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THE BIG SICK Is the Best Romantic Comedy in Years (Sundance Review)

It was the snowiest day at Sundance so far. Piercing wind. Bitter temperatures. The street crossing that led to the theater was a choice between trudging knee-deep through a snow bank or risking ankle-deep freezing water. Then, out of the cold, came The Big Sick.

Directed by Michael Showalter and written by Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani, the film is an ebullient flash of consistently funny, awkward, sorrowful, and honest moments that put celebrity-stuffed modern rom-coms to shame.

Nanjiani stars as a slightly fictional version of himself–the son of Pakistani Muslim immigrants who’s trying to make it as a stand-up comedian (when he should want to be a doctor), who has cold feet about arranged marriages (despite a parade of women his mom invites to “drop in” at dinner), and who keeps a lot of his life secret from a traditional family. He meets Emily (Zoe Kazan doing her best work in a field of great work) when she heckles him at one of his shows, and they do the dance of pretending to value singledom over the connective spark banging at the door to their brains.

There are two keys to why this movie works so well. The first is that Nanjiani and Kazan are magical in these roles, like a modern Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert spun together with producer Judd Apatow’s standard bent toward the melancholy mess of human lives. Unlike other male leads in similar movies, Nanjiani isn’t a snarky asshole. His humor is self-deprecating, regularly mining awkward moments for their communal absurdity instead of dominating an improv-fest (the movie uses a searing Bo Burnham for that), so his bright-eyed charm shines through.

Kazan owns her role (based on co-writer/Indoor Kids co-host Gordon), crafting a sharp, caring, sentimental woman who’s like a big middle finger to every male-fantasy, cool girl to ever appear in the genre. In short, she does what she’s always done, but her maturity shines through here.

Kumail’s family is also embarrassing-dinner-conversation perfection. His father (Anupam Kher) is everyone’s father–convinced of his own hipness, cracking observations that make sense only to him, and acting as a well-meaning liaison between the gulf of Kumail’s Western dreams and Pakistani tradition. Every single actor, down to the smallest of roles, is excellent.

The second secret to The Big Sick’s success is that all the riffing and one-liners you’d expect from Apatow land don’t merely exist to get easy laughs; they drive the narrative. Showalter’s veteran understanding of both comedy and story, as well as his affinity for crisp filmmaking, rein in Apatow’s looser, indulgent style to great effect. The best of Apatow-branded style without the baggage.

It’s a combination of their styles that makes the film’s tricky plot shift possible. Avoiding formula completely, The Big Sick is really three relationship stories in one: Kumail and his parents, Kumail and Emily, and Kumail and Emily’s parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano). Everything shifts once her parents enter the picture, deepening the tension and raising the stakes literally to life and death. The “Big Sick” of the title is an illness that sends Emily to the hospital and redraws all the lines.

Romano deserves a ton of credit for his character, but Hunter is the movie’s spirit animal. There’s something amazing about a salty person turning sweet, and Hunter embodies a protective, scared parent who’s level-headed about life’s flaws. She’s also game to body check a racist dude-bro heckler and use improvisation for sincere, gut-punch emotional effect.

The middle section of the movie drags a bit, but there’s no easy, obvious place to cut. So much of it feels necessary, even though the momentum sags, that it may simply be a matter of accepting the movie’s pacing breather for what it has to be.

That’s especially true because of how much The Big Sick achieves in a standard runtime–considerable ups and downs between a web of different characters (and Kumail’s fledgling career hopes)–without ever feeling flat or soap operatic. It’s real-world comfortable, comforting, and hilarious as hell. Jokes kept our Sundance audience from hearing follow-up lines multiple times, including one punchline that drowned out a full minute of on-screen conversation.

The Big Sick is the complete package. An ecstatic romantic vision, unafraid of dangerous comedy, that earns all the laughs and misty eyes it goes for. Modern romantic comedies now have a standard to live up to.

4.5 out of 5 aloo gosht burritos

Images: FilmNation

FREE AND EASY Is an Absurdist Spin Into Hong Kong Nihilism (Sundance Review)

In a hollowed-out industrial town in Northeast China, a crooked man (Zhang Zhiyong) pretending to sell soap robs unassuming victims who collapse after smelling his samples. He’s well-dressed, armed with a gun that’s probably real, and he’s one of several main characters in Free and Easy waiting for some unseen force to alter him in a meaningful way. Or not. He seems casually miserable no matter what comes his way. Theft, sexual assault, murder–everything is a canvas to prove how life is calmly meaningless.

There’s also a monk (Xu Gang) pulling a similar con, a generous-but-dim Christian boy looking for his lost mother, a government landscaper hunting a tree-thief, his wife (who is the only one who seems human), and two cops bored out of their uniforms. All together, they wander through maliciously humorous blunders, several cigarettes, and a lot of existential crises.

Writer/director Jun Geng positions each of these figures as darkly comic chess pieces orbiting red-bricked dilapidation and the raw emptiness of fallow fields. Free and Easy (a gorgeously ironic title) fits in well with absurdist works like Waiting for Godot or anything by Eugene Ionesco–it’s a bleak offering where crime (and everything else) is shoulder-shrugged out of mind. Victims become bullies, enemies become friends, and all of it happens with a deliberate lack of emotional logic, surrounded by a remarkably empty block of beaten-down apartments.

These half-dozen figures are somehow stranded in the wilderness, with only each other to care for or cannibalize, which leads to slyly ridiculous situations like a man slapping himself 22 times as an apology, or cops blithely sharing whatever pills they have on them.

The ensemble seem to be the only people living in a town stuffed with doorways and front porches, which creates a nagging, theatrical unease about everything that happens. It’s an alienating experience dotted by a few guilty laughs. Why are they there? Where do they get their food? What do they even need the money they’re stealing for? Like any good absurdist piece, the film isn’t concerned with answering anything in this neighborhood. The people are there; how they got there doesn’t matter. Neither does much of anything else.

Everyone speaks and relates to each other in deeply affected ways, with most conversations devolving into some strange truth about life or some wry joke about it (or both at the same time). The Soap Salesman continues about his business, the cops fail on every level, the Christian makes best pals with the wicked monk, and so it goes. All relationships are mutable, and no one achieves any of the goals they half-heartedly set for themselves.

It’s difficult not to read Free and Easy as a satirical howl at the moon since it comes out of Hong Kong–a region fresh off massive protests against China for free and fair democratic elections. The movie puts a simulacrum of freedom on display, going through motions without anyone ever escaping the way-station. Like pawns on a board imagining they can go wherever they please, or addicts who swear they can quit any time, every character is nailed in place even as they carry themselves with confidence and power. The presence and positive portrayal of the young Christian juxtaposed with a crass monk who turns out to be a con artist is the most obvious bit of shocking artistic freedom against the Chinese system.

Regularly stunning, Free and Clear is shot with ugly clarity, like a post-urban anthropologist seeking to frame stranded inhabitants firmly inside their desolate habitat.

The film’s fatal flaw is its unbearably slow pace. Specifically, how long people take to respond to one another, as if they’re all connecting via satellite despite being in the same room. This silent treatment is clearly purposeful, but while walling off the characters from each other, it creates a thick barrier between the characters and the audience, too. It’s the kind of technique that should make for a staunch divide between soaring appreciation and using Free and Easy as a sleep aid.

There are certainly moments of delight–including an extended sequence where one cop tries to chase two groups of people at once–but unless you’re doing the hard work of mining for meaning in the meaninglessness (or ready to raise a fist in the air), it’s a bleak, difficult trudge through the snow.

3 out of 5 nihilistic burritos

Images: Blackfin Culture & Media Co., Ltd.

AXOLOTL OVERKILL is a Must-See Manic Pixie Blast of Youth in Revolt (Sundance Review)

With a firework sensibility of joy and agony, Axolotl Overkill practically burns down the screen. The film from 24-year-old writer/director Helene Hegemann is a spree of bored, bright youth in rebellion against nothing in particular, cut together (by German editing icon Bettina Böhler) to flirt with magical realism while hangover vomiting into a Dolce and Gabbana bag.

The film, based on Hegemann’s controversial novel, revolves around a 16-year-old Berlin pinball named Mifti (Jasna Fritzi Bauer) who bounces with impish delight between sex with an older woman, Alice (Arly Jover), disrespecting her school administrators, a wealthy family of enablers, step-sister Anika (Laura Tonke) trying to play parent, the pain of losing her mother to a heart condition, and her new famous friend Ophelia (Mavie Hörbiger), whose access to cocaine and interesting party pals come in handy.

In a sense, it makes a manic pixie dream girl the star of her own movie.

Mifti is a force of nature, confident in all things, undaunted by authority or convention, uninhibited in her consumption. She elevates LOLj/k to a life philosophy, but she’s not the wispy moron that usually flutters through movies like this. Half of what makes her so dangerous is her fierce, self-aware intelligence. Bauer–known for playing these nasty youth roles back home in Germany–owns every frame with both leonine confidence and an unnerving comfort with every dark scenario.

Unlike the bodily exploration of Wetlands or the sexy-fish-over-her-head taboo of Havoc, Axolotl Overkill manages to treat youthful sexuality with both respect and reality–recognizing the dangerous consequences of the party-bound lifestyle without adding an ounce of extra shame or getting too luridly hygienic.

That’s partially because Mifti’s adventures are based on whim more than malice. She doesn’t seem intent on grinding herself into the ground with booze and anonymous sex because of some deep-seated trauma she has to face, so much as she’s simply open to the next fun thing in life.

That’s the shared, secret language that guides every character. Like an improv troupe, they share the deep intimacy of accepting each other’s wacky ideas without question. Maybe that’s deciding to bail on a restaurant right after sitting down and ordering 5 mineral waters. Maybe that’s deciding to have sex with the cab driver who just dropped off the date you made out with earlier. Maybe that’s bringing your new water-based pet to the hottest nightclub in Berlin. Whatever feels right. Acceptance is the watchword.

And, yes, the axolotl. For those who don’t know, it’s an adorable mole salamander that stays permanently, like Mifti and friends, in its larval stage. More than metaphors, they also look like creatures Harry Potter might study, which ties nicely into the animal-based magical realism Axolotl Overdrive dips its toes into. These moments-randomly finding some llamas, meeting a unicorn on a walk of shame through the forest–feel like downing a packet of Pop Rocks with a smile already on your face.

Even we, the viewers, get our own dreamlike visions, leaving Mifti and her friends behind occasionally to enjoy a captivating dance sequence that seems inserted into the film as a reminder that writer/director Hegemann is the one guiding the whimsy. A project this frenetic runs the risk of being a confusing mess, but Böhler and Hegemann manage to build something with a quick rhythmic impulse that feels like constructive A.D.D. There’s a grand clarity at work, even when we jump in time or enter a potential fantasy mindset.

As for the ensemble, Jover is smoldering as a mature foil. She’s also into parties, obviously cool with bedding underage girls, and makes a ton of money through illegal means, but she’s grounded. Calmer. Content. Mifti is also drawn to Ophelia–played like a caged tiger by Hörbiger–with her mercurial state of mind and celebrity status. They hit it off immediately, sharing the comfort of being impulsive with another person who isn’t judging you. Here again that theme of acceptance emerges. So much of the uptempo diversions are underscored by Mifti’s need to be in control, to offer it temporarily to someone else, or to respond after losing it.

Everything comes together beautifully to craft a whirlwind portrait that’s mischievous, smart, and substantial.

5 out of 5 larval stage burritos

Images: Vandertastic

Growing Grass Into Portraits Gives New Meaning to Lawn Art

It’s something really special when unique things surface in the art world and artists are able to astonish with things that we generally wouldn’t even assume are possible. We marvel at an artist’s ability to mold materials into something thought-provoking, eye catching, or just plain beautiful and these two artists from the UK have certainly accomplished all three in their remarkable grass sculptures.

Dan Harvey and Heather Ackroyd work in a medium that’s not found in any art supply store. They create literal living sculptures and portraits out of grass. Using a paste to cover canvas, buildings, or really any surface they want to, they apply germinated grass seed in a thick layer and basically wait for the art to grow like the classiest Chia pet imaginable. The portraits are created by prepping a surface and then blocking out all possible light except for a film negative projected onto the seed, which essentially develops the film into the grass. The areas of seed that receive brighter bits of light through the film negative grow with more chlorophyll resulting in stronger greens while the darker areas remain a paler yellowish color. 

While we see the entire process in the video (by the Great Big Story YouTube channel), it’s still difficult to wrap our heads around just how beautiful these portraits come out. A living portrait of grass blades become the developed photograph with a level of detail we would never expect and have us planning a trip the the nearest home improvement store to try this sort of thing ourselves.

What photograph would you want developed in grass? Something industrial would certainly make a statement. Let’s discuss our green-thumbed ideas in the comments below!

Images: Great Big Story

INGRID GOES WEST Is Unsurprisingly Funny and Surprisingly Emotional (Sundance Review)

With a subject matter as amenable to parody as Instagram, Ingrid Goes West is unsurprisingly funny. Mixing that with the inherently disconcerting conceit of cross-country stalking, the film is likewise not shy on cringes and shudders. But where the black comedy from director Matt Spicer is most impressive is in its emotional resonance. Not satisfied to simply tell a twisted story about an unstable young woman’s no-holds-barred plight to win the friendship of a social media star, Ingrid goes the extra mile to dig into the kind of psychology behind what may, for some, be startlingly familiar urges and actions. No, I don’t expect that many of our readers have uprooted their lives to travel cross-country and kidnap a dog in hopes of befriending a perfect stranger, but it’s a testament to Ingrid’s empathy that these and other behaviors feel rooted in something most of us know far too well.

Ingrid isn’t exactly a complete 180 from Aubrey Plaza’s usual dead-eyed shtick, but she’s hardly the same old ballgame either. Plaza stays within her usual laryngeal margins as the morbidly lonely Ingrid, but carries a great deal more pain and anxiety than we usually see from the actress, even when delivering the wickedly funny material afforded by the script. Elizabeth Olsen plays Taylor Sloane, Ingrid’s objective in amity and personal foil, a decidedly “together” Internet-famous photographer who emanates all things L.A. high life. With nowhere else to invest her affections, Ingrid makes a mountain of a single social media interaction with Olsen’s perfectly named character, instantly expensing every economic and emotional resource to worm her way into Taylor’s life.

Thus ensues the “When will she find out the truth?” tradition so familiar to romantic comedies, but with the visceral bonus of Ingrid’s inner torment; the film’s unwillingness to stray from the darkness haunting its titular character at every turn is what makes the trope all the more rewarding this time around. Meanwhile, gags about Taylor and her husband Ezra’s (Wyatt Russell) hipster lifestyle, and Ingrid’s new landlord Dan’s (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) obsession with Batman, keep the ride jovial and lively. Oh, just building on that: There are a lot of Batman jokes. You will be astounded by the amount of Batman jokes.

Driven to milk as much as it can out of the inevitable revelation, Ingrid loses a bit too much of its essence when it succumbs to a raising of the stakes, couriered by Taylor’s drug addict brother Nicky (Billy Magnussen). It’s here that the thriller value intrinsic to the movie’s Single White Female reinvention becomes a little too animated and its comedy becomes a little too hokey; as a result, the otherwise ever-present empathy thins out, robbing the film of what made it so interesting up to this point. Though the escalating events do indeed scale up to an emotional punch, the third act’s reversal in priority does some unfortunate irreparable damage to the earnest sensibilities Ingrid had previously been communicating so effectively.

Even though it may disappoint on its original promise, Ingrid packs an impressive helping of emotional resonance, not to mention no shortage of delightfully sinister humor about social media, youth culture, and loneliness. Oh, and Batman. I really cannot stress enough how many jokes about Batman there are in this movie.

3.5 out of 5 burritos.

Images: Sundance Institute

Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor of Nerdist. Find him (but please don’t stalk him) on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter.

Home Geekonomics: Vin Diesel Decor

Home Geekonomics is a series that features the best in geeky home decor, food and DIY. Each week will focus on a specific fandom and highlight the best of geek for your home and everyday life.

There’s a Vin Diesel movie for everyone. He was Riddick, Toretto, the Iron Giant, he was Groot! I mean who wouldn’t love a guy who accepted our invite to come play DnD with us?

Vin Diesel’s xXx first came out in 2002, and now 15 years later, Xander Cage is back with the aptly named xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. With so many franchises under his belt you’d think Vin Diesel art tributes would be aplenty but that was not the case. However, the fan art that I did find went above and beyond — it’s nice to see fans turn out such quality homages. Welcome back, Xander Cage.

Vin Diesel Mona Lisa Mug by Gwenys

This meme has been turned into a mug for your coffee and I can’t stop staring at it. It’s wrong, yet so right. Are the eyes following me? I think I’ve had too much caffeine.

Vin Diesel Pillow by PopTeeCush

When people come to visit it always helps to put out your best decor for all to see. These fabulous black and grey pillows will look great on your couch and hey, like any good wish, if you send it out into the aether maybe it will come true.

Vin Diesel String Art by CvernArt

When I came across this string art of Vin Diesel’s face I was stunned. Handcrafted with just one piece of sewing thread, this portrait is made by wrapping it around each nail placed on a round frame. The thread is overlaid over and over until the image is achieved. It’s a true work of art.

Vin Diesel Cross Stitch by Hippy Witch

There are tributes and then there are tributes. This cross stitch is so well done that it looks photorealistic. At first I thought it was a screen print but no, it’s just a talented cross-stitcher with a whole lot of patience.

Vin Diesel Mini Cutout

Space is limited when it comes to collectibles so if you must have a cardboard standee of Vin Diesel in your home, why not go the economical route and get a mini 24-inch version? Think of it, he can hang out on your mantle, play with your cat or even stand guard in your window. It’s all the Vin Diesel you can handle while taking up a minimal amount of space.

Images: Gwenys, PopteeCush, CvernArt, Hippy Witch

RAW Takes a Brutal Bite Out of Your Subconscious (Sundance Review)

There’s a recurring bad dream I have, usually after I take allergy medication, which involves choking on hair in my mouth. I try to pull it out without triggering my gag reflex, and only succeed in violent hiccups, and more and more hair coming out of my mouth. The new Sundance movie Raw has an extended scene in which its troubled protagonist Justine (Garance Marillier) has basically the same thing happen, in a scene that goes on so long I had to avert my eyes–it’s way worse than the analogous moments in the Ring/Ringu movies.. For me, the movie had literally become the stuff of nightmares.

And that’s fitting, because the entire thing operates under a kind of nightmare logic that may make you ask a lot of “Why?” questions, only to be effectively met with the response that this is just what happens in this story. Is it logical? Is it realistic? Doesn’t matter, because it is disturbing and gross, and it operates under its own rules.

Justine comes from a family of militant vegetarians–it may not originally have been her choice not to eat meat, ever, but it’s been ingrained into her. Perhaps naturally, she is also about to start veterinary school, just like her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf). But this is no ordinary veterinary school, as it also operates under its own rules of nightmare logic, with extreme hazing that includes kidnapping all freshman and destroying their possessions, degrading them by covering them in paint unexpectedly and forcing them to make out with strangers, and–most significantly–force-feeding them at least one gross preserved animal part (a rabbit’s kidney, in Justine’s case).

Under significant peer pressure, and in the face of Alexia flat-out lying about their vegetarian background, Justine does it, and later decides to try the good kind of meat in the form of an actual kebab. Meanwhile, because this is nightmare veterinarian school, director Julia Ducournau offers us a horror-show of images like skinned puppies in jars, dog vivisection, and student arms elbow-deep in cow anuses. Students debate whether animal lives are less important than those of people, but the comparison is about to be kicked up a major notch.

In a hilariously graphic chain reaction of events, Justine manages to accidentally slice off half of one of Alexia’s fingers with scissors. She has no ice in the freezer to pack it in, but while she considers what to do next, her newfound love of meat overpowers her…and she eats it. This, of course, is only the beginning, as her craving for meat turns into a craving for specifically human meat. Not necessarily to kill anyone, but just to take a bite out of them, like Homer Simpson eating bits of his own donut head in that one “Treehouse of Horror” episode.

I don’t know if Ducournau is a vegetarian or not, but if she is it could very well be that her point is about society’s unhealthy addiction to meat being destructive to society overall. More universally, however, is the heightened reality of that first year of college in all its danger, exhilaration, and experimentation, as freedom from familial authority gives way to a clearer sense of how much more scary the larger world is when you’re unprotected by parents.

While Raw is gaining a reputation as movie that makes people faint or get sick because it’s so gross, I suspect it’s less the cannibalism that does that and more the animal parts and extended scenes of puking (in addition to the hair scene, Justine tries to loudly  induce regurgitation more than once). To what end, I’m less sure. The final scenes add some narrative heft, and yes, possibly set up a sequel and a larger mythology, For now, though, what we have is akin to a walk through a Halloween attraction: it’s atmospheric and full of nightmare visions, but you probably won’t emerge saying, “Wow, what a great story I just got told!”

3 burritos out of 5, which you won’t want to eat right after viewing.

Raw opens theatrically for non-Sundance attendees March 10th.

Images: Focus World

Luke Y. Thompson is a meaty member of the L.A. Film Critics Association, and Nerdist’s Weekend Editor. He’s on Twitter @LYTrules.

Fan Art Friday #102 – Matt the Radar Tech and More by Heather Morris

Artist Heather Morris doesn’t stick to traditional mediums for her pop culture portraiture. Instead of only using watercolors or acrylic paints, she sometimes adds elements to make her images look vintage. She told me she incorporates “rust, metal leaf, and special paint concoctions to make the paint crack and flake.” The inclusion of these extras give many of her pieces added grunge, texture, and depth.

Of course after talking about Heather’s mixed media work, I’m going to share a more straightforward piece first because, hey, it’s Matt the Radar Tech.

Matt the Radar Tech (The Force Awakens/Saturday Night Live)

And I’m guessing some of you recognize the guy in this art: Chris Hardwick!

Chris Hardwick, @midnight

I’ve heard of him.

Don’t stop now. Head to the gallery below to see more of Heather’s art, including Captain America, American Horror Story imagery, a Settlers of Catan poster, and more. To check out additional examples of her mad skills and buy prints, visit Heather’s website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. All the options!

Do you create any sort of fan art? If so, I want to see it. Whether you focus on a specific fandom or pull inspiration from multiple stories and mediums, I’d like to highlight what you do. If you’re interested in being featured in a future edition of Fan Art Friday, get in touch with me at alratcliffe@yahoo.com with examples of your work. If you’re not an artist, feel free to email me with recommendations for Fan Art Friday!

Images: Heather Morris

Defense Contractor is Developing STAR TREK-Like Deflector Shields

There’s something so profoundly cool about the command “Shields up.” It’s reminiscent of the moment a platoon of Spartan warriors falls into a phalanx: i.e. the time for fighting is nigh, get into battle mode. But in real life, that phrase is sadly rarely uttered, and certainly never genuinely. But that may change — in the very distant future — thanks to a British defense contractor who’s working on an atmospheric spy lens that doubles as a laser shield.

BAE Systems, a U.K. defense contractor that focuses on future technologies in areas like cybersecurity and intelligence (and not salt), recently released a video of their Laser Developed Atmospheric Lens (LDAL), which it says could “revolutionise the future of battlefield observation.” The video, which comes via Discover Magazine, also explores the idea of using the lens as a way to deflect lasers aimed at the aircraft from ground weapons.

The system works using laser pulses from an aircraft to heat sections of atmosphere until a lensing effect is achieved. The lensing effect, caused by the refraction of light as it passes through the heated atmosphere, would allow spy aircraft to surveil enemies (whoever they may be…) “more effectively from long distances [in order] to collect vital information.”

As Discover Magazine notes, the LDAL would work essentially like a lens made from glass, changing the density of the atmosphere to either focus the light coming from the ground, and hence the image, or scatter it in the case of anti-aircraft laser beams. BAE notes that in this sense, the system can behave as a “deflector shield,” although it’s probably fair to assume it wouldn’t guard very well against photon torpedoes.

Unfortunately, it seems that BAE Systems doesn’t think this technology will be battlefield-ready for another 50 years. But the kind of technology used in Star Trek takes time. At least this kind of time frame gives us plenty of room to develop a Federation on Earth, matter transporters, and androids that can think like humans but not use contractions.

What do you think about this atmospheric lensing system? Do you think investing in the LDAL would be a wise use of a government’s funds? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: BAE Systems

VOLTRON Recap: Lance and Hunk Visit ‘The Depths’

The following is a recap of Voltron: Legendary Defender season two, episode two, “The Depths.” Ergo, there will be lots of spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled, go watch it first. We’ll wait.

It’s a testament to Voltron: Legendary Defender‘s terrific and engrossing storytelling that it wasn’t until the last few scenes of “Across the Universe” that I even noticed that Hunk and Lance were nowhere to be seen. Lost in the vortex of space following a corrupted wormhole, we followed all of the other heroes on their journey last time, but Lance and Hunk got an adventure to themselves in episode two, “The Depths.”

As you might expect from an episode centered on these two yahoos, it definitely funnier, given Hunk’s trash-compactor-like ability to devour food and Lance’s belief that he’s a massive ladies man. And “The Depths” was a great showcase for the voice actors playing Hunk and Lance, Tyler Labine and Jeremy Shada, respectively. It also featured guest actor “Weird Al” Yankovic playing a squid-faced mer-person, so that was pretty neat.

Hunk and Lance end up on a frozen planet with copious amounts of water, and they are quickly met under the sea by mermaids, ruled by the beautiful and seemingly kindly Queen Luxia, who wants nothing more than to make sure everyone, including the guests, are “safe and warm.” Everything seemed perfectly idyllic, despite the underwater city’s unquestionable resemblance to Gunga City, however, it’s not all safety and warmth.

The queen explained to the paladin that the city uses a massive Bakku garden for warmth and food, and that it fell from space, like a beacon from heaven. Naturally, this isn’t quite the truth, and slowly it became apparent that for all the feasting and dancing and pampering, the city wasn’t what it seemed. While Hunk was totally under the mermaid spell, Lance was rescued by a group of “cave dwellers,” mer-people who escaped the city and now wear jellyfish on their heads to prevent the queen from “mind-swishing” them, the way she now had Hunk. Yankovic’s character is one of these guys, the weirdest and googliest of the bunch, naturally.

They implored Lance to go back to the city with a jellyfish on his head to retrieve his lion. Unfortunately, Hunk had been fully turned into a “safe and warm” slave and attempted to attack Lance. Through a funny action sequence, Lance was able to free Hunk and grab the queen and take her to the caves for interrogation. Turned out, though, the queen was just as much a slave as everyone else; it was the Bakku Garden itself that was controlling things, feeding on any of the city’s residents who were deemed unuseful. That’s pretty dark.

The episode ended with the Bakku Garden revealing itself to be a giant, mossy sea serpent that attacks the paladins, who need to use their lions in order to stop it. Lance’s Blue Lion found the icy water particularly powerful and it created a massive ice beam on its back and zapped the garden. Remember, these paladins are still learning about their lions — the machines were lost for centuries. Together, free-minded, the city residents and the cave dwellers helped create a signal into space which is picked up by Pidge, who eventually arrives to fully reunite the Voltron squad.

“The Depths” was a delightful episode, and I think it warranted having an entire 24 minutes for Lance and Hunk on their own. I remember the first 90-minute episode last year in where it seemed pretty clear that Lance was going to be our rather goofy lead character, before both Keith and Shiro were introduced to share those duties. It’s cool to see Lance get to play the hero along with his double-act partner Hunk, who continues to be the show’s heart.

Voltron: Legendary Defender didn’t use its first two episodes of season two to get down to the heavy, universe-imperative plot and instead focused on its main characters having smaller adventures. This is what makes this show so amazing.

Join us all weekend for more Voltron: Legendary Defender season 2 recaps!

Images: DreamWorks/Netflix

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!