Spy x Family – 25 (END)

「接敵作戦」 (Fāsuto Kontakuto)
“First Contact”

I felt pained for Damian-the detached attitude of his brother, overlooked by his father. Adding salt to the wound, the oohing and awing of starry-eyed groupies over Damian’s parentage-naively assuming that his family life must be stellar with such high prestige-Damian knows better than that. It was heartbreaking to seem him realize his father might be too busy and might love him less than his brother (which seems likely, given that he is only ever able to talk to his father through a middle-man, the butler or his brother). I was actually surprised the father showed up-perhaps he has some small spark of paternal feeling, even if he doesn’t show it

Anya uses her mind-reading for good, using what she read to sympathize with Damian. True, it was self-serving to get him to meet the “evil boss”, but she went about it in a kind, sympathetic way, opening herself up to him and how she struggled with uncertainty in her relationship with her own papa.

Twilight is not too shabby of a crafter, creating a well-made replica of the stupidly expensive department store keychain to fake looking for it as an excuse to bump into Desmond. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to replace Anya’s with the replica and return the original to get the money back-it’s definitely not worth the fortune it cost.

Damian kept getting slapped with his name-everyone recognizing him for his dad, his family name, but no one actually caring about him. Kids catch on more than you would think. He’s there as a pawn-the kids at school try to use him to gain leverage for themselves, Twilight, to get close to his family, and Anya, to please her papa.

It was painful to watch Donovan’s cold-hearted exchange with his son. A father who won’t even get angry for his child’s sake. Granted, it was just a children’s scuffle, but still, a parent should comfort their child rather than minimize their hurt. Damian really has the short end of the stick. I was so relieved when Loid validated Damian, doing what his father wouldn’t or couldn’t do. Children need to be validated and comforted when hurt (obviously, without spoiling or pandering to them), it’s part of helping them gain confidence and security to grow into a healthy adult.

We see the contrast between Loid and Donovan as fathers-Loid is open (well, relatively speaking) about his relationship with Anya and his frustration with her hostile manners, genuinely expressing his emotions. Which is more than can be said for Donovan. He is like a steel wall, expressing only superficial cordiality towards Loid and anger towards his son putting up a stink about a fight. We already know that Loid, while not perfect, is growing into a caring father, and this exchange between two dads further highlighted that.

Loid sure has gained some wisdom in the past however many months that it is difficult to completely control children. Better to understand that now, than try to control the child with an unflinching hand of steel for years. Loid in his admission, says it with affection. While Donovan means it in completely the opposite way, that his child (specifically, Damian) is almost not his child, so difficult is it to relate to him. What harsh words to say in front of your son. That’s going to leave emotional damage for years to come.

I could feel shots being fired from both sides with that back and forth about understanding other people. Loid’s side ultimately won out with those powerful words “What’s truly important is to continue to walk beside them despite that (lack of understanding)”-that is parenting in a phrase. To love your child and support them, respecting the fact that they are different from you. He even goes out of the way to patch things up between father and son, pointing out to Donovan the ways in which his son looks up to him. This was an instance where another adult needed to step in to back Damian up who was obviously beaten down by his father’s coldness, and Loid admirably stepped in. He truly is a kind man at heart.

All in all, it was a decent cour of Spy x Family– there were the low points (looking at you, tennis arc) and there were the high points. Moving forward from the 1st cour, this 2nd one took us through the slow progress in the relationships between the Forgers. It was truly special to watch their expressions and subtle reactions to each to each other and how they showed the Forgers growing to become a more genuine family who cares for each other, despite the secrets they hold. This final episode was the icing on the cake, encompassing what this series’ underlying message has been about the hardships, subtilties, and joys of being a parent. Thankfully, there was an announcement of a season 2 and a move for Spy x Family, so this will not be the end of this series-I look forward to the on screen continuation of the Forger family’s dramedy!