The Forgers’ marital problems continue, because the first thing Yor worries about in the morning is how she embarrassed herself last night in front of Loid. I get it, but hey, if you can’t be silly and vulnerable around your spouse, then what’s the point? If anything, this should at least endear herself to Loid even more. His problem is that he’s always worried about “the mission.” As such, he’s always worried that maybe Yor is lying to him. You can’t fake what she did last night, though.
Already in a bad mindset, Yor decides to dig an even deeper hole. She now thinks she and Loid need to have “gripes.” At the same time, he thinks she got super drunk because she has a gripe with him. Yep, this is what happens when you don’t talk as a couple. This is what happens when the family is full of liars (even the kid). Given the opportunity to communicate her honest feelings, however, Yor fumbles immediately. Ah well, this is the same woman who short-circuited during an opera. I don’t even know what to say about Yuri suddenly barging in and making this a bigger mess than it needs to be. Why do you guys not keep the doors locked?
At the same time, Loid’s trying so hard to be rational about a woman who isn’t currently rational. Funnily enough, he’s actually right about Yor’s coworkers being a bad influence, but then he jumps to the dumbest conclusion just like his wife. Brother, haven’t you heard of Occam’s razor? Do you really think those women can be spies?
Loid then goes, “At times like these, you must first admit fault….” I disagree, actually. You don’t even know what you did wrong. Just automatically saying you’re sorry when you have no clue what you’re sorry about renders the apology meaningless. You’re just putting up an act. Sure, this whole marriage is a sham, but people will think you’re just trying to sweep the problem under the rug if you instantly apologize. Granted, Yor isn’t really that bright, so she wouldn’t read that much into an empty apology. Love her, but she’s an airhead.
Unfortunately, the Forgers don’t get the chance to resolve their “conflict” right here and now, because Loid gets called in for an emergency. It’s probably just another mission albeit a really urgent one. All of a sudden, a light bulb goes turns on in Yor’s head: she can gripe about him overworking himself! Normally, that’s a fair gripe to have in a relationship, but you don’t start a fight when there’s an emergency. He’s not actually a doctor, but she doesn’t know that. In her mind, he probably has to go save a patient. Imagine giving your spouse a hard time about that. She’s so damn pleased with herself, too. But according to the anime, Yor’s still somewhat drunk right now, so that’s why she’s behaving badly. Uh huh.
So what is the emergency? Apparently, there’s a double agent within WISE, and they’re about to leak crucial information to the SSS, the same organization that Yuri belongs to. Basically, there’s a good chance we might finally get to see Loid and Yuri butt heads. The latter has been beefing with his brother-in-law ever since they first met. I highly doubt he’ll discover Loid’s true identity as Twilight, but at least we can now get to see their conflict play out on a bigger stage.
Right off the bat, Loid finds himself ensnared in a trap. Thanks to unreliable information from WISE’s own mole within the SSS, he shows up to a secret meeting disguised in the wrong color gemstone. Unfortunately, the episode leaves us on this cliffhanger, but this is fun. It’s fun that there’s actually spywork in a show called SPY x FAMILY. Crazy, huh? There’s no doubt that our favorite spy dad will escape this mess with his life intact, but you can’t say the same about WISE’s mole. His life is pretty much forfeit. The best you can hope for is that the SSS doesn’t torture him for too long.
What’s the end goal, though? Yes, I know, I know, Loid and the rest of the WISE need to get the important files back. But what is this mission really about? For instance, that one penguin episode back in season one reinforced Loid’s decision to work ever harder than ever in order to his daughter’s happiness. Yor’s cruise ship mission in season two helped her realize that her found family is now just as important to her as Yuri. The arc where a bunch of college kids strapped bombs onto dogs gave us, well, a dog. So what will this current predicament get us? How will this mission strengthen the Forgers if at all? We already know Loid’s going to succeed. There’s no question about that. We just don’t know what the big major takeaway will be.
On a related note, I’m actually surprised that we’re getting another serious arc so soon after the last one. SPY x FAMILY can be hilarious, which I of course love about the anime. But when we get nothing but Anya’s silly hijinks at school, it’s kinda easy to write the show off, i.e. “Ah well, nothing important is really happening.” This was my biggest letdown with the second season. You can excuse the first season screwing around a bit, because the show is still introducing its characters and fleshing out the setting. For example, participating in an underground tennis match with Fiona was beyond silly, but those episodes helped established her character. The second season needed to drive the plot forward, though, and I felt like it kinda failed in that regard. Again, we had Yor’s big cruise ship mission, but the rest of the episodes were largely unmemorable. I honestly couldn’t tell you what else happened that season. Meanwhile, the third season already has two major standout moments: Loid’s backstory and Anya’s busjacking event. We seem poised to add a third.
Speaking of silly hijinks…
Stray thoughts & observations:
- What is up with this milk? Fat free and pure full cream? The hell does that mean?
- Why a painting of four chairs? Is this a well-known piece I’ve never seen before? And is the painting hung a bit low?
- Wanna know my gripe? Loid made his daughter toad-in-the-hole, but then he cut through the yolk. What a monster! You can’t break someone’s yolk!
- These so called spies are terrible at choosing a name. Loid Forger, Fiona Frost, and now Winston Wheeler. Kudos on the alliteration, though.
- Hm, new face that doesn’t look completely generic? I’ve never seen this lady before. I wonder if she’ll have a recurring role going forward. We haven’t really introduced a new supporting character in a while… unless Madam Schlag counts, but I’m kinda hoping that she’s a one-time deal. Then again, the new woman works for the SSS along with Yuri, so she’s probably a scumbag too.
- The situation is certainly dire, but Fiona actually suggests, “Perhaps, for now, we should abandon all of our current mission in the East, including Operation Strix, and regroup.” Whoa, hold your horses. Why not wait and see if they can catch the mole first before we start making drastic decisions. Does she really believe what she’s saying, though? Or does she simply see an opportunity to break up the Forgers? Both she and Yor don’t seem to have their priorities straight this episode. First, Yor gripes about an emergency, and now Fiona is putting her feelings first. At least Yor has an excuse: she was still drunk.
- Yuri’s pretty bad at spy work. He also got himself shot in the busjacking arc. Maybe he’s actually only good for interrogations.
