[8.2/10] A very cool episode. The first half is a nice long-form montage about Jack being scared traveling so far from home and being away from his parents, only to gradually feel acceptance and kinship with another family. His initial rivalry-turned-friendship with the crown prince of the African community he joins is very cute, and the way he slowly but surely feels at home there, learning the ways of this new family, is well done.
I appreciate how the show doesn't skimp on the hardship of that. You feel Jack’s discomfort and even fear at being in a new place, so far from what he knows, and the image of him seeing his parents’ faces in the stars and crying is an affecting one. But you also see how Jack finds a kindred spirit with the crown prince, and their adventures watching the animals on the savannah and growing more and more together is great.
The fight and rescue that happens in the second half of the episode is well done too. It makes sense that Aku would send minions to find and destroy Jack to eliminate any possible threat, and I appreciate the show exploring the risk that Jack’s presence would impose on the people hosting him. The enemy tribe is suitably scary, and their objective to capture Jack in order to win favor with Aku feels organic to the situation.
It is appropriately scary when those rivals invade, and I like Jack showing his early prowess by helping to fight them off. The way he shows an intuitive understanding of how to learn to use his enemies’ weapon, while combining it with the fighting styles he learned from his new family, is really cool. The ensuing battle is well done, and the way his adoptive brother and father get into the mix is very neat as well.
Overall, I like how this is another example of this season taking risks, showing us setups that are a little different than the usual “Jack encounters a specific obstacle in the future” formula, and succeeding because of it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-05-07T21:52:42Z
[8.2/10] A very cool episode. The first half is a nice long-form montage about Jack being scared traveling so far from home and being away from his parents, only to gradually feel acceptance and kinship with another family. His initial rivalry-turned-friendship with the crown prince of the African community he joins is very cute, and the way he slowly but surely feels at home there, learning the ways of this new family, is well done.
I appreciate how the show doesn't skimp on the hardship of that. You feel Jack’s discomfort and even fear at being in a new place, so far from what he knows, and the image of him seeing his parents’ faces in the stars and crying is an affecting one. But you also see how Jack finds a kindred spirit with the crown prince, and their adventures watching the animals on the savannah and growing more and more together is great.
The fight and rescue that happens in the second half of the episode is well done too. It makes sense that Aku would send minions to find and destroy Jack to eliminate any possible threat, and I appreciate the show exploring the risk that Jack’s presence would impose on the people hosting him. The enemy tribe is suitably scary, and their objective to capture Jack in order to win favor with Aku feels organic to the situation.
It is appropriately scary when those rivals invade, and I like Jack showing his early prowess by helping to fight them off. The way he shows an intuitive understanding of how to learn to use his enemies’ weapon, while combining it with the fighting styles he learned from his new family, is really cool. The ensuing battle is well done, and the way his adoptive brother and father get into the mix is very neat as well.
Overall, I like how this is another example of this season taking risks, showing us setups that are a little different than the usual “Jack encounters a specific obstacle in the future” formula, and succeeding because of it.