Rescue Bots - Phantom of the Sea - Review

If you want to read my reviews for Rescue Bots Season One and Two, click here: neoyi.deviantart.com/journal/A…
If you want to read the Tumblr version (which comes with screenshots, click here: neoyi.tumblr.com/post/10315060…


PREVIOUS SEASON THREE REVIEWS

53. Land Before Prime
54. Big Game
55. Too Many Kades

As always, SPOILERS!





”You were right, Cody, I’ve never been good at waiting. I missed you. I had to grow up without my best friend.”
Rescue Bots is a tongue-in-cheek series. Characters in-universe will frequently lampshade their situations and often peppers their dialogue with genre savvy observations, particularly from Blades' mouth. Occasionally the writers will pull a wink and a nod with a minor meta subtext for fans watching the show. The best kind of cartoons are the ones that knows it’s all-age: these specifically hit the right target ages yet squeeze in a little something for the grown-ups without ever needing to alienate the two.

All of this is just a fancy way to say “Phantom of the Sea” is one, giant metaphor for shipping.

Actually, is "metaphor" the right word to use in this context? Maybe "tribute" or "homage." Either way, this episode was written for us.This episode was written for us. Dani squeals over the tragic love story between the Captain of a lost ship and his lover and plays a part in getting them back together (albeit from the sideline more than anything.). She literally made her pairing canon. Alright, there is something inherently creepy about Dani fangirling over two actual people instead of an in-universe fictional pairing (at least it is to me, I find it a bit weird to ship actual living people), so it was probably wise the episode decided not to overplay this element.

The Dani subplot is a minor incidence over a genuinely captivating mystery. The episode falls under the same level of melancholy that centered on season one’s "The Griffin Rock Triangle" and the underlining creepiness of "Countdown." When the Burns kids and the Rescue Bots end up stuck in a void, you get the heebie-jeebies. When they return to Griffin Rock to find ten years have passed, you feel sadness. Charlie, Frankie, and Doc never stopped looking for them; they never lost hope. The time travel is extremely brief, but they play their emotions to the best of their ability during. Imagine being in Charlie’s shoes; the man has lost every single member of his family—biological and metal. The only thing he could do is cling onto hope and patiently wait out the ten years. I especially love the inclusion of a desperate Older Charlie asking his children to stay with him in the future, even if it'll be an adjustment.

Kudos to the animation team for adding the necessary details to age up the characters, including minor background cast. My only gripe is that I would have considered changing Frankie’s hair, mostly because she literally has her younger face slapped onto an adult body. Still, it looks like she became a first responder, a fitting callback to season two’s "The Griffin Rock Express."

“Phantom of the Sea” is able to conjure the proper emotional residue to weight the consequences of time travel. Much like Lilian waited for her beloved, Charlie; Frankie; and Doc did the same. The power of love, man. While you won’t be seeing dramatic bouts of tears, the solemn air it sends is more than enough. Added to a lovely, depressing soundtrack (seriously, it’s gorgeous) and the episode is a real winner.
OUT OF FIVE STARS




MUSICAL MOUSING: You can briefly hear Morocco’s theme song when the crew is talking about him. What a nice little touch.

The phonograph music that plays in the ship sounds vaguely Professor Layton-ish.

BEST LINE:

DANI: *sigh* Lillian waited for him. Every ten years, she would see the ship appear just for a few moments.
CHASE: What a horrible story!

CHAAAAAAAAAAAAASE!




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