Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 1 – Quick Summary
In SPY x FAMILY Season 2 episode 1, “FOLLOW MAMA AND PAPA,” Yor was on assignment, providing service to “customers.” Most of which were dead. However, one somehow survived. As the Thorn Princess told her handler she had to stop on the way home to get milk and eggs, the survivor took aim at Yor’s back. Will she survive, or will the show start the new season on a crushingly dramatic note? If she survives, will Yor have time to buy milk and eggs? Or will Loid have to go to the store on his own?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 1
Given Yor’s tolerance for pain, the agony had to be significant! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Okay, I think we all know that the survivor from Red Circus wasn’t going to kill Yor. For one thing, if he did, you wouldn’t be reading this. There’s no way I’m supporting a show that would kill off Yor! Not like that, anyway. For another reason, well, Yor’s Yor. She’s a force of nature. Mere bullets aren’t likely to bring her down.
But, apparently, she’s not invincible.
We saw the guy from Red Circus take aim. We saw Yor turn slightly, And we heard the gunshot. The next we see, Loid and Anya are sitting at home with Bond. They were waiting for Yor, who was late. I still knew for sure Yor wasn’t dead, but I have to admit I breathed a little easier seeing her come in the door.
But something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She looked seriously upset. Loid picked up on it; you didn’t need to be a master spy to read Yor’s expression! He asked her what was up.
“I absolutely cannot tell him that I got shot in the butt,” she thought (04:58).
And just like that, I remembered how great it felt to watch an episode of SPY x FAMILY!
Favorite Moment from SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 1
I think the guy was so freaked out he didn’t notice the gun wasn’t real. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Non-Obvious Solutions to Obvious Problems
Isn’t that new OP something? I love how Loid, Yor, and Anya are trying to do regular family things like take a drive or have tea, and all these spy things keep happening to them. The best part? Loid and Yor still make do. That’s the kind of tenacity I like to see in a couple.
Speaking of tenacity, my favorite moment in the episode really got me thinking about the potential for spy-craft in an enlightened world. It got me thinking about the possibility that there are non-obvious solutions available that have better outcomes, given the right skill set. And guess who has the right skillset – and mindset?
Loid has a ton of skills! A lot of them have a wide variety of applications. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
It’s not Loid. He has skills, no doubt about that. But not quite the right skills for what I have in mind. Plus, the training he has for his particular skillset has a mindset that’s not easily bent to what I have in mind.
It’s not Yor, and before I say why, may I just say that we just watched an entire episode centered around Yor’s backside? It kind put me in mind of Lycoris Recoil’s fourth episode. Well, only thematically. Takina didn’t take a bullet in the ass. But that’s beside the point. And now I’m off track. Where was I?
Oh, yeah, Yor’s skillset is absolutely the wrong one for what I have in mind. So is her whole worldview. But there is someone in the cast who is the only one who could have delivered my favorite moment. And that’s Anya.
Delivery: Anya’s Unique Form of Justice
She’s a telepath. In this kind of world, what would be more natural than using telepathic skills to detect weaknesses and put your enemies down? It might be natural. It would be the way either Loid or Yor would apply telepathy, at least for their main alter-egos. But Anya’s a kinder, gentler soul. Probably because she’s younger, but that’s beside the point.
Reading the mind of the Red Circus survivor working as a waiter, she saw he wanted to avenge his friends. So Anya used what she had also read in his mind to fashion her own bomb (sized appropriately small so it wouldn’t kill him). Once he was dazed, she walked up to him and attacked in a way that only Anya could.
You know, if this guy had just done his job and served tasty food, he would have had a peaceful evening. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
“Red Circus guy,” she said, making it clear she knew exactly who he was (19:33). Which she didn’t really, but he didn’t know that. She warned him to stay away from her family. Already the guy’s freaking out. He’s probably wondering why Anya just didn’t kill him. Then Anya administered the coup de grâce. She said (19:48), “You need to completely give up being a bad guy and make Cathurin a happy lady.”
Anya could have killed the guy. Maybe he even deserved it. But she decided to give him a chance. She chose mercy. Yes, it’s a dangerous choice. But it’s also the more highly evolved choice, at least as far as I can determine. I say this in the context of the answer to this question: how much better would the world be if we had more mercy and less killing? Since we don’t have a second universe for a large-scale A/B test, it’s all conjecture. But I choose to think mercy is underrated.
What did you think of Loid’s intricate web of plans for potential dates? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to share in the comments!
SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 1: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Spy x Family Season 2 – Episode 1 discussion
- I Drink and Watch Anime: Spy x Family episode 26 – Happy Wife, Happy Life
- RABUJOI: Spy x Family – 26 (S2 01) – Burdens of the Butthurt
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 1: FOLLOW MAMA AND PAPA
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 2: BOND’S STRATEGY TO STAY ALIVE / DAMIAN’S FIELD RESEARCH TRIP
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 3: MISSION AND FAMILY / THE ELEGANT BONDMAN / THE HEART OF A CHILD / WAKING UP
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 4: The Pastry of Knowledge / The Informant’s Great Romance Plan II
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 5: Plan to Cross the Border
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 6: The Fearsome Luxury Cruise Ship
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 7: Who Is This Mission For?
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 8: The Symphony Upon the Ship
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 9: The Hand That Connects to the Future
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 10: Enjoy the Resort to the Fullest / Bragging About Vacation
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 11: Berlint in Love / Nightfall’s Daily Life
- SPY x FAMILY Season 2 Episode 12: Part of the Family
This was such a fun episode! Every time Yor made that face, it got me cracking up! I loved that Loid is a master at social engineering, but totally misunderstood what Yor was thinking. All his careful dating plans, but little did he know she was suffering from a battle wounded bottom! I also love that Loid totally noticed Anya and Frankie following them almost immediately, but chose to pretend he didn’t see them. Anya and Frankie thought they were being so sneaky, it was adorable!
I’m starting to buy into the consensus that Loid is hyper competent in general, but when it comes to Yor and Anya, he’s so emotionally involved with them that he’s compromised. It’s kind of sweet in a world-of-spy-craft sort of way.
I have to agree: Anya and Frankie are adorable. It’s like he wants to pretend he’s above all this, but he’s dying to be the lovable uncle.