Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23 – Quick Summary
In SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23, “THE UNWAVERING PATH,” the rigged tennis match between Loid Forger/Twilight and Fiona Frost/Nightfall, masquerading as the Phony family, continued to rage with Carrol Campbell and Kim Campbell. In last week’s episode, Twilight and Nightfall’s opposition had restored to bionic gear and a shifting tennis court. What else do they have in store for our heroes? Can they adapt in time? And will Anya every learn the right terminology to use for tennis?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23
Anya’s confidence is growing. I can only hope her accuracy catches up. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
There’s overlap between my favorite quote and favorite moment. In fact, my favorite quote is in the scene running up to my favorite moment. But I couldn’t pass this up. Anya didn’t have many lines in this episode, but she darn near stole the scene in the scene she was in!
Loid asked Fiona to drop him off some distance from his home, so she stopped at the park. Turns out Yor and Anya were there, still practicing tennis. That offended Fiona, especially when Loid mentioned that they had helped him prepare. After all, that directly challenged her core hope, which was that she would be a better wife than Yor.
She idly asked Yor if she played tennis. She said that Anya had become obsessed with it since helping Loid practice. The camera tilted down to focus on Anya, who had a meme-worthy stern expression.
“Anya is an expert at home runs,” she said (13:42) in a voice as confident as her statement was wrong.
She might have been wrong, but I’ll give her credit for positive attitude!
Favorite Moment from SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23
This is the face of someone who brought a knife to an artillery battle. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: I Like Fiona, But…
I like Fiona. I explained why back in my review of episode 21. But this episode helped me clarify something, and that is this: I may like Fiona. I might even sympathize with her. But I freaking adore Yor.
I learned this in the moments leading up to my favorite moment. Just after Anya pronounced her expert status, Fiona took the opportunity to say that must mean Yor was really good. I could see exactly what Fiona was doing. She was going to challenge Yor in the hopes of defeating her in front of Loid.
In fact, this is a verbatim quote from my notes: “You know what? I want to see Yor crush Fiona. And I like Fiona!”
Loid did try to talk Fiona out of it. Seems he knows that Yor’s strong. Hmmm… Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I’m going to stretch the definition of “moment” for my favorite moment because it’s really two-sided. I could see the challenge; I could see that Yor was going to accept. And I really, really wanted to see Yor hit the ball so hard that Nightfall couldn’t even see it.
It looked like I was going to get exactly what I wanted. Loid tried to dissuade Nightfall, but she didn’t listen. What she did do was carefully draw an outline of the court in the dirt. Then she put herself into a power stance, ready to return Yor’s serve.
Yor tossed the ball into the air. The camera made a point of showing her forearm muscles bulge. And I thought I was going to get a power slam that knocked Fiona on her ass. Instead, what I got was an apparent whiff. The ball went up, the ball came down, Yor swung, and the ball hit the ground.
I thought, “Okay, that’s a little funny. I know Yor is a klutz, but damn it – she’s at least coordinated! Honestly, I wanted to see her dominate!”
Delivery: Yor is Way More Awesome
But the show was messing with me. The camera zoomed in on the ball. It disintegrated into squares exactly the same dimension as the squares in Yor’s racket. She had hit the bar so hard, and so fast, that the racked passed right freaking through it.
Normal matter is no match for Yor.
Now, that’s the kind of thing I was hoping for! Note quite, but close! But the show wasn’t done yet.
Hey, as an aside, how must the world look to Yor? She bent down and scooped up the remains of the tennis ball and seemed apologetic. She even said (16:23), “I’m so sorry, Mr. Ball. I’m just awful at tennis.” Awful? She’s so overpowered that physical matter defers to her strength! That counts as a failure to her?
Yor, all meek and apologetic Yor, then asked Anya for another tennis ball. Anya dispatched Bond, and Yor prepared to serve again. “I need to give it my all, but hold back just enough that the ball actually flies,” she thought (16:28).
My favorite moment was the shot of Fiona as she tried to analyze the insane scene she had just witnessed. As Yor tossed the ball into the air again, Fiona thought (16:40), “What in the world did I just see? The ball fell to pieces? Wha…”
I’ll give Fiona points for courage. She didn’t run. Even though she knew she faced a serve that traveled faster than Mach I. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
That moment, that instant when Fiona realized that she faced a force beyond her comprehension was simply perfect. Sure, it was fun to see that Yor could actually serve. And that the ball she served shifted states from matter to energy in a way that joyfully told the laws of physics to hold its beer and watch. But that moment where Fiona came face to face with the force that is Yor was everything I’d hoped it would be.
And you know what? That moment would not have worked if Fiona had been depicted as a weak or even moderately strong woman. Instead, we spent the last couple of episodes seeing just how strong, resourceful, and proficient Nightfall really was. And all of that strength meant exactly zero in the face of Yor’s serve – even after Yor had to throttle back so the ball would retain its structural integrity.
Yeah, I really, really like Yor!
What did you think of Sylvia Sherwood wearing the rings that Fiona had picked out? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: SPY x FAMILY Part 2 – Episode 23 discussion
- I Drink and Watch Anime: Spy x Family episode 23 – Private Family Collection
- Lost in Anime: Spy x Family – 23
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 13: PROJECT APPLE
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 14: DISARM THE BOMB
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 15: A NEW FAMILY MEMBER
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 16: YOR’S KITCHEN / THE INFORMANT’S GREAT ROMANCE PLAN
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 17: CARRY OUT THE GRIFFIN PLAN / FULLMETAL LADY / OMELET RICE♥
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 18: UNCLE THE PRIVATE TUTOR / DAYBREAK
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 19: A REVENGE PLOT AGAINST DESMOND / MAMA BECOMES THE WIND
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 20: INVESTIGATE THE GENERAL HOSPITAL / DECIPHER THE PERPLEXING CODE
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 21: NIGHTFALL / FIRST FIT OF JEALOUSY
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 22: THE UNDERGROUND TENNIS TOURNAMENT: THE CAMPBELLDON
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 23: THE UNWAVERING PATH
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 24: THE ROLE OF A MOTHER AND WIFE / SHOPPING WITH FRIENDS
- SPY x FAMILY Cour 2 Episode 25: FIRST CONTACT
Damn. Yor has become an uber-waifu!
Absolutely!
I thought it was really cute that the Handler actually wore the ugly rings simply because they were a gift. Seeing Yor release her ka’meha’meha tennis serve was awesome! Definitely my favorite moment of the episode! I also really liked how at the end of Twilight’s and Nightfall’s tennis match Twilight had managed to inspire the bad guy’s son to become an honest tennis player. I thought that was really a sweet moment.
That detail of Twilight encouraging the bad guy’s son was genuinely touching! I really liked that moment. In fact, it was in contention. Until Yor’s scene, that is!