Spy×Family Season 3

Episodes 38-40

“I do not think,” British author Elizabeth Bowen wrote in the afterword to her 1945 short story collection The Demon Lover, “that the desiccation, by war, of our day-to-day lives can be enough stressed.” Although she was writing about her experiences in London during World War Two, I think Loid Forger would understand exactly what she was talking about. No matter what war one lives through, it leaves marks, and sometimes those scars are passed down through the generations, whether people want them to be or not. For Loid, his childhood during a hot war has informed his life during the series' present cold war, and whether he's aware of it or not, those life experiences are shaping his life as “Loid Forger,” father, husband, and spy.

Maybe it's because of the generation weight of WWII and my family's history with it, but episode forty is both the standout of this opening trio of episodes and a lot to handle. Back during the Preview Guide, I remarked that this season of SPY x FAMILY didn't seem to be putting its best foot forward, but now, after an episode and a half of Loid's past, I'm very glad they chose to open with the advent of tonitrus-happy Miss Schlag. (That's German for “hit” as in “he landed a hit on someone.”) Not only is it always a joy to watch Anya and Damian attempt to interact, but it's important that she took a bolt for him in the context of Loid's early childhood. Loid carried – and probably still carries – guilt about his trio of friends' fate, first assuming they died in the bombing and later knowing that they died on the battlefield. But Anya manages to save Damian. Sure, getting a tonitrus bolt isn't the same as being killed, but in the context of Eden College and Operation Strix – and a cold versus a hot war – it may as well be. It shows how Anya can live the life Loid was deprived of and, more importantly, how, as a father, he's actually doing a great job. He had a troubled relationship with his own dad. He's not repeating those mistakes with his daughter, whether he's conscious of it or not.

To go back to Bowen's idea of the desiccation of day-to-day life, before he was handed Operation Strix, I think that may be an accurate description of Loid's life. His “normal” was ripped from him twice by bombs, and his answer was to get angry and join the fight. There's nothing “normal” about war, but by the time we met him, Loid had already forgotten that. But moving from the “spy” portion of the title to the “family” one began to change his life from a desert to something better. I doubt he realizes it, but even though he's still working on an intelligence mission, he's more stable than he has been in a long time. The opening theme's imagery of Anya leading child versions of Loid and Yor in a game helps to symbolize that: by being a family, they're learning to deal with their pasts and move forward.

It'll take time, of course. When Loid wakes up at the end of episode forty, he doesn't think, “This is my house,” he thinks, “This is Loid's house,” so there's still a lot of disconnect. (Ironic that his fake job is a psychiatrist.) But he's more comfortable showing that he cares now, which is no small thing, given that the last people he loved – his parents and his friends – all died horribly. He's gone from barely being able to interact with Franky to telling Bond not to eat onions, which feels like a major step for him.

I feel like these episodes about Loid's past are important. You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been, and forgetting the past comes with a cost. SPY x FAMILY is, obviously, fiction, but if it makes us remember history, or seek it out, that's a good thing. We forget at our peril.

But don't worry – things will go back to being funny next week.

Episode 38 Rating:
Episode 39 Rating:
Episode 40 Rating:

Spy×Family Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.