Recap / Amphibia S3-E10 "Mr. X"

Fifteen minutes ago, you knew that people were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

Mr. X: Have you seen any odd creatures walking around? (presents a picture of the Plantars) Probably disguised as humans?
Mrs. Boonchuy: (laughs nervously) What strange shapes they are. Haven't seen them. Who's asking?
Mr. X: Oh, just your friendly neighborhood federal government.

In the aftermath of the fight with the Cloak-Bot, Anne takes the Plantars to see a movie, but a government agency led by the sly Mr. X witnesses the Plantars in their true form and the Boonchuys must stop them from taking the frogs away.

---

Tropes:

• Adults Are Useless: Defied. Now that they're aware of the true stakes of Anne's return home, the Boonchuys show excitement at the possibility of having further adventures with the Plantars, are the ones aware of the threat Mr. X poses to them before they are, and are ultimately the ones to successfully remove the quartet from their predicament when he's seconds from having them captured, whilst making him look like a fool who overreacted in front of his colleagues to diminish his effectiveness in the future. It also turns out that they placed a tracking device on Hop Pop in case they got into trouble. Anne initially believes this is the case given how she's had to resolve most of the issues and life-threatening dangers of Amphibia by herself along with her Found Family, not to mention not wanting to expose her biological parents to further threats if she can help it, but at the episode's end, is forced to admit that her parents are even more capable that she thought.
  Anne: (referring to the Boonchuy's offscreen antics to save them) You guys seriously did all that!? I can't believe it! I guess I... I... (dramatic close-up) misjudged you!
• Air-Vent Passageway: Anne and the Plantars escape the movie theater through the vents, led by Mr. Boonchuy.
• Ambiguous Gender: Mr. X's sidekick Jenners has a masculine wardrobe and hairdo but a feminine-looking face and persona, and is almost exclusively referred to by the feminine nickname "Jenny". Said agent is also not referred to with any gender-related pronouns, to the extent of not even saying anything.
• Antagonist Title: The episode is named for the antagonist, Mr. X.
• Arc Villain: With Cloak-Bot's destruction, Mr. X steps in as the next big obstacle for Anne and the Plantars to overcome on their way back home to Amphibia, albeit he's far more of an easygoing person than the robotic assassin ever was. Doesn't mean he's any less of a threat though.
• Big "WHAT?!": Said by Anne when she and the Plantars find out that the parents stuck a tracking device onto Hop Pop.
• Blood Knight: Anne's parents are feeling the high of "post-battle euphoria" after the fight against Cloak-Bot last episode and are eager to fight something again. They get their chance earlier than they would like with the arrival of Mr. X, albeit their focus is actually more on avoiding his direct attention, given he has the backing of the government behind him, so he's not somebody they can simply beat up to resolve the problem.
• Brick Joke: One of the reasons Anne gives for keeping her parents out of any conflict is that they're people who do ordinary non-dangerous actives like shopping for groceries and coaching little league T-ball. It turns out the owner of the pet store where they buy the frogs for the part of the Boonchuys' plan is Anne's old T-ball coach.
• Call-Back:
  • In the theater closet is a cutout of the characters from "Love Choice".
  • Mr Boonchuy's phone has the baby pictures of Anne covered in spaghetti as her caller ID.
  • When Mr.X manhandles Hop Pop with his bare hands, he ends up letting go because of the slimy green goo that all Amphibians naturally excrete on their skin, just like Anne found out when she shook Sprig's hand after saving him in "Anne or Beast". Anne's non-reaction to holding the Plantars close implies that she's long since become used to it by now.
• Cell Phones Are Useless: Mrs. Boonchuy isn't able to warn Anne about Mr. X until he's already at the theater because her phone is on vibrate and the sound of the movie would have drowned it out anyway.
• Company Cross References: On the movie theater wall is a squirrel parody of Steamboat Willie.
• Contrived Coincidence: Of all the places Mr. X could stop for some takeout, he just happens to pick Thai Go and alert Anne's parents to his search. On the other hand, Jenners put in a search for 'best local restaurants' that flagged it as top of the list so it could simply be an indication of the family's cooking skills.
• Counting to Three: Attempted by Anne while she and the Plantars are hiding in the bathroom ready to attack, just before the blackout hits.
• Crazy-Prepared: The Boonchuys, now aware of the dangers facing Anne, turn out to have bugged Hop Pop to always keep an eye on her location. Despite seeming excessive, it turns out to be vital to them saving the quartet from the F.B.I hunting them.
• Drives Like Crazy: Mrs. Boonchuy pulls all sorts of crazy stunts while driving, such as riding the van on two wheels on the shoulder to bypass traffic.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Mr. X is unaware of the connection between the Boonchuys and Anne, who was photographed alongside the Plantars because the quartet were in the back seat fighting off the Cloak-Bot, whilst they were up front driving, so when he stops at their restaurant for some food he accidentally gives the family forewarning that he's hunting the Plantars.
  • Anne thinks she and the Plantars have the advantage against Mr. X because it's four-on-one, unaware that he called backup — an entire squad of FBI agents, including a helicopter.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: Mr. X tries to close the window in front of a child wanting ice cream, but the window gets stuck.
• Faux Horrific: Hop Pop is disgusted that there are at least twenty minutes of previews before the movie even begins.
  Hop Pop: And you call yourselves civilized!
• Foreshadowing: Anne never actually tells her parents where she's taking the Plantars to the movies and the Boonchuys actually lose track of Mr. X, who is directly tracking them with his advanced surveillance equipment, thanks to his tricked-out van. Despite this, the Boonchuys are able to find the same theatre and afterwards are able to accurately locate the quartet's position during the blackout despite Anne pointedly cutting off their phone conversations to keep them out of the situation. It turns out that the Boonchuys went ahead and planted an Incredibly Obvious Bug on Hop Pop to ensure that they'd always be able to keep track of their position in case they got into danger again, which turns out to have been a prudent decision.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Mr. X and his assistant Jenners are hell-bent on catching the Plantars, not realizing that they're not abducting anyone, and the former seems a little too excited about the thought of stun-gunning them.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Anne and the Plantars enter the room where a Fumigator movie is being displayed, the viewers get a brief glimpse at a tagline that reads "He's back to make us more money".
• Genre Savvy: Mr. X likens the "kid harboring aliens" situation to something out of an 80s movie.
• Go for the Eye: While everyone is hiding in the bathroom, Anne says, "On three, go for the eyes." Cue the blackout.
• Incredibly Obvious Bug: The Boonchuys are able to find Anne and the frogs because they secretly planted a tracker on Hop Pop—which turns out to be a large, beeping device duct-taped to his chest.
  Hop Pop: I was wondering what that was.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Mr. X looks exactly like his voice actor, RuPaul, right down to the glasses, snazzy suit, and lipstick.
• Immediate Sequel: This episode picks right up where "Anne-sterminator" left off, when the FBI let Mr. X in on the Plantars' existence and he receives the call.
• Knight Templar Parent: Played for Laughs. It turns out the Boonchuys, now aware that Anne's in mortal danger from an invading king, went the extra mile to look after her and placed a tracker on Hop Pop so they could always see where she is looking after them. It even turns out to be necessary in order for them to accurately save Anne from the movie theatre without being seen.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Considering the amount of Character Development that Anne has and will receive, this comment applies for both the film and the series:
  Anne: I thought the protagonist was pretty fun, I like that she was really flawed and had learned to grow.
• Literal Metaphor: When Anne and the Plantars hide out in a closet, Anne claims that they're at a dead end. Cut to a poster that literally reads "Dead End".
  Hop Pop: Ah. Classic.
• The Men in Black: With the final fight against the Cloak-Bot having exposed the Plantars' existence to the authorities, this episode deals with the ramifications of the government getting involved in Anne's Earth adventures.
• Movie-Theater Episode: The episode is set in a movie theater, which is where Anne and the Plantars try to avoid a secret agent who is chasing them.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Mrs. Boonchuy has one when she finds out that Mr. X is onto the Plantars, and a follow-up one alongside her husband when Jenners burst into their restaurant to show Mr. X that Anne and the Plantars have been sighted and he excitedly pulls out a stun gun in front of them, clearly looking forward to using it on the 'aliens' and their human companion.
  • Anne gets one when she finally sees her mom's messages warning her about the government agent, followed by Mr. X himself making his appearance in the theater.
    Anne: Oh, crud...
• Overly-Nervous Flop Sweat:
  • Mrs. Boonchuy breaks into this when Mr.X shows her the photograph of the Plantars and Anne whilst looking for information on them, though luckily he doesn't actually suspect her and merely thinks she's a random citizen.
  • Mr. Boonchuy breaks into one when Anne questions how they knew their precise location within the theatre, especially since she'd been pointedly cutting off all communication with them to keep them uninvolved, before reluctantly admitting they placed a tracking device on Hop Pop.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Mr. X sports these when the Boonchuys kill the theatre's power and he illuminates the room with a flashlight, then keeps them going once it's revealed that they helped the Plantars escape and left behind some real-life frogs from the nearby pet store in their place, making him look like a fool in front of his colleagues. Though it does seem to indicate his anger at the situation, he quickly recovers and maintains his cool, rather than slipping into a Villainous Breakdown.
• Sensory Overload: Sprig is completely and utterly overwhelmed by the sound system in the theater. Polly name-drops the trope beforehand but seems to handle it much better.
• Shout-Out:
  • One of the upcoming movies is a horror film called Trains With Faces, a parody of Thomas & Friends. Incidentally, there's an actual horror game based on Thomas called Choo-Choo Charles, though Production Lead Time makes that likely a coincidence.
  • Two cardboard advertisements for upcoming movies include "Spider in Your Home" and "Fast Rat. The Tag Line for the latter reads "I Require Acceleration!", a play on Sonic's memetic "Gotta go fast" line.
  • A "Stussy S" can be seen in the theater bathroom stall that Anne and the Plantars hide in.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The episode initially builds up the idea that the extent of the F.B.I's manhunt for the Plantars will only be handled by Mr. X and his assistant agent Jenners alone, with the duo tracking them down and coordinating to corner them inside the movie theatre. Anne expresses confidence that they can take Mr. X in a fight because it's four-on-one, and even prevents her parents from getting directly involved in the situation because she believes it can be resolved alone since there's so few people actually hunting them. Instead, the minute Mr. X gets visual confirmation that his targets are inhuman beings, he calls in an entire squad of F.B.I backup to efficiently corner, overwhelm and capture the four of them, whilst Anne remains unaware of the extent of the forces he's got waiting for her.
• Technologically Blind Elders: Let's just say Mr. Boonchuy has trouble using a smartphone. Ironically, it seems like Anne's grandmother has an easier time using smartphones and devices than him, despite her advanced age. Additionally, it seems Mrs. Boonchuy isn't much good with electronics either, given how they relate a Noodle Incident of them attempting to fix the electricity that Anne only refers to as a "disaster". This skill actually comes in handy, as it allows them to overload the power grid and causes a temporary blackout.
• Tempting Fate: Now that the Cloak-Bot has been destroyed, Anne and the Plantars feel they are safe for the moment until Andrias sends his next robot after them. As such, they decide to spend the day relaxing at the movies. Sure enough, not long after Hop Pop expresses that they can relax for a while, Mr. X shows up as their next big threat.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: The Boonchuys have a plan to rescue their daughter and the Plantars that somehow involves the pet store and power tools. Meanwhile, Anne and the Plantars are cornered in the bathroom when the lights go out. All that's left behind are two Earth frogs and an Earth tadpole while they escape through the vents. There's also the fact that the Boonchuys stuck a tracking device on Hop Pop the night before, which isn't revealed until after Anne questions how they knew where to find them so accurately.
• Van in Black: Mr. X travels around in a tricked-out ice cream truck that, in addition to carrying a bunch of hi-tech surveillance equipment on it, can also extend its wheels on stilt-like contraptions to move over other cars in traffic. Too bad the windows tend to get stuck though.
• Villain Opening Scene: The episode starts with Mr. X in his lair looking up the Plantars.
• Villainous Breakdown: Subverted. It seems like Mr. X will have one when he calls in an entire FBI squad to help capture 'frog monsters' only for the Boonchuys to stealthily help the Plantars escape and leave some Earth frogs behind in their place, making him look like he majorly overreacted in front of his co-workers, but he actually keeps his cool and tells Jenners that hunting them down is going to be more fun than he thought. He is also confident that he'll get the last laugh at his co-workers currently laughing at him.
• The Voiceless: Jenners doesn't ever speak, instead communicating through gestures. However, Mr. X is attuned to those small changes to read far more of the gestures.
• Would Hurt a Child: Implied. Mr. X seems very excited about stun-gunning the Plantars, two of whom happen to be children, though from his perspective they are potentially dangerous inhuman monsters. It's worth noting though that he's very much aware Anne is aiding the Plantars and is implied to be willing to taze her as well if necessary to capture the quartet.
• Wild Take: Anne throws one when she finds out her parents placed a tracking device on Hop Pop whilst they were all sleeping, even if it turned out to be necessary in the end.

---