‘Spy x Family: Episode 3’ Review: The Family Prepares For The Interview
Twilight has his mission, to form a family, and enter his daughter into the Eden Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in Berlint City. Also, to get close enough to the other parents to get to meet Donovan Desmond, the leader of the Ostania National Unity Party. It is a long mission and one that depends on the unknown factor of others, but Twilight, now in the role of Loid Forger, is ready to execute the plan, no matter what.
In the last couple of episodes, we have been introduced to our main characters. Twilight, aka, Loid Forger, the best spy who has ever lived, a master of combat and disguise. We also met Yor Briar, aka Yor Forger, a deadly assassin who is the one to call if you want someone dead, no matter how much security they put around them. And finally, we also met young Anya, aka, Anya Forger, a young orphan who is actually not a normal girl but a powerful psychic that can read people’s minds with extreme ease.
This strange family has been united, with Loid on the head, trying to make them cooperate and work together to pass the first big obstacle in their mission, to pass the interview and get Anya into the Eden Academy. The Eden Academy is again presented as a school for the elite, but in such an exaggerated way that you cannot but laugh at the ridiculous standards a 4-year-old like Anya must achieve in order to get accepted. The aspirants must basically be already completely educated in order to get a spot in the school. That is when you wonder, ”Then what is this school doing?”
Loid tries to make a mock-up interview with both Anya and Yor, but their answers are, well, not really useful. Anya can only talk about spies or how her parents let her watch television all day. Not a good look. While Yor doesn’t really know what practical skills a mother should teach her daughter, and she just replies with very creepy stuff about killing people. It is clear that Yor is not really good at hiding her other life as an assassin, it is incredible that she still hasn’t been compromised in such a way.
The family is now united under one roof, and the basic cohabitation rules are being laid out. Everything seems so perfect, and yet Anya and Yor’s inability to perform well in the interview makes Loid, for the first time in his career, consider giving up and doing something else. That such a task seems impossible for the best spy on Earth, speaks volumes about his inability to connect to people. Which is normal because his line of work is everything but connecting with people. Loid’s job involved being deceitful, dangerous, and very much a lone wolf, and now he is facing a challenge that asks him to do basically the opposite of what he always does.
Anya’s ability to read minds keeps being one of the most interesting elements in the story and one that offers multiple uses. It is mostly used as a way to create simple and effective jokes, as both Loid and Yor start thinking about all this serious spy murderous stuff, and the young Anya can only react in funny ways. However, the ability is also used to connect the family closer and closer.
In this episode, we clearly learn that Anya’s ability is quite powerful. She can read the minds of several dozen people around her at the same time, but such powerful mental reading drains and overwhelms her little mind, making her feel sick. That’s why later in the episode, after some thief steals the purse from an old lady and Anya uses her power to find him among the crowd, even when it hurts her, it is such a powerful moment. Because she’s putting herself on the line to do something good and help her new parents be good in ways they could never be by themselves.
Later, Anya’s ability also lets out the fact that both Loid and Yor flirt with each other. This revelation makes them embarrassed. However, it opens the possibility for the character and the audience that this “play-family thing” can actually become something real, as the spy and the assassin might be able to develop real feelings for each other.
The show keeps being beautifully animated, and the rocking opening is becoming one of my favorites of the season. The show’s world building keeps growing in very subtle and nuanced ways, which makes it more interesting than just a show that throws lots of exposition at the viewer. So far, we are picking up the clues and building the scenario step by step, but so far the main focus is on the family and how they will achieve their goals. Can they do it?
Well, we’ll have to wait for the next episode to see, but something tells me that the old woman they saved in today’s episode will factor into helping young Anya get into the now infamous Eden Academy. We’ll see.