Recap / Infinity Train

This is the recap page for Infinity Train, an animated, science-fiction anthology series created by Owen Dennis that revolves around the numerous passengers and denizens aboard a mysterious, seemingly endless train in another dimension. The show ran on Cartoon Network from August 5th, 2019 to January 10th, 2020, and on HBO Max from August 13th, 2020 to April 15th, 2021.

Despite the show's anthology nature, the plots of later seasons still spoil reveals made in prior ones. As such, unmarked spoilers are present even in some of the synopses below. Read at your own risk.

---

Pilot Episode

"Infinity Train" (2016) - Tulip must learn to set her personal interests aside to make her way through a mysterious train and help the king of all corgis save his people.^note Tropes for the pilot are listed under Book 1, Episode 3 below.

Series

Book 1: The Perennial Child

♫ I'm going off the rails on a crazy train... ♫^note From left to right: Tulip, One-One, and Atticus.

"There has to be a way off this train that won't kill me. Okay, everything has rules. E-E-Even crazy things have their own logic. It's a train, right? Trains have conductors. One-One, is there a conductor?"

— Tulip

A Minnesotan teenage girl named Tulip Olsen (Ashley Johnson) finds herself on an otherworldly train after running away from home. Concluding that the only means to escape back to Earth is to confront the conductor, she begins journeying towards the engine of the impossibly long locomotive. Accompanying her on her quest is One-One (Jeremy Crutchley and Owen Dennis), a scatterbrained robot with a split personality who desires to find his "mother", and a talking corgi named Atticus (Ernie Hudson), a king who wishes to destroy a creature that had been terrorizing his kingdom. It ran on Cartoon Network over a five-night period, from August 5 to August 9, 2019.

---

1. "The Grid Car" - After running away from home to attend a game design camp, Tulip finds herself stuck on a mysterious train where every car contains its own universe.
2. "The Beach Car" - After a series of frustrating incidents in other cars, Tulip strikes a deal with a cat who claims to personally know the train's conductor, using One-One as payment.
3. "The Corgi Car" - An impatient Tulip must slow down in her quest to reach the conductor to help the king of corgis battle a mysterious monster.
4. "The Crystal Car" - Now joined by Atticus, Tulip and One-One enter a crystal forest car and have to take part in a musical ritual if they wish to unlock the next door and continue onwards.
5. "The Cat's Car" - Crossing paths with the cat once again in the feline's personal train car, Tulip is given an old video tape that forces her to relive her memories.
6. "The Unfinished Car" - An odd train car with unfinished architecture causes One-One to behave strangely and makes him compelled to "fix" everything.
7. "The Chrome Car" - In order to continue her journey, Tulip needs to literally confront herself in a car full of mirrored surfaces.
8. "The Ball Pit Car" - A fun and peaceful adventure is cut short by the return of the Steward and a dangerous new enemy.
9. "The Past Car" - Tulip risks trusting the cat one more time when the feline claims to have a solution to her newest problem.
10. "The Engine" - Tulip makes it to the front of the train to confront the Conductor and hopefully return home.

Book 2: Cracked Reflection

♫ I am a passenger... and I ride and I ride... ♫^note From left to right: Alan Dracula, MT, and Jesse.

"So, here's the only solution I can think of. I'll travel with you and help you get your number down. But only because then you'll get off the train and I'll get to stay with, for lack of a better name, Alan Dracula."

— MT

A few months after the events of Book 1, MT (Ashley Johnson) continues to evade the pair of reflection officers (Ben Mendelsohn and Bradley Whitford) tasked with her capture and execution. Following her most recent close call, she meets a shapeshifting deer-like entity named Alan Dracula, as well as an Arizonian teenage boy named Jesse (Robbie Daymond), who awoke on the train weeks prior. Though their personalities initially clash, MT and Jesse decide to help each achieve their goals of living freely and escaping the train, respectively. It ran on Cartoon Network over a five-night period from January 6 to January 10, 2020.

---

1. "The Black Market Car" - Following a close call with the reflection police, MT befriends a shapeshifting deer christened Alan Dracula and encounters a new passenger named Jesse.
2. "The Family Tree Car" - After their mutual deer friend falls down a literal family tree, MT and Jesse must work together despite their clashing personalities to locate their deer companion.
3. "The Map Car" - With Alan Dracula back in tow, the group moves forward, with MT promising to serve as Jesse's guide to getting his number down and returning home.
4. "The Toad Car" - Trapped in the titular car after the trio encounters the reflection police, Jesse and MT find themselves wondering if they can trust each other.
5. "The Parasite Car" - While traveling through a car, MT and Jesse discover that Alan Dracula has been infected by a parasite.
6. "The Lucky Cat Car" - The group enters a carnival car, where Jesse and MT must compete for the exit with another, mysterious passenger.
7. "The Mall Car" - MT and Jesse follow the other passenger to the next car, where they discover a group of children and teenagers who have made it their home.
8. "The Wasteland" - Separated from Jesse, MT must navigate the wasteland outside the train after trying to escape the reflection police once again.
9. "The Tape Car" - More determined than ever to escape the train, MT aims to enter the titular car, which serves as the entry point for all passengers, for clues.
10. "The Number Car" - With the odds stacked against her, MT fights for the right to make her own choices and be considered a real person.

Book 3: Cult of the Conductor

♫ Don't be a worry-baby. No need to hurry, baby, when you're with me... ♫^note From left to right: Grace, Hazel, Simon, and Tuba.

"Let's focus on numbers. We all have them. Me, you, and Simon. (...) Oh, I know. You could come back with us. That way we could teach you all about numbers. Maybe we can get yours to glow like mine does!"

— Grace

Grace (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Simon (Kyle McCarley) are the leaders of The Apex, a group of hedonistic child passengers who follow the alleged teachings of the "true Conductor." After the train unexpectedly shuffles the cars during a raiding mission, the two teenagers find themselves separated from the group and forced to trek their way back. On their return trip, they find themselves challenged by the unexpected appearance of Hazel (Isabella Abiera), a young passenger with a seemingly broken number who they wish to indoctrinate into their group, and her fiercely protective gorilla caretaker Tuba (Diane Delano). It ran on HBO Max over a three-week period from August 13 to August 27, 2020.

---

1. "The Musical Car" - Grace and Simon, the leaders of a dubious group called the Apex, are separated from the pack under mysterious circumstances.
2. "The Jungle Car" - The duo begin treating the situation as a mini-vacation from their responsibilities, until they encounter a mysterious young child named Hazel and her gorilla caretaker, Tuba.
3. "The Debutante Ball Car" - The quartet's uneasy alliance is tested by an unavoidable challenge in their first car together: dancing in a high-stakes octopus debutante ball.
4. "Le Chat Chalet Car" - Stuck in a blizzard, the gang seeks shelter in a nearby cabin, only for Simon to find himself reuniting with an old acquaintance.
5. "The Color Clock Car" - The group splits up in order to solve a color-based, shifting-maze puzzle, forcing Simon and Tuba to amicably work together.
6. "The Campfire Car" - Before they reunite with the Apex, Hazel insists that they hold an important ceremony, much to an impatient Simon's frustration.
7. "The Canyon of the Golden Winged Snakes Car" - The group finds themselves confronting a strange old woman who's been investigating the mystery of the shifting train cars.
8. "The Hey Ho Whoa Car" - Deciding to trust the woman, the group continues on towards the Apex, only for some shocking revelations to occur while waiting to traverse the titular car.
9. "The Origami Car" - As tensions reach their boiling point, Simon decides to confront Grace about her recent behavior.
10. "The New Apex" - With every truth and secret now brought to light, Grace and Simon realize that the Apex must be restructured.

Book 4: Duet

♫ Train to nowhere. Train to nowhere. Train to nowhere. At least you're there... ♫^note From left to right: Min-Gi, Kez, and Ryan.

"Let's not stress about dials or trains or numbers or anything. Let me just take you back to my place, and we can chill. (...) In my opinion, sometimes numbers are part of the problem, not the solution, y'know?"

— Kez

Living in British Columbia during the 1980s, Ryan (Sekai Murashige) and Min-Gi (Johnny Young) are two childhood friends who dream of becoming famous musicians. However, the duo finds their relationship becoming strained after graduating high school, and an argument over a sudden trip to New York ends with the duo boarding the train to the Wasteland instead. Waking up with matching numbers and stuck with the dubious companionship of a scatterbrained concierge bell named Kez (Minty Lewis), the duo must now figure out how to repair their bond or risk remaining on the train forever. The entire season premiered on HBO Max on April 15, 2021.

---

1. "The Twin Tapes" - Min-Gi and Ryan's lifelong friendship and creative partnership disintegrates, and their reunion after a summer spent apart ends with them boarding the Infinity Train.
2. "The Iceberg Car" - Min-Gi and Ryan wake up on the train and meet Kez, a talking, floating concierge bell whose recent actions have made her the target of the titular car's angry denizens.
3. "The Old West Car" - Ryan, Min-Gi, and Kez get thrown into an Old West jail, thanks to Kez having run afoul of the car's authorities weeks prior.
4. "The Pig Baby Car" - The group are trapped in a massive kitchen where their only exit comes in the form of making the perfect dessert for a very fussy baby.
5. "The Astro Queue Car" - The trio's need to sneak into a guarded nightclub astro tower puts a frustrated Ryan and a smug Min-Gi at odds with each other over the best plan.
6. "The Party Car" - When impressing the crowd at a party appears to be the only way forward, Min-Gi and Ryan must play their first show together since splitting up the band.
7. "The Art Gallery Car" - Trapped in a haunted art museum that's bringing out their darkest thoughts, the trio must search for the exit or risk becoming prey to a mysterious shadow creature.
8. "The Mega Maze Car" - As they slowly trek through a maze to Kez's home, Min-Gi and Ryan are forced to not only air their grievances with each other, but also escape a mob of all the denizens Kez has angered.
9. "The Castle Car" - Ryan and Min-Gi finally meet Kez's roommate, learning Kez's real reasons for bringing them to her car and making them question their trust in her.
10. "The Train to Nowhere" - In the face of disheartening circumstances, Min-Gi and Ryan reaffirm their friendship and resolve to get off the train together, no matter what.

Shorts

The Train Documentaries

Taking place between Books 1 and 2, these are a series of two minute shorts starring One-One as they visit different cars on the train in order to create informational videos for future passengers. They premiered sporadically on Cartoon Network's YouTube page from October 19 to November 16, 2019.

---

1. "The Green Car" (Date: October 19, 2019) - One-One kicks off a series of videos visiting the different cars on the train. First up is the green car, where everything is green.
2. "The Tiny Wizard Car" (Date: October 20, 2019) - They're tiny, but they have big problems.
3. "The Kaiju Car" (Date: October 25, 2019) - It's full of giant creatures, but One-One focuses on the little things.
4. "The Tech Support Car" (Date: October 27, 2019) - For Inconvenience, Press "1".
5. "The Snow Car" (Date: November 2, 2019) - One-One returns to the car where Tulip found him.
6. "The Hill Car" (Date: November 2, 2019) - Our dear conductor explores an endless expanse of hills.
7. "The Movie Theater Car" (Date: November 9, 2019) - Let's go out to the lobby of this car.
8. "The Cross-Eyed Ducks Car" (Date: November 9, 2019) - So many ducks!
9. "The Minecart Car" (Date: November 16, 2019) - Minecart Madness is surprisingly boring.
10. "The Wedding Cake Car" (Date: November 16, 2019) - Who will catch the bouquet?

---