Never Get Out of the Truck / Always Ask for Backstory / Never Try the Cider / Always or Never Make Wishes / Always Make the Hard Choice

The animated prequel to the 80s movie classic continues as the gang heads into the Wild West on a quest to save Elle’s mother.

Without doubt, the second half of this latest series of Gremlin adventures is certainly a ride. Sam, Elle and Chang are heading inland from San Francisco in search of a water god who can restore Elle’s mother to human form before she turns into a puddle… or something. I should know this by heart, because there is a lot of plot that has to be repeated at the beginning of every episode before the characters are free to encounter a whole host of mythical beings, ghosts – or people pretending to be ghosts Scooby-Doo style.

It’s entertaining, but the overall series arc seems to be fighting against a more story-of-the-week episodic structure, which, when there’s only 22 minutes in an episode, gets a little distracting. Plus, midway, the Gremlin element of the show gets a little lost, as if the creatives can’t quite make up their mind about what sort of show they want this to be.

But, thankfully, in the series finale it does more or less come together, and there’s an enjoyably spectacular resolution featuring a glorious Gremlin style homage to the great Esther Williams – and if you don’t know who Esther Williams was then I suggest you hop over to YouTube to get yourself fully acquainted before watching this lovely Gremlins tribute.

There are a few more nice movie references with nods to Studio Ghibli, along with references to classic Westerns and even a snort-worthy misquote from Roman Polanski’s Chinatown for the dedicated cineaste.

Verdict: At its weakest, this second season has, at times, been random and chaotic, and in need of a bit of narrative discipline. At its strongest, it is lovingly realised, and the characters are good company and carry the Gremlin torch very nicely indeed. 7/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com