Whew, they’re dropping episodes on us like bombs. I guess Cartoon Network will never learn, eh? I’ll try to catch up as best I can.

The Family Tree Car

Both MT (mirror Tulip) and Jesse get some good growth in this episode, appropriate for one centered on a literal family tree. We learn a bit more about the latter’s flaw of being an appeaser and trying to make friends with everybody. There may be some depth to him yet. I like the way MT describes her backstory to Jesse by liking her situation to a fall-out between friends. It’s condensing her rather complicated history in a manner a stranger like Jesse can understand, which also helps the viewer better understand how MT felt about her life as Tulip’s reflection. In addition, it avoids the annoying trope of a character stumbling over themselves trying to explain an absurd situation to an outsider. Not a bad way to deliver exposition.

Overall: 8/10

The Map Car

Another interesting episode where our heroes navigate a car built from every online fantasy map generator ever. MT gets a bit cavalier in instructing Jesse’s transformative journey and hurries him along as though she’s got somewhere she’s dying to be. This is thankfully adressed later. But, to her credit, she’s being genre saavy and honestly just accounting for the things I would in her situation. Meanwhile, it’s Jesse who’s the hero of the hour and finagle’s their way out with a surprisingly clever trick and his impressive swimming skills. We also get more background behind his history as an appeaser, which disarms MT as much as me. This character keeps getting better and better, and I’d expect nothing less from Infinity Train by this point.

Overall: 8/10

The Toad Car

Ooh, here we get the moral conflict. *munches popcorn* The “Fleckt” officers chasing MT get some more development, particularly the chatty sidekick I didn’t think would have any more depth than Jesse when we started out. He shows some saavy manipulation skills, planting seeds of doubt in Jesse’s mind to turn him against MT. Naturally he doesn’t buy it in the end, but there are just enough half-truths laced in those lies to make Jesse’s internal struggle believable and surmounting his doubts feel earned. To top that off, we get a glimpse into Jesse’s past, seeing him heartlessly sell out his younger brother so as to be accepted by his posse of delinquent friends. It’s gratifying to know that he isn’t just some gender-flipped Disney princess on a journey to ‘break the cutie’, but someone with genuine sins to atone for. He’s no doubt got some likeability to earn back from the viewers who like to gush over ‘lol-humor’ characters like him, but it makes me further respect the way his arc is being handled. There was just one thing bothering me. Couldn’t they have gotten away with giving the toad a light kick or a little love-tap to get through the car? Wouldn’t that still have counted? Was it just me or did Jack not have to die at the end of Titanic? *demon voice* No the toad must suffer, and Jack shall forever be doomed to a watery grave in the Atlantic…

Overall: 9/10

The Parasite Car

The closest thing to filler you’d find in this series, but not in a bad way. A bit of an analogue for a similar episode in season one wherein Tulip gets cold feet for selling out One-one to the cat creature. It just goes to show how MT and Jesse view “Allan-Dracula” as a friend and sapient being with agency rather than just a pet, which is nice.

Overall: 8/10

The Lucky Cat Car

This episode had some good tension, or as The Cat would put it, “It wouldn’t be a game without stakes”. It was nice getting to see her again, spontaneous outbursts of French and all. We also see a whole host of other characters from the first season make brief cameos which was nie to see, if a bit perplexing considering how they managed to get shore leave and travel to this car. Additionally we see the odds stacked against MT, being a fabrication of the Infinity Train rather than one of its intended passengers. This leads to a tender scene between MT and Jesse, perhaps the first bit of confirmation they might see each-other as “more-than-friends”. Now, I’m no shipper (*demon voice* Hissssss!), but with the growth they’ve gone through these past few episodes, I could buy the idea of them getting together. Just as surprising, I now find myself on the cat’s side at the end of the day. That poor, conniving, double-crossing, two-faced harridan just can’t catch a break in this show can she? No, now I’ve found a character I loathe more than a hundred clones of Jesse combined. *demon voice* Yes. Let the hate flow through you!

Overall: 9/10

The Mall Car

Herein we see an adolescent passenger who dwells under the perverse delusion that the train’s previous evil conductor was the righteous one, and that one-one was the usurper. *demon voice* Heresy! She has a cult of delinquent urchins who, like her, believe that having a higher number is a mark of power rather than an indicator of moral wrongdoings. The result is as odious as you can imagine. They further belittle MT for being a denizen construct of the Train and, what’s more, nearly tempt Jesse into relapsing into his old ways. I was rooting for MT to straight up kick them all in the nards with her indestructible chrome feet. *demon voice* Yes, do it. No one will ever know. You are not a passenger, burdened by moral quantification. Put these brats out of their misery. They are too far gone. END THEM! …

This episode is a frightening look into how dangerous the concept of these numbers can be without knowing the context behind them. I’m left pondering whether One-one knows of their presence and what he intends to do about them. Furthermore, I’m also curious what this mystery woman’s part to play in this series will be in the future, though I’m far less receptive to the notion of a redemption arc with her than I was with Jesse. I’m sure it will be fascinating nonetheless.

In another bold move, advocating for MT against these noisome murlocks earns Jesse his redemption and consequently his passage off the train–at the worst possible time. In a heart-breaking scene, MT is unable to join him, leaving her alone on the train against the Flect policemen.

Overall: 9/10

The Wasteland

Hmm…something’s familiar about this episode. The main prtagonist stuck in a…how would one describe it?…bubble shaped prison with an antagonist who foresakes redemption. It’s almost like there’s another show that is also unfairly slandered for going soft on its antagonists, with an episode that, like this one, is a counterpoint to those claims in not being afraid to put a villain past atonement.

Eh, I guess it’ll come to me eventually. But seriously, this episode has to be one of my favorites. While wheedling MT, Mace, the crime-noir Flect officer, pokes holes in her optimistic hopes for escaping the train and starting a new life. As alluded to above, it doesn’t end well for Mace as he’s ground into paste under the wheels of the Train when he tries to end the line for both MT and himself. Still doggedly dedicated to his mission, he is past any hope of seeing things her way, and so I don’t fault MT for doing what she had to.

Overall: 9/10

The Tape Car & The Number Car

So, the Infinity Train reveals more of its secrets. We see how passenger tapes are recorded, their number of errors calculated and stamped onto their palms. MT tries to insert herself into the position of another passenger, but much to her heartbreak (and mine) it doesn’t take. The scene to follow brought a tear to my eye, seeing her breakdown and go berserk on the robot care-takers, tearfully railing against their apathy and begging to be recognized as a person, begging to be assigned a number. Her choice of words really hits home. She’s chafed under every label she’s been branded with, but even then is willing to be defined by an abstract concept, a number, if it means she will be accepted as her own entity.

Likewise, Mace’s optimistic, happy-go-lucky partner takes a poignant turn to the dark side and suffers a similar fate. It’s all heart-rending to watch, but so satisfying when we see MT (Lake) earn her freedom and reunite with Jesse in the real world. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a season finale this fulfilling, that felt this earned for the characters, like there were real stakes involved. Overall this season has been near perfect and further cements this show as a contender for the pantheon of the surrealist greats of our generation (Over the Garden Wall, Courage the Cowardly Dog, etc.)

It also has my favorite lines of the show thus far:

One-One:

“Please stop breaking everything!” / “Unless you want me to start writing your obituary.”

“Do be careful, I think you accidentally slipped and broke a porter.” / “–Many. many times in a row…”

Overall: 10/10