I've always been intrigued by this reimagining of the Carmen Sandiego franchise but never got around to it. Here are my notes on the first episode:
- Chase Devineaux is immediately appealing to my taste in older, disheveled men with accents. 11/10 will finish this series for him.
- This lineless animation style is GORGEOUS.
- I like how well the edutainment aspect of the original shows is implemented. It's not completely seamless but it's reminiscent of shows like Wild Kratts where learning is an essential part of achieving the character's goals.
- Carmen's dialogue in this first episode seems a bit Marvel-esque in how stilted and snarky it is, but it sets up good character interactions with those I feel are written more naturally. I hope I'll get used to how our main character speaks. Her design is cute though
- Flashback storytelling usually doesn't work for me, but I think it's a useful framing device for this episode. It just leaves the question of how Gray doesn't already know Carmen's backstory after spending years with her at V.I.L.E.
- The instructors and classmates are a very colorful cast of characters, and I can't wait to see more of them.
Overall: An extremely strong first episode for a show, even if it suffers from usual pilot symptoms. This show has a captivating style in every aspect, if nothing else.