Review: Krapopolis “Eclipse”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Zeus causes an eclipse for some reason, causing Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, and Apollo to put aside past grievances to work with Tyrannis and Deliria to get their father to stop. Apollo and Shlub reconnect about a band they were in, Ares relentlessly hits on Stupendous, and Hephaestus and Hippocampus design a spaceship to try and move the sun out of the way (seems like moving the moon would be easier but okay). When Tyrannis seems to be getting better support from Athena, he decides to force Deliria out, but this backfires when he gets put in the spaceship with Deliria. The two end up on Olympus, where they find Zeus was just doing a shapeshifting self-orgy. They realize the eclipse will end on its own, but tell the other gods that Zeus isn’t mad at any of them and that Deliria is no longer banished. Tyrannis also tries to tell Hippocampus and Hephaestus that the Earth is round and not flat, but they don’t believe him.

OUR TAKE

Wow, this episode really felt like it took things to another level. A major event that threatens to destroy the world forces the Gods to descend from Olympus to work with their banished sibling and her son’s still forming first civilization in order to combine the power of the Gods with mortal ingenuity, while also dealing with dysfunction all of the Gods face because of how Zeus has treated them. Sounds like a big season finale type story, wouldn’t you think? Well, as it turns out, it is! Based on the production codes for the episodes, this is the thirteenth episode of Season 1, and unless we see some more episodes marked as part of that season, this was probably intended to be the end of the first season. Sure makes it odd to be just tossing it in partway through, not even saving it for the actual finale, which is apparently another eight episodes away as the season is reported to end on May 19th. I really have to wonder why they’re burning through so many episodes. My first guess would be because of the strikes last year, but I thought I saw somewhere that only Bob’s Burgers was really impacted by that since they don’t make back up episodes like Simpsons and Family Guy do.

Anyway, all that aside, this is actually an above average episode for the show and would even make a pretty decent way to finish a freshman season. As mentioned, it’s a big enough event that it forces the mortals and Gods to work together, it gives every main character something to do and a God to do something with. It also reiterates the main character conflict between Tyrannis and Delira, actually almost too much since I feel like I’ve seen that exact plot between them in a previous episode. I guess I would’ve liked it if the other Gods got episodes on their own first so this would feel more cumulative (I know Hephestus got one but none of the others did), but this does fine introducing most of them. It also ends Deliria’s banishment…but that was never really a problem or obstacle before, so getting rid of it doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment, unless this means future episodes will take place on Olympus more. It’s also just…not very funny, but that’s consistent across the whole season so far. Oh, and Zeus is kind of a let down, hopefully they have him be a proper character sometime in the future. One third of the season to go! I guess we’ll see if there’s a better season finale episode waiting for them to make use of!