Carmen Sandiego (2019)---From Netflix, DHX Media and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Red and black combination is traditionally associated with anarcho-communism. Of course in this particular context it's purely coincidental, but one can make some fun of it.

Second Season Is A Go

There was a line in the trailer: Agent Argent saying, "What if Carmen Sandiego was a thief who only steals from other thieves?"

In the first episode proper, this is followed by Inspector Devineaux exclaiming "No! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" He's talking to his car but it's made to look like he's answering her question, and I love this moment because this is exactly how the fandom reacted to that trailer.

But now the first season's out and. Well. Yeah, it's pretty good. This is a fun and interesting new interpretation of Carmen. I love that Zack and Ivy from the old 90's cartoon got reimagined into the show as well, and there's something weirdly empowering about them working for Carmen in this version. Like, this adaptation almost feels like a promotion for the characters, even though it's technically pushing them from lead protagonists to supporting protagonists.

It is endlessly amusing to me that both factions involved in this conflict insist that Carmen must be working for the other side.

Representation is phenomenal, as has been noted. Also, is it just Shipping Goggles or are Le Chevre and El Topo a thing? There's a really questionable line in one episode (I think it's the one with the rocket) where Dr. Cerebellum is talking about Crackle. El Topo mistakes her statement as being about Le Chevre and she says something like, "No, I am referring to my boy, not yours."

"My boy" in this context is referring to Crackle building his criminal identity around Cerebellum's tech, but identifying Le Chevre as "your [boy]" has some connotations to it.

I don't know.

I like that Carmen doesn't win every fight. As the protagonist, the fact that V.I.L.E.'s operatives do legitimately threaten her keeps the action engaging. In the season finale pitting her against Coach Brunt, I started out going "Yeah! Carmen's going up against an instructor!" And then when Coach was literally crushing her spine, I was like, "...yeah, that's about right." At this stage in her development, that fight was way out of her league, as it should be.

If she'd actually won the fight with Coach Brunt, then season two would have had a hard time justifying her still being threatened by the likes of El Topo or Tigress.

The Shadow-san twist was phenomenal. I legit did not see that coming, and I was so happy that it did. When Coach Brunt and Shadow-san went to entrap Carmen, I was worried. The one thing I absolutely did not want was for Coach to turncoat against VILE. I wanted Carmen to have to actually fight her, since Coach was the faculty member who most behaved as a protector and parent figure for her. I wanted that drama.

And I got it. I was so happy that Coach Brunt is absolutely 100% willing to crush the life out of Carmen's bones. That ruthlessness really sells how evil V.I.L.E. is as a whole, and preserves the drama inherent to Carmen eventually having to face and defeat her.

The reveal that Shadow-san was the one who truly found her as a baby and has been trying to protect her doesn't hinder that drama either; it accentuates it. Because it doesn't change the fact that Coach Brunt is the one who took care of and protected Carmen to this point; if anything, it removes any potential hurdle to their inevitable showdown.

Shadow-san can have that plot point. That's fine. Great, even. He was the other highly anticipated showdown, but he was a highly anticipated showdown because he was a hurdle for Carmen becoming a great Evil Thief Crime Person. He was her archnemesis because he stood in the way of her becoming V.I.L.E.'s Evilest Crime Person. Coach Brunt was facilitating it. She wanted Carmen to be V.I.L.E.'s Evilest Crime Person. So Shadow-san abruptly passing the Archnemesis Ball to her actually works in a way that only really sticks out in retrospect.

All things considered, I was very satisfied with this season. I didn't like the idea the show was going with, but they executed it really well. I look forward to seeing what next season has in store.

Also even though he's saying it to his car in the show, it is an accurate representation of his reaction to that suggestion. One of the few things I don't like is how Zack and Ivy don't really have a proper introduction.

Google has partnered with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to make a Google Earth-based Spiritual Successor to the Carmen Sandiego computer games of old.

Naturally, it's based on the reboot, and it's more streamlined compared to the originals, but the basic premise of the player trying to "catch" Carmen through world factoid clues remains. The first caper available is the start of a series of upcoming tales too.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Mar 16th 2019 at 9:42:10 AM

I loved these episodes even if it felt a bit too much like Carmen Possible.

I'm a bit curious if season 2 is going to go the Enemy Within route with Brunt. She has some unusual abilities (she bent the metal bars before the fight with Carmen) and the show had hypnosis facilitated by technology, so the show being scientifically accurate isn't a given. Also since she's the self defence teacher, having, say, nano bots giving Harmful Healing to her would be thematically fitting her character (she could have plant-like hair maybe?). Plus Brunt's first name isn't known so there is a potential dramatic reveal there.

This show is apparently going to have an interactive special, a la Puss in Boots, Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters, and more recently, Black Mirror.

Season two will officially premiere on October 1st.

It took even less than I thought.

https://youtu.be/KVPgMERW42c

Here is the season 2 trailer.

Sweet!

I like how the beginning scene has her pants pulled practically up to her chest, presumably to avoid sexualizing her.

Mom jeans

I like how it manages to slip in a bit of light-heartedness without making it tonally-dissonant or coming to a screeching halt to focus on a single joke sequence, like you'll commonly see in trailers.

So season two is out in less than three hours. What're you guys hoping for? Personally I'm hoping we get a little more on Carmen's past but beyond that and hoping Shadow-san shows up at some point for a teamup, I don't really have much.

I mean, the trailer showed we're getting more than just a team-up with Shadow-San.

I hope we get more emphasis on Zack and Ivy's relationship with Carmen. Maybe even showing how they've met or something. Oh, and more Duke shenanigans. Cleo never found out it was Zack, so....

Seconding a "how Zack and Ivy met Carmen" flashback.

Woo for season being out

Okay, I love second season's focus on other V.I.L.E. operatives Also Neal the Eal is at same time really gross and cool

Could someone who's finished season two please either update or remove the They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character entries on YMMV.Carmen Sandiego? I've only reached episode 13 so far.

Oh, so this was a pretty exciting season. I really like all the moral grayness that keeps evolving even when we have an organization that loudly prides itself on being EEVIIIL, and the plot twists are good. The Chief having such a deep connection to Carmen genuinely caught me off guard and it really informs a lot of her actions throughout the series. I also appreciated them actually fleshing out Zack and Ivy. They really needed it.

I know there's an interactive special, but I hope we get a couple of seasons more. I know the initial order was 20 episodes, but the special's existence more or less confirms there's additional content on the way.

The second season was definitely a step up, where they've definitely proven they can handle the various characters as well as they can with some exciting hooks on all three sides for the next part of the story.

I hope the next season gives Player some focus since he was the only team member that didn't get challenged much so far.

I hope we find out more about his home life, at least.

The show has been nominated for multiple Annie Awards, including Best Character Design and Best Music.

I guess it's kind of late to mention this, but the show won two Annies: Best Character Design and Best Storyboarding in a TV Production.

More importantly, the interactive special will be coming on March 10th, titled "To Steal or Not to Steal".

Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on Feb 10th 2020 at 11:04:34 AM