid as well, and that her job right now is to keep Anya happy
The Boric Brothers have hulked up into terrifying flesh golems, and appear to now only understand murder and tennis
I like the contrast between their impossibly muscular forms and their tiny tennis shorts
Classic trick of layering two vocal takes over each other to give these brothers demonic-sounding voices
And it’s all a massive buildup to anticlimax, as the Boric Brothers are defeated moments after the starting bell
Thus our intrepid spies advance through the tournament brackets, making their way to the finals, where they will face off with Campbell’s own children
“Stop pushing yourself. Your hand’s all torn up.” Yep, here’s precisely the transition I was wondering about. Loid is learning to integrate his new sensitivity into his professional duties, thereby proving that his compassion is actually an asset as a spy
“I’ve seen many allies die for precisely that reason. Spies are finished once they lose their cool. I’ve told you that countless times.” “Senpai… you used to say us spies are disposable.” While the original Twilight could certainly inspire admiration from those who aspired to his cold perfection, he’s now becoming the kind of man who can earn respect and trust via his concern for others
Our spies then realize they’re being doped via the air vents. How foolish they were, to believe the match only started once they’d reached the tennis court!
Having set the trap, Campbell then bets heavily on his children
Lovely cut illustrating the power of Carrol’s jet-powered racket. I have to imagine the thing weighs a hundred pounds
And his sister is using a whip-extension racket. Look, if you can hit a ball with that and somehow land it back in the court, more power to you
Yeah, now I just actually want to see a full match of Extreme Tennis with these bullshit rackets
Excellent cut for Loid’s first swing of their counterattack. I like how the camera’s pan matches the speed of the racket itself, slowing down as Loid mitigates the force of his opponent’s swing, then speeding up as the ball flies off his racket. Through this, we in the audience feel the same sensation of resistance that Loid is experiencing
That’s followed up by plenty more dynamic camerawork, following the erratic course of our spies’ spin-laden swings. They’re really maximizing their use of this CG court!
And we end right where the next episode begins, as our opponents’ true dastardliness is revealed!
And Done
Yeah, that was fun as hell! As it turns out, knowing where a story is going is rarely a hindrance to enjoying the craft of its execution, and when it comes to self-conscious genre riffs like this, the fundamental structures are pretty obvious whether or not you’ve seen them before. And in fact, knowing where we’re going actually gave me a novel chance to appreciate Endo’s confident manipulation of genre expectations, alongside the persistent payoffs of this arc’s excellent direction and animation. Endo is clearly in his element constructing preposterous spy drama conceits, and the Campbelldon stands proudly alongside missions like “intercept the enemy penguin.” Bring on more delightful nonsense!
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