The Skrugg make their way on Earth with very little that’s able to resist them.
What They Say:
Will thinks that he should be the hero, and drags Nick along with him to infiltrate the enemy’s base and steal some of their weapons. At the same time Joey, having successfully dropped off his grandmother at the shelter, heads toward Professor Denton’s place to get more information. On the other hand, Kogorr starts attacking with a giant sphere. And what’s more, it’s started rolling straight toward the shelter where Grandma and Lina are! Joey and Heroman head out to face it and stop its advance somehow.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Heroman really managed to be a show that really didn’t feel like everything else early on and it’s a hugely welcome change of pace for me, especially for a show that’s dealing with aliens and giant robots. At times, I’m getting a serious SOS Project Earth kind of feel to it with the animation style and the almost classic Hollywood invasion angle but it’s done with the kind of detail and attention that Bones likes to put into its projects with a mixture of comic book and anime stylings that has it standing apart. What really strikes me again with this episode is how different the atmosphere of it feels with so many quiet moments, or moments where the musical score is so soft and in the background that you almost don’t notice it. It’s a series where the streets are quiet and it really does feel eerie and haunting, rather than just a lack of sound.
The invasion of Earth is going off fairly well, though naturally, we’re only seeing a tiny slice of it. The arrival of the Skrugg in California has them setting up a nice towering base of operations from which they laid bare their plans to conquer us all as part of the grand conquest of everything in the known universe. They’ve certainly cemented their position well with this and have shown that conventional weapons won’t do jack against them. The only blip is what happened with Heroman and the Skrugg so far and that’s been little more than a curiosity to the base leader, Kogorr, who at least did learn of it and decided to keep it in mind as something that may have to be dealt with. Regardless, they have big plans and launch out their massive giant metal balls that will crush everything in sight, complete with spikes poking out of it.
All of that happens while Will sneaks into the tower with Nick in tow, who isn’t thrilled to be there. This leads us to the only true moment of stupidity in this episode, and one of very few overall in the series, as Will does eventually find some weapons that he wants to use in order to be a hero so he can save the day. The stupidity comes in that Nick finds it and accidentally sets it off, but Will takes it and never tests it. Even worse, he only takes the one instead of multiple and Nick decides not to take anything himself. Will’s arc is one I’m curious about since you know he’s going to get captured and we’ll learn more about who the Skrugg are because of it, but I wish they hadn’t gone for such an obvious route and one fraught with such stupidity even for Will. These guys grow up on big bang explosion action alien invasion flicks and when they get their chance for real, they should be able to step up to the plate better than this.
In Summary:
While a lot of the show is fairly quiet as Joey and Psy help to distract the giant spikey ball of doom from trampling over the evacuating citizens, we do get some action as well. Heroman really steps it up this time as he has something big to deal with and there’s a lot said quietly between him and Joey as they work together to deal with the issue. These action scenes continue to fascinate me in their tone and tenor as it doesn’t do things in big Hollywood style or with a lot of over-the-top heroics and action. It’s a bit more precise and careful, more about the struggle than the style. There are even times when Heroman reminded me of a Hercules figure as he does battle with the shiny ball trying to hold it off with just pure strength. This show really captured my attention and it’s been a delightful revisit.
Grade: B
Streamed By: VRV
