REVIEW: Amphibia – Season 3, Episode 11, “Commander Anne/Sprivy”

Television Reviews

*SPOILERS*

“Commander Anne” opens where “Escape to Amphibia” left off, as Anne and the Plantars look on at a destroyed Amphibia. They’re attacked by a giant centipede and subsequently rescued by Sasha and some of the Wartwood folks. Anne and Sasha surprisingly have a warm reunion, and Sasha takes them to the hideout, AKA the basement of the Plantar home. After a tour, Sasha reinstates Anne as Wartwood’s leader. Anne is reluctant to accept the charge in light of all the changes in Amphibia and Sasha’s leadership experience, but Sasha and the Wartwood citizens insist. Under Anne’s watch, the group is almost eaten, absorbed into quicksand, and dropped into a canyon. Finally, Anne presses Sasha to resume command, and the latter admits the real reason she doesn’t want to: the last time Sasha had the power, she destroyed their friendship. When push comes to shove, Sasha charges on a snake terrorizing her friends, and all ends well. Anne takes a vote, and everyone in town wants Sasha to return to power, so she does so with the caveat that it’s a partnership with Anne. 

“Sprivy” concerns Wartwood’s self-proclaimed cutest couple, Sprig and Ivy. They’re selected for a mission at a town briefing, along with Stumpy and Fern. The only problem is, Sasha wants to pair Fern with Ivy and Stumpy with Sprig, much to the young pair’s frustration. When Sasha refuses to reconsider the teams, Sprig concocts his own plan, convincing Fern and Stumpy that she actually had switched the pairs last-minute. This leads to a close call, as Stumpy and Fern are unable to bring down an electric fence, forcing Sprig and Ivy to go along with the plan as originally intended. Sprig and Stumpy successfully destroy a generator once the girls deactivate the fence. Sprig apologizes, and Sasha is only “a little furious.” 

“Commander Anne” is a great episode, and the perfect return to the show’s usual surroundings. The tension between Anne and Sasha is palpable. Given how their run-ins have gone in the season 1 and 2 finales, this is fitting. Sasha has changed immensely since she saw Anne last, as evidenced by her reluctance to give orders now that Anne has returned. Anne is just glad to see her old friend alive and relatively well, regardless of what has transpired. I really wish we could have seen more of Sasha’s journey this season, particularly as it will be the last. We’ve had a couple of episodes exploring her development and some context regarding her childhood. Still, I would have loved even more background on such a tremendous change of heart. I blame this less on the show and more on the way Disney Channel handles their animated series in general; Cassandra was handled similarly in season 3 of Tangled: The Series. It seems like Disney gives their showrunners very little flexibility with things like episode count and runtime. This is probably where the split episodes come from. As such, it’s impressive for Amphibia to have developed Anne, the Plantars, Mr. and Mrs. Boonchouy, and some side characters as well as they have. The focus Sasha has received serves its purpose; I just tend to want more out of character redemptions like this. I can’t help but compare this type of character arc to Zuko’s in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and truly, nobody is doing it like him. 

I like how honest they are about Anne’s skillset compared to Sasha’s here. Anne is intelligent, compassionate, and has grown so much throughout the series, but she isn’t a battle strategist. I’m glad they’re willing to show the characters’ strengths and weaknesses rather than making one unbeatable superhero who doesn’t need help. Sasha’s experiences in Amphibia and her previous status as the dominant member of Anne’s friend group make sense with this setup, too. Of course, she’s the leader; the fact that she’s made mistakes before doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a good head for guidance most of the time. Her assertion that this is a partnership with Anne is a good sign, too. After all, Anne is the one who saved the Wartwood folks from Sasha once upon a time. She needs to be involved in a big way. As an aside, several people in the Amphibia fandom have cited “Commander Anne” as establishing Sasha’s attraction to women. I’m confused and frustrated by this claim, which seems to me an intentional misunderstanding of Sasha’s reaction to being reinstated as Commander. She beams and blushes at Anne AND all of the Wartwood warriors. I didn’t read this as romantic because it’s in response to a vote of confidence from several people. Let’s not call that something it’s not. Also, Anne and Sasha are just now mending their friendship; why would they immediately date? It’s gonna be a no from me, dog. 

“Sprivy” is lighter fare, but still enjoyable. This week is an example of the split episode format utilized very well, pairing a character-driven story with a less demanding, fun one. Both stories also fit well into the 11-minute time slot, which isn’t always the case. So while it may be an odd thing to comment on, kudos to how “Commander Anne/Sprivy” uses its format to its advantage rather than as a glaring detriment. I’ve only watched the prior seasons one time, and it shows because I forgot about Ivy and her budding relationship with Sprig. I have no strong feelings about it, though I’m glad they paired Sprig with another frog rather than trying an interspecies thing with Anne. It’s much easier to get invested in Spranne’s friendship than Sprivy’s relationship, but switching the dynamics would ruin that. I like the lesson Sprig learns, and the Charlie Brown reference in his dance with Ivy was cute, but there’s just not a lot to say about this segment, and that’s fine with me. 

“Commander Anne/Sprivy” is an excellent return to Amphibia and a lot of fun. Sasha and Anne get a lot of development in the first portion, the second one is good fun, and there’s plenty of action and laughs all around.