Recap

Dandy gets a dog. Unfortunately, the dog is carrying some pretty dangerous passengers.

Zigg’s Thoughts

This might be the weirdest Space Dandy episode yet, which is really saying something considering what we’ve seen so far. The thing is though, this one isn’t weird deliberately, or at least not deliberately enough. Instead, it’s a function of odd plotting and pacing which renders this one something of a damp squib, despite one or two good ideas and a few individual jokes. I’ve spoken before about how Space Dandy often appears to be a show of two halves almost entirely divorced from one another, and that’s never more obvious than it is here. The thing is though, normally the two halves at least have some logical progression into each other, or at least are thematically linked in some way. Here they’re just sort of two entirely separate stories, neither of which are particularly good.

The opening part of the episode is just sort of baffling to me. Space Dandy is not so far outside of the realm of traditional drama that you can’t have what’s essentially a Marley and Me tale, but the execution is super slapdash and the intent unclear. Is this mant to be a heartbreaking story of loss or a parody of said concept? There’s some evidence on both sides but it seems to lean towards the former. That’s dumb because we basically get ten minutes to believe this dog is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD and then it dies in a scene which teeters right on the edge of parody but doesn’t go far enough to be amusing. In fact that’s pretty much an accurate description of the entire segment – it feels like it’s very almost self-aware enough to be funny, but then pulls back and plays everything too straight. As a result, what I got was an exceptionally lame not-skit about a talking dog. Lame.

The second half is better because we get back some of the manic energy that the show thrives on. It’s not a home run by any means, but there’s definitely some funny stuff here, like possessed QT and a pretty visually spectacular planet destruction. If I’ve got a complaint it’s that it’s over far too quickly – there was easily enough promise here to milk the joke a little further. As it is, we sort of get the worst of both worlds – two half-assed plotlines that have potentially great moments, but are damaged by the decision to combine them. A shame really.