Carmen Sandiego- Complete Season 4 Review

After 4 amazing seasons, the rebooted animated adventures of Carmen Sandiego has come to an end.

I've loved this series as it has always been great to see the creative and zany heists as well as the various new VILE operatives. The show has always been a heartening tale of empowerment and fighting the corrupt forces that work in the shadows... So far so QAnon, but this show has always been fun and cartoony, and doesn't take it too seriously, unlike QAnon.

The show retains its beautifully animated artistic vision with a stylish noir art look, all angles and interesting colour palette, reminiscent of Batman: The Animated Series or Samurai Jack. However, the bigger draw this season is Carmen's search for her mother and the stress her fight with VILE brings upon her surrogate family's and her own life. With ACME circling closer and VILE upping its aggression, hurting Shadow-san in the process, it's a real cracking final series where anything goes. When the chase is on to get to the biggest horde of ancient stolen artifacts, acquired by the original VILE 5 in medieval times, the show really comes into its own as the whole cast has its moment to shine.

The series starts with a couple of heist episodes, however, from episode 3, The Robo Caper, things start to accelerate and divert from the usual story beats and structure. There is a caper but the stolen crown is not the central conceit. Rather, this is a story driven episode as Shadow-san is attacked by a VILE robot as he recuperates whilst Carmen battles the Cleaners as she rushes to find Grey/ Crackle, the brain wiped former VILE operative. He is in the thick of things as the agency try to use him to hone in on Carmen but end up accidentally awakening his memories and his fighting skills. Meanwhile, Agent Devineaux starts to doubt the criminality of la femme rough and alongside Agent Argent, realises that she actually might be a force for good- mea culpa at last.

Episode 4, The Himalayan Rescue Caper, has Carmen and Crackle meet and his decision on whether to leave or remain with VILE has big implications for the endgame. Carmen and Player meet and she confesses that she needed to meet her other oldest friend.

However, from episode 5, The VILE History Caper, we get an insight into the origins of the organisation and a great chase is on to discover the last 2 of 3 remaining locations which will reveal an ancient treasure horde of stolen artifacts. This is a very exciting way to build up the finale of the series, not with a whimper but with a show stopping bang. Once Carmen stops VILE in their tracks they get revenge and take her hostage, leading to her being reprogrammed into a VILE puppet. When they task her with taking out her surrogate family the stakes are raised as a Carmen without restraint and humanity is a dangerous thing indeed.

What transpires is a heartening tale of camaraderie and connection as Team Carmen go toe to toe against VILE and all that it represents. ACME enters the fray and doesn't know which side to be on as it knows VILE is bad but is Carmen?

I'm gutted that the show ended but boy what a ride it's been. We've seen our Red grow from a simple criminal protégé to a master at organising heists. We also get a time jump 2 years in the future and see the old gang in their new lives. I won't spoil if Carmen find the truth about her mother but it is handled well.

The fact that its lead is a strong Latino woman is a big boost for representation but more than that, it's just a great story well told! I highly recommend the show.

Carmen Sandiego- Complete Season 2 Review

I've been eagerly awaiting season 2 of Carmen Sandiego as I stated that the first season was an excellent series with a compelling story arc. It seems that the old beards at the Emmy's agreed as it is now an award winning show, garnering an Outstanding Achievement in Individual Animation nod.

Carmen Sandiego Season 2 is a stunning series.

So how is the second season? Does it build on an excellent first season? Yes, yes it does! The story continues from the major plot twist at the end of season 1 and Team Carmen now have Shadow San in their ranks. He assists with taking out VILE in the formats 'caper of the week'. However, it's not all standalone episodes with a 'bad guy of the week' as this season we are treated to get the back stories of how Zack and Ivy met Carmen and about Shadow San's ascent to VILE faculty member.

Finding out they have been betrayed by a member from their faculty, VILE spend a lot of the episodes searching for a new member to join their nefarious ranks. Along the journey we find out more about Carmen's family and she builds a base of operations with her surrogate family, Shadow San, Zak and Ivy after she nearly dies. It's all very heartfelt character building stuff and with this show it feels earned, not cheaply melodramatic.

The standout episodes for me are when the creepy Paper Star returns and Carmen squares off against her in Tokyo, whilst Shadow San shows just how bad ass he is, defeating goons with the use of chopsticks... trés John Wick. Also, the caper in New Zealand set to Swan Lake is very creatively and artistically beautiful as the choreography is wonderful.

The season is a delight and the finale ends on a cliffhanger as we get some insight into Carmen's real family and the true story about how Shadow San found her. This sets up the next season as Carmen knows who she is looking for now…

So, overall the stylish animation by Chromosphere is still as beautiful as ever and the voice acting by Gina Rodriguez is a lot more natural sounding as she seems to have found her groove. The voices of Zak and Ivy have grown on me too and I have become used to their broad Baaaahstaaan accents. Season 2 of Carmen Sandiego is still a beautifully animated edutainment *shudder* show that revels is dropping knowledge bombs whilst delivering a fun and at times gripping storyline. Alongside She-Ra, Netflix is really the home of quality retro animation revivals, that honours what went before but does its own more modern thing. Check this show out folks!

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Carmen Sandiego Season 2 Trailer Drops

Carmen Sandiego is the latest rebooted animated series on Netflix which is based on an older property, in this case many edutainment video games and multiple prior animated series. I reviewed the entire first season and liked it a lot, praising the art style and character development. So, it is with bated breath that I’ve waited for the next season to drop and lo and behold, a new trailer landed recently that announced the new season would be showing on Netflix on 1st October. I can’t wait!

Carmen Sandiego- Complete Season 1 Review

Carmen Sandiego is the latest rebooted animated series on Netflix which is based on an older property, in this case many edutainment video games and multiple prior animated series.

The Carmen Sandiego story is pretty simple; she is a master criminal who steals treasures from around the world. However, this series is a bit different from what has gone before in that this is a younger Carmen who has a new and exciting origin story that changes the context of her modus operandi. Carmen was abandoned as a baby in Argentina and was raised by the criminal masterminds at VILE (Villians International League of Evil) Academy in the Canaries. However, as she grew older Carmen realised that her surrogate parents were taking the riches of the world for themselves and thus depriving the world of culture and heritage. She philosophises, “I realised stealing isn't a game. It does harm people, especially when you're willing to steal lives," and so she decides to embark on many international heists, where she tries to retrieve and return the treasures that have been plundered by her former guardians.

The first two episodes are great at building the character of Carmen but after that the show turns into a caper of the week serial but with a light continuity that builds on the mystery of her parentage.

The show itself is beautifully animated with a stylish noir art style, reminiscent of Batman: The Animated Series or Samurai Jack.. At times, the film-noire tropes come into play as shadows and odd angles are key to the animation style.

There are many highlights from the show but one standout moment is the filmic almost balletic sequence in the Sydney Opera House, as Carmen battles a VILE operative in the rigging above the stage whilst Bizet's opera, Carmen, is performed below. The cinematography is stunning and elegantly done. Another thrilling moment involves a high speed super car chash through the streets of San Francisco, recalling that Steve McQueen classic, Bullitt.

The voice acting is good overall with lead voice actor, Gina Rodriguez, growing into the role and becoming more natural as the series progresses. Finn Wolfhard of Stanger Things plays Carmen's able remote assistant Player and plays his role well, however the two siblings, Zack and Ivy, from Boston over-egg the pudding and come across quite cheesy, almost Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins bad. However, this is a small blip in the over high quality voice acting.

Overall, Carmen Sandiego is a fun kids show with a smattering of educational facts thrown in for good measure. If you're looking for a way to teach your kids history, art and geography in a fun and non-edutainment way, then Netflix's Carmen Sandiego is the way to go.

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