This episode is certainly a weird one but I really love it. It doesn't further the greater story of how Matrix and Andraia are going to make it back to Mainframe, but it does bring to mind Matrix's old connection to Bob and how much he misses his lost friend. Anyhow it's just such a fun entertaining episode to get into and most of it is just various colourful characters bickering with each other, but it's so sharply written and witty and has such a cool nerdy vibe that it's sheer Reboot magic to me, it really is. It's a blending of Star Trek and comic book superheroes and is such a beautiful fun patchwork of both genres. It is mainly full of Star Trek references though, the entire episode is one big loving homage to the series, starting immediately at the beginning with Andraia's log narration of her concern for Matrix as he grows ever angrier with each new system they discover that isn't Mainframe. Design- wise though, a lot of the characters and their gnarly powers are clearly based on superheroes, I mean that green lady is definitely a Skrull even though her logical demeanour is that of a Vulcan, to me, rather than Catwoman the red lady looks more like a female Wolverine, that freaky- looking guy has the powers of Mr. Fantastic, and if that isn't a Lightsaber that Rob Cursor whips out I'll eat my hat! The story sees Matrix and Andraia emerging into a system quite unlike any seen before, populated by formless orbs of floating sentient energy called Spectrals who are fighting against another group who call themselves The Hero Collective who were also once like the Spectrals but who found a way to evolve themselves into sprites using the power of the games, and the real reason they are fighting each other is later revealed to be because both sides are harbouring hidden viruses that are working together to destroy the system. Matrix also meets a heroic sprite with a familiar chrome hairdo that he believes to be Bob for a while and who speaks in a very odd and dramatic way that I'm betting is a take on Captain Kirk! By exposing and destroying the viruses Matrix and Andraia unite both factions and move on, and it takes a bit of a sad turn at the end when Matrix is forced to say goodbye to his new friend in the worst way, when, after pushing Matrix out of the way, he 'dies' or is deleted after a bridge drops on the poor guy.. It's a heartfelt and very enjoyable episode that's very well done indeed. Thanks a lot show runners, bravo!
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