This show is a show that caught a lot of the non-comic book readers off guard. That first episode in the first season is truly unforgettable. Everything is going great, and then that turn made you wonder, "What am I watching?" The last episode in the first season has been seared into the minds of all who watched and witnessed the brutality this cartoon had to offer. A simple demonstration that human life is fragile if you are not a superhero or better yet, a Viltrumite. Now, we are into our third season. The second season felt a little rushed to me. Everything with Angstrom Levi felt too quick-paced, and maybe it was the number of episodes or the variety of storylines they were running with, but although the season was really good, the writing and delivery for me felt rushed. Season two seemed to fly by in a blink, and although it was nice to have the Atom-Eve special before the season started, nothing really stood out apart from the baby, the rage in the last episode and the Allen the Alien separate storyline, since there was a dedicated almost full episode dedicated to him which was really cool, own theme music and all. This third season is really, really well thought out and so far, really good. Maybe they starting the 3rd season off with 3 episodes could be due to the second season not being as well received, but whatever their reasons are, well done.
The first episode shows us Mark training with Cecil to get his strength up for the arrival of the Viltrumites, but when Doc Seizemic escapes and captures all the superheroes, including Mark and Eve, Cecil sends in Darkwing II and Reanimen to help. This obviously angers Mark due to who creates the reanimen and the history there, and the new Darkwing was never always a hero. Mark finds out first-hand what Cecil is capable of. In between the action and drama between Mark and Cecil, Mark confronts Eve about his time with Angstrom and her future self, Shrinking Rae rejoins the Guardians of the Globe and Allen and Nolan bond whilst they are held captive.
The second episode shows us a few flashbacks relating to Cecil on a mission taking down a couple of people with powers leaving him scarred, only to later see those same individuals being used to help assist him in another mission leaving Cecil to question what is really at stake and what needs to be done to keep the world safe from threats. In present day, Cecil deploys Reanimen to fight Mark, but when they prove to be no match for him, Cecil sets off a sound, crippling Mark leaving him to flee to seek help from the Guardians of the Globe where a huge fight ensues between all of them and Cecil leading the Guardians to break up. Mark vows to kill Cecil if he comes near him or his family again.
The third episode shows us Mark and his younger brother, Oliver, getting a new suit. Mark spends time trying to train Oliver whilst also trying to keep him away from joining the fight and getting into danger. The Mauler twins break into a Missle Silo and both Mark and Oliver try to stop them and the missle leading to Oliver taking the fight with the twins into his own hands. Between the action and drama of this episode, we have a short storyline with two criminals who rob banks, Titan is tasked to break out Multi-Paul from a supervillain prison on demands from an organisation called 'The Order', Debbie goes on a date with her work colleague Paul (another Paul, not Multi-Paul) and we find out that someone is spying on the Grayson family using drones.
These three episodes set the tone of what is to come and the overall theme for this season. It seems to me that the ongoing theme is the "choices we make" because episode one ended with a choice Cecil made to protect the guardians who will, in turn, protect the globe. The choice(s) in episode two are with the guardians choosing to break up and follow the side they leaned into, Mark or Cecil, whilst at the same time, Cecil makes the choice to put these measures in place to stop threats to the globe as well as working with former bad people having given them rehabilitation, a lesson learnt from his past. Episode three centres around choices various people make in this episode. The two bank robbers make several choices at the beginning of the episode. Mark makes a choice to teach his younger brother how to be a superhero, which goes drastically wrong, and Debbie makes the choice to tell her new boyfriend her secrets in an effort to be more open.
The season has been stellar so far, and I love how they seem to paint out the world as not being only black and white, but there are shades of grey. Cecil is a prime example of someone who is good but operates in shades of grey. Mark is a black or white person at this point because he only knows good and bad. His way of thinking is, if you are good, why would you place "back-up" or "contingency plans" for someone you work with? You either trust them or you do not. But we are learning with Cecil. Cecil will trust you until he doesn't, and he will have a back-up plan for when he stops trusting you. People will be people, and people are flawed, alien or not. If the end of episode one was not enough to inform you that you need to stay ready at all times, I do not know what is, and Cecil will do whatever it takes. Mark is justified in feeling the way he feels, but not being able to see the nuances in people, aliens or the choices that we all make is leading him to stay ignorant and not think objectively. Last season, Mark spent a lot of the season moping around concerned he does not want to turn into his father due to what he had done, but cannot see why the very same people who trusted his father (to an extent) and worked with his father saw what he did and would he could possibly do on a grand scale, and decided to put measures in place. It will be interesting to see where this season goes, especially with that post-credits stinger of whom I believe to be Angstrom Levi "back from the dead". Excellent three episodes.
