Amphibia Recap, Episode 4
Warning: this post has spoilers for Amphibia
Once Amphibia handles the emotional and physical aftermath of Anne moving in with the Plantars, we get some trauma. Anne, for better or worse, misses home. That longing drives her action in these episodes. They also drive the characters to become suspicious.
The theme of this episode is “nostalgia” and what you bring from your home. Sometimes your memories can lead to making new good ones. Other times, assimilation can lead to chaos. Yet assimilation will happen. The question becomes what happens when you desire something forbidden, and sometimes impossible to have.
The Domino Effect
Anne and Sprig while slicing watermelons rescue a giant caterpillar from wasps. On realizing that the little insect resembles her kitten Domino I, Anne lures it to the Plantar house and sneaks her into the basement when Hop Pop firmly says, “no pets”. Only after bonding with Domino II, Anne learns that the caterpillar eats frogs when full-grown, and has to let her go before Domino II eats the Plantars. She mopes, apologizes to Hop Pop, and hugs a Domino plushie that Sprig made for her.
I feel for the original Domino, who is on Earth with Anne’s parents, waiting for her human to return home. Anne misses her cat badly. But we get a hint that Domino II won’t work out because she’s a wild caterpillar, and also her name. Dominoes are toys that are made to fall over; else, they’re used in gambling. Either way, there is some destruction involved. Also, it’s too good to be true that a caterpillar that looks like a cat and is a cuddlebug exists. Amphibia is a land without miracles.
We also get some lessons in not bringing wild animals home because they look cute. (People should know this more, especially those in the exotic trade.) Animals are a huge responsibility, even when domesticated. Hop Pop says “no pets” because past experience has taught him that kids ignore the responsibility and focus on the playtime. Experience has shown that Anne isn’t being responsible since Hop Pop has seen her at her worst so far. She fell asleep on stakeout duty in the previous episode, broke his cane while fooling around, and tried to fix a leak against his recommendations. Also, she’s not doing the dishes, which was her punishment for breaking the cane.
Even so, Hop Pop gets a measure of Anne’s character wrong. When Sprig and Anne explain that Domino II reminded her of home, Hop Pop tears up and admits he misses the family spider, Charlie Bigglebottom. If he had let Anne talk earlier, she wouldn’t have felt the need to sneak Domino II into the house, and Hop Pop could have gently warned her that the caterpillar is not her cat. While you may try to find your home in another place, sometimes you can’t take those pieces with you.
He also underestimates Anne’s ability to grow and be selfless. Anne knows how to take care of cats, from cleaning up the hairballs to building a tree. She’s patient when Domino II mauls her and tears up the basement. Even though Anne hates bugs, she appreciates the dead insects that the caterpillar brings to her. It’s no wonder that Anne cries when she has to shoo Domino II into the wild, where the Killapillar can eat frogs that haven’t housed humans for months. They had a bond, but the bond wasn’t enough to break the hunger.
We also see some character development for Anne. Anne has been ignoring dish duty and tries to overlook the grime that is accumulating from bringing a wild animal into the basement. The episode ends with her cleaning up the mess Domino II caused, and apologetically telling Sprig that she didn’t think about the consequences of her actions.
Anne can’t get her cat back. Expecting that miracle in such a hostile world is near to impossible. At least now she knows, however, and got a taste for why most creatures in Amphibia are dangerous.
Taking Charge
Anne shows off her favorite show, Suspicion Island, to Hop Pop, Polly and Sprig. Polly and Sprig get enthralled while Hop Pop professes that it’s a garbage show. (He’s not wrong.) Overnight, however, someone watched the rest of the season and killed Anne’s phone battery. As they travel to get a rudimentary charge and catch up on the episodes, the Plantars suspect each other and come to blows. Anne tries to calm everyone down but gets pulled into the fighting. A guilt-stricken Hop Pop admits he watched the show and redeems himself by getting the phone charged, diving into electric centipedes. Anne has ten thousand percent battery now and forgives Hop Pop. Hop Pop threatens to spoil the rest of Suspicion Island, but the others shush him until they can get home and watch the other episode.
Anne once more brings a piece of home to the Plantars. It naturally causes divisions and conflicts. The difference between this episode and “The Domino Effect” is that a Killapallar is more dangerous than a television show. While Anne losing her phone charge would mean that she no longer has access to memories of Domino I, her texts or her photos, at least the phone or its absence won’t kill anyone. She may want to think about inputting a key code for next time though.
Ultimately, the danger comes from the frogs lacking context. None of them know how phone battery works, or why you hold off on watching most of the season. We saw this in “Hop Luck” when Sprig and Polly try to smash Anne’s phone, believing Domino I is trapped inside of it. No frog knows how smartphones, a relatively new technology, work for us people. They can only see the benefits. It’s a shame there are no cell towers in Amphibia, or Anne could also make long-distance calls and reach her parents.
Hop Pop’s lack of communication causes another rift. The previous episode showed him shutting down Anne before she could explain about the caterpillar that resembled her cat. Here, he doesn’t know how to express love for something new. He’s hurt that Anne and the kids don’t want to listen to his stories and doesn’t know why he likes a show that is based on needless drama. If Hop Pop had just been honest that he liked the show, they all could have watched in the morning together, with some popcorn that Anne made for the occasion. Hop Pop admits this finally when everyone starts fighting.
I love how Amphibia is with the times and talks about why mass-watching shows is a good way to lose sleep and cause stress. I’ve only mass-watched shows that have four-episode seasons, for a good reason. It can be hard to focus on that much media. We do get a lesson on knowing how much phone battery you have. Anne at least won’t have to delete anything when she gets the “full” notification.
Anne is starting to balance her losing pieces of home with common sense. The phone is useful and won’t kill anyone, while the caterpillar definitely will. She manages to find balance over the reason, without ignoring the world’s realities.
