Review: Cartoon Network's The Secret Saturdays
Secret Scientist Family Study Cryptids, Fight Evil
Oct 19, 2008
Cartoon Network's new highlight of the week falls on Friday night. Their lineup includes the incredibly hyped up Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the highly successful Ben 10: Alien Force, and another new action cartoon, The Secret Saturdays. This new show is an interesting twist of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and The Incredibles that will satisfy any cartoon fan's appetite for action and humor.
Who are the Secret Saturdays?
The Secret Saturdays are scientists dedicated to studying the mysteries of the universe. Doc and Drew Saturday are two Secret Scientists studying Cryptids, animals that modern science does not acknowledge exist, such as chupacabras and yeti. They also happen to have fighting abilities, something most scientists rarely trouble themselves to learn. Their son, Zack, has a unique power that enables him to talk to and control Cryptids. It's rather convenient for a family who has devoted their lives to studying them.
The Saturdays study Cryptids not just for the sake of science, but also to help save them and the world from V. V. Argost. Argost also studies Cryptids to see how he can take over the world, like any good villain wants to do. His mission is to locate the Cryptid Kur, who can give him control over all the Cryptids of the world. With a Cryptid army by his side, not much would stand in his way for world domination.
But Argost is more than just a villain. He's also the host of a TV show about Cryptids: V. V. Argost's Weird World. It's hard to hate a villain who has his own TV show.
Don't Forget the Cryptids
The Saturdays can't be Cryptozoologists and not own any Cryptids as pets. Besides, what typical TV family doesn't own pets?
Three Cryptids reside with the Saturdays: Fiskerton, Komodo, and Zon. Fiskerton, a yeti-like creature, doesn't speak English, but he has some of the funniest lines with just his grunts and gestures. He's pretty much Zack's best friend and partner-in-crime.
Komodo, the poor dear, has the most uncreative name, as she is a Cryptid version of a komodo dragon. Disney fans should find something familiar about her. She is rather reminiscent of a certain lizard named Joanna in The Rescuers Down Under in both looks and personality.
Zon, a pteranadon, is the newest Crypid acquisition. Zack tamed her with his powers after his family's airship knocked over her nest. After she stopped Argost from killing Zack, it seemed only appropriate to adopt her into the family.
Even Superhero Families Have the Same Issues
Even though the Saturdays are a delightful combination of the Quest family and the Incredibles, they demonstrate that just because they are a superhero family, it doesn't mean they don't have the same battles other families do. Like any typical eleven-year-old boy, Zack believes himself to be invincible. He wants to help his parents fight Argost and help Cryptids, no matter the risk.
Drew may be a Secret Scientist who looks great in skin-tight clothing and wields a fire sword, but she puts being a Mom first. She most decidedly does not want Zack fighting anyone, much less their arch-enemy. Sometimes her husband disagrees with how protective she is, but one glare from her gets him on her side. This is not to say that Doc wants his son involved in the fighting. He wants to keep Zack safe too, but like any proud father, he wants to show off how talented his son is, and well, there is that whole father-and-son bonding thing when it comes to proving how tough the other is.
Doc and Drew are not just typical parents, they are also a typical married couple with similar married issues albeit with a superhero twist. In one instance, Doc stops fighting a mercenary who has trashed their home to ask his beloved wife why, why would she throw their flatscreen TV at the perpetrators?
A Must See for All Action Cartoon Fans
The Secret Saturdays has all of the elements for a great action cartoon: great fight scenes, science, humor, family, and a bit of romance. Between the fight scenes, Zack's knack for trouble, the interactions between Doc and Drew, the humorous villains, the quest to save the world, and Fiskerton, all fans of action cartoons will find something enjoyable about the Saturdays.
The Secret Saturdays airs on Cartoon Network every Friday night at 8 p.m. EST.
 |
