Here we are, folks. The last day of 2022. The final spot of the Top 12 Countdown of the year. 2023 is right around the corner, already in some parts of the world at the time of posting, and now...think it’s time to close the curtains on 2022 with the number one spot of the countdown and for this one...I think it’s best to give this series the proper send-off it deserves. And y’all already read the title on this post, it’s Amphibia with “All In” and “The Hardest Thing”.
To no shock from...I guess almost everyone, Amphibia making the number one spot in the countdown to wrap up the year is no surprise. Especially with the show’s series finale and you have to hand it to Amphibia creator Matt Braly and the people who worked on the show and the two episodes to conclude the series, they went balls out to get the masses to enjoy the ride one final time on the air. And man, oh man, they did not disappoint. I mean, of course, it’s Amphibia. Of course, they got to entertain the masses but never expected that we would see what could possibly be one of the greatest series finales of the year, possibly this decade. I mean, yeah, you could throw in other shows that wrapped up this year and want to compare it to Amphibia’s finale, looking at you, people of Better Call Saul. And of course, I gotta talk about the two episodes, would say three because “All In” did leave off from “Beginning of the End”, but that would be overkill for yours truly and the last thing yours truly needed to start off 2023 is complete burnout.
Going with “All In” to start the final spot of the countdown and for an episode that has a 47-minute runtime, as the episode title implied, they went all in. Going from Amphibia to Los Angeles where the battle is going to be for the episode with Andrias and Darcy making their move to conquer Earth. Of course, Anne, Sasha, the Plantars, Grime, Olivia, and Yunan won’t let that happen and have to play defense to not let that happen. As well as beating Andrias and saving Marcy from the Core. And much like with most action movies where the battlefield happens to be in the middle of downtown, it did not disappoint. Especially with them getting some help from the likes of Mr. X and Anne’s parents to serve as support.
There are a lot of moments that happened throughout the episode, and I mean a lot because it’s a laundry list filled with key moments and this might as well be a recap to state some moments from the episode, we might as well begin with one of the random items from the list and that is the Plantars exorcising their demons during their battle on Earth against a herd of herons. Not just any herons, but the same herrings that killed Sprig and Polly’s parents. And man, they didn’t expect that today would be the day they would face the creatures that put a mental scar on the family. Sure, that lasted for the first half of the episode but what happened back there really leave some damage they don’t ever want to forget. To the point where whenever they take out each of the robot soldiers throughout the streets of LA is when they come across with the beings, especially because they’re one of the animals from Amphibia that are under the control of Andrias and Darcy. As if they’re being a liability the more they come face-to-face with the beings. But of course, they got rid of that fear once they notice the herrings cornered Anne’s parents and thus, exorcised their demons by doing the dance to have them in their control and stepping away from the Boonchuys. Finally having their mental scars healed and I’m not saying that because it is the series finale and there are a lot of things that needed to be wrapped up and this is one of them. But at least the Plantars finally got the trauma out of their system in this episode and all it took is a herd of giant bird creatures almost killing their found family.
Next up on the list, Marcy. The third-place recipient for the year came dangerously close to accepting the Core’s gift of giving her a better life. A fantasy life while being trapped inside the hivemind of the Core in a fantasy world that resembles Marcy’s favorite movie from the last episode in a flashback of her sleepover with Anne and Sasha that sort of resembles the Lord of the Rings films. Came dangerously close to letting the Core want it wants with Marcy but be thankful that she came to her senses and declines the offer. Yeah, I was hoping for the idea of maybe having someone like Anne go into the hivemind and save Marcy for her to take back her body from the Core. But I guess her standing up and deciding to not let the Core take total control of her was a step up. Especially after living through the guilt of running away from her problems and dragging Anne and Sasha to Amphibia without even telling them. Sure, Sasha did all of the saving in her fight against Darcy by cutting the cord off of the helmet, seriously, a cord?! That’s all it took for Marcy to regain her body? I mean, yeah, you’d probably that cutting the cord would create some issues when getting Marcy back but I guess what is what it is. At least Marcy apologized to Anne and Sasha at the end of the episode with the duo accepting her apology for what happened. Just be thankful that they got their friend back at the end of the episode. Seriously, a cord cut to get the Core out of Marcy’s body?
But the big enchilada from the episode and we know what we’re thinking and that is the Anne and Andrias fight. Sure, you can also throw in the Sasha and Grime vs Darcy fight as well since this is the second-to-last episode, so we might as well throw in a boss fight scene after scene between the two opponents from two different locations. Getting Sasha and Grime out of the way before we get to Anne’s fight. A tight fight for the duo when taking on Darcy. Trying to land a hit on the Core-possessed Marcy or attempting to yank the helmet or even cutting the cord but whenever they have a chance to do that, Darcy is one step ahead of them. Playing defense to the max as if they’re a football team with a powerful defensive line built into one. Though seeing Grime losing his arm while saving Sasha from being slashed by Darcy and Sasha later receiving a wound on her back, hand it to Disney for almost having a body count for this episode. Though this episode did have an impressive body count. Mostly with some soldiers and I guess some citizens. Most of them are coming from the robots but I wouldn’t rule out human deaths during the invasion.
But besides that, it wasn’t an easy fight for Sasha and Grime to take on Darcy. Mind you that Darcy during the fight was one step ahead of them by playing defense. Too bad that sometimes, playing defense can have its faults. Mostly with Darcy letting their guard down once an injured Sasha with her back possibly bleeding spotted an opening and cuts the cord to send the Core back into the hivemind and Marcy back to her own body. Yeah, didn’t expect that we would have ourselves a gruesome injury from Sasha with her back wound or Grime losing an arm...but what do you expect coming from a Disney animated program that somehow became S&P approved. It wasn’t a bad fight and you could call it a favorite out of this episode or this season or the series in general, but it looks like this fight is pretty much second fiddle because the spotlight from this episode when it comes to fights...well, you guessed it.
Anne vs Andrias. Human vs newt. One-on-one...with aid of a few robotic soldiers standing in the way. And no cap, what a fight between these two throughout the third and fourth acts of the hour-long episode. Whether being the tension with Anne struggling to land a hit on Andrias, the animation for the fight, or the music choice...man, I’ll tell you, the cast and crew did not waste their breath to make this battle into a high stake one with Earth and Amphibia hanging in the balance.
Sure, you could say that it’s a cliche in most form of media where the whole world is hanging in the balance and a huge battle between the hero and the villain decide the fate of everyone, but it did not disappoint. The start of the fight...yeah, Anne did have some trouble getting to Andrias to land a blow after challenging her to a one-on-one fight. It’s the same with Sasha and Grime while taking on Darcy. But that was with one person with a fuck-all scythe taking control of a human being. This a newt piloting a mecha suit with an army of robots with Anne fleeing a hoard of rockets towards her and of course, trying to land a hit on the guy but is unable to do that. As well as the time limit of Anne using her calamity powers and how it’s putting a strain on her body. But leave it to everyone who is watching the battle to help Anne to get the boost she needed if she wants to beat Andrias by playing Blackpink’s “As If It’s Your Last” through the stereo that came out of nowhere throughout the streets of LA, as Mr. X put it, where everyone’s taxpayer money was spent, and Anne was hauling ass throughout the battle. On the verge of victory until her calamity powers faded and the direction of the battle is back in Andrias’ favor until Sprig comes in with the letter that he found earlier in the season that Leif wrote for Andrias.
And that’s more than enough for Andrias’ feelings, him feeling bad about his actions that drove Leif away with the music box after seeing a terrible vision of the future. Hiding the box and starting a new future for herself. Building the house that happened to be the Plantars’ home in Wartwood. And despite what happened with her running away with the box, as the letter stated that Andrias read, Leif still sees him as a friend even after that altercation a long time ago. Making Andrias feel after reading the letter and with the Core now disconnected thanks to Sasha...yeah, he let his guard down for Anne to land a finishing blow on the guy. And the twist of Andrias being a robot after his defeat was interesting because it was out of nowhere. Honestly, no one thought that he would be a machine when seeing parts of him separated from his body. Except for some but the rest of us didn’t even see it coming. But besides that, with Andrias defeated and the Core disconnected, you could say that Earth and Amphibia have been saved and the war coming to a close with the only objective being getting the girls home. Too bad that the Core decided to be a sore loser and have the moon set course to crash into the planet to close out the episode.
Before we get to the final episode of the series, might as well share my thoughts about “All In” and for an episode that lasted for 47 minutes as its runtime, it did not disappoint. There were a lot of moments from this episode to nitpick piece after piece whether being the Plantars exorcising their demons when facing the herons, Marcy standing up to herself to the Core, the battle between Sasha, Grime, and Darcy, or the battle between Anne and Andrias, it did not disappoint. The same goes for other things. The Boonchuys and Mr. X jumping into the battlefield was nice for them to be around for support. The letter that Sprig gave to Andrias was a great emotional touch, as well as the use of the piece of paper that Anne was supposed to write about who she is that serves as...benefactor, plot device, the works. But besides all that, the cast and crew went all out with this episode and whether being the animation, the visuals, the tone, the music choice, the execution, hell, even the use of having Blackpink’s “As If It’s Your Last” was even an incredible add into the episode. And what an episode to set things up for Amphibia’s finale. And speaking of which, it’s time to gloss through “The Hardest Thing” to close out the Top 12 Countdown of 2022.
And out of those two episodes from this spot of the countdown...this right here is a goddamn masterpiece. There’s no denying it. We can all agree that the series finale to Amphibia is a masterpiece. From the start of the episode with Anne, Sasha, and Marcy going full Sonic the Hedgehog with the chaos emeralds to Anne making a sacrifice to save everyone only to later return back to life, all the way to the girls leaving Amphibia for the final time, as well as the time skip...I did say earlier with “All In” that everyone worked their butt off to make it possible with the final set of episodes. They did it with “The Hardest Thing” and they did it with ease. It was a phenomenal episode.
Of course, we got the battle between the girls and the Core in Space like it’s Sonic the Hedgehog with the chaos emeralds, and even though much like with Anne in prior episodes whenever she’s in use, the girls’ abilities for the gem color they represent look sick. Whether it’s Anne with the tennis racket, Sasha with the pom-poms, or Marcy with 20-sided dice, their abilities, and weapons when in their calamity forms look amazing when taking on the Core. Too bad that again, much like with Anne in past episodes whenever she’s in calamity mode, it has a time limit. Leading Anne to sacrifice herself with a last-option ability from Mother Olm that would cost her her life. Of course, you have Sprig going into space and trying to convince her to not use that ability. There has to be another way, yadda, yadda, yadda. And you know that Anne doesn’t want her life to be cut short if she uses the ability to take out the Core, she really doesn’t want to but she had no choice. Because if she doesn’t, then she, Sprig, and everyone else on the planet will die if the Core ends up colliding. This is similar to the final episode of Regular Show with Pops sacrificing himself to save the universe from being erased by Anti-Pop. Sorry, spoilers for an episode that came out almost six years ago.
But Anne did sacrifice herself. She did the deed. The Core is gone for good. And so does Anne once coming to the surface and turns to dust as if she’s been affected by Thanos when using the Infinity Gaunlet. However, her death, much like her life, is short-lived when she paid a visit to a random house in the cosmos with what is pretty much the god of the universe, named The Guardian, voiced by Charlyne Yi, taking the form of Anne’s cat Domino with The Guardian ready to hand the role to Anne after taking out the Core, but Anne refuses to take the job. Mostly because she’s young and despite her apparent death, she has a lot to live for. I mean, The Guardian would counteroffer Anne’s decision but decides to give Anne what she wants and ends up bringing her back to life. I mean...yeah, you could say that the sacrifice feels like it was a wasted opportunity...but come on, she’s the protagonist. On the Disney animated show. You’d think that they’ll go with that? But besides that, Anne will get a second shot at life but were given a 78-year lifespan because she’ll take the job once she reaches her nineties. Yeah, nothing too concerning about that.
Once we get to the ending of the episode and the series with the portal opening. The girls say their goodbyes to everyone from Marcy parting ways with Olivia and Yunan, who are seen holding hands. And also to Andrias, who isn’t looking Marcy in the eye because of the shit he caused. Mostly with him impaling her with his sword and allowing the Core to take over her body. You have Sasha and Grime giving their farewell salute before turning it into a heartfelt goodbye with a hug. And then you get to Anne and the Plantars parting ways. And seeing them saying goodbye to one another after months of Anne being trapped inside Amphibia, it feels like the ride is about to come to an end and would be time to get off. Anne gave Sprig her phone as a memento to remember her by. Polly and Hop Pop say their goodbyes to Anne with Hop Pop saying to end to “come back at any time”. But of course, right as Anne, Sasha, and Marcy make their way across the portal, with them giving one last bow, of course, you have that heartfelt hug between Anne and Sprig as they say their goodbye one final time. The music choice and animation for that worked perfectly to set up the emotional departure.
And looking at this, and the epilogue to close out the show, it doesn’t feel like you’re watching another show just wrapping. But instead, you’re watching an end of an era flashing before your eyes when watching the final scene of the episode. The times Anne had gone through with the Plantars. The adventures she and Sprig had gone through. Everything leading up to where we are with the girls being reunited, the Core and Andrias defeated, saving the world, and now for the Calamity Trio to make their way back home, it has been a roller coaster of a ride for the folks who watched the show and now that ride is coming to an end, it feels like you want it to continue but there comes a time where all good things must come to an end. And seeing the finale of Amphibia is like that.
Sure, you could say that three seasons must’ve felt short but the way they wrapped it up without making things look rushed...they achieved it. And so ends Amphibia with the epilogue of the episode where we time skip to nine months later where the frogs, newts, and toads come together to see the unveiling of the statue of Anne with Sprig ready to head off with Ivy after she and her mother found an undiscovered continent before switching over to Earth ten years later with Marcy arriving at the airport and being picked up by Sasha to make their way to pick Anne up from her job at the aquarium. Oh yeah, Marcy’s a webcomic artist, Sasha’s a therapist, and Anne is a herpetologist who is about to wrap up her shift, and thus, here we are at the finish line for Amphibia.
What else to say about the series finale of Amphibia taking the number one spot on the Top 12 Countdown of the year but to say...holy fucking shit, what a way to end it. And I mean that in the most positive way possible. The cast and crew might as well pat themselves on the back to close out the year because no doubt, this was a masterpiece. With “All In”, it was an incredible episode that is filled with action, drama, suspense, and emotional to fit into one. The same goes for “The Hardest Thing” but out of the two, “The Hardest Thing” was a goddamn masterpiece to close out the series. I know that it feels vague and short, but...I don’t know what to say but to come out and say what a ride. What a freaking fracking ride to close out the show. And to Matt Braly, the cast, and the crew of the show, a round of applause for what they did throughout the past three years on the air. And it’s quite fitting for the series finale of Amphibia to take home the number one spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2022.
And that concludes the Number 1 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2022. What do you think about this episode? Should it be perfect the way it is or should be lowered on your list? Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, and Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. Of course, I will be liveblogging a brand new episode of The Great North to start the new year. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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Donate over on PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out in both improving the page and paying the bills to keep the lights on. And with that, 2022...we bid you adieu. Thank y’all so much for sticking around throughout the year. Yeah, I get that I’m not active most of the time but sometimes, there will be a time when I need to take a breather so I don’t suffer through burnout. I’m not the one for sentimentality but much like with the episode review of “The Plight Before Christmas” a few weeks ago, despite the low traffic and trying to keep things in order for this page, your support is all I need to keep things going. Even if I don’t have to. But I hope I would get things rolling for 2023. Wanting to be more active than usual much like what I did back in 2021 without wanting to develop burnout. So a big thank you to everyone who often times visited here and look at my bullshit. And hopefully, that will continue into the new year. And until then, stay safe, wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and a reminder that you are loved, you are beautiful, ignore the haters, and Happy New Year, everyone. And cheers to a hopefully not-crappy 2023.
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