Spy x Family Episode 17 Review

“My daughter can now jump a level higher on the vaulting box,” says a straight-faced Loid Forger, when asked to report on the ‘progress of Operation Strix’. Pretty sure that dialogue doesn’t count as a spoiler, it gives nothing away and was just such a hilarious scene, it had to make its way into the review.

(Read Spy x Family Episode 1 Review if you have no clue what the show is about)

Titled ‘Commence Operation Griffon/Fullmetal Lady’, episode 17 shifts focus back on Anya’s school and her endeavors to befriend Damian Desmond, the son of the man her spy father is trying to get access to. She immediately sniffs an opportunity to get close to the boy when their teacher assigns the class a group art project. But will she be able to impress the snooty little brat?

While Anya is the mind reader, the creators let the viewers hear her thoughts and she is adorably simplistic and optimistic. A lot of the comedy hinges on Anya’s exaggerated ideas to win over Damian and her messy attempts to execute those grand plans. This episode was particularly funny, because the writers cleverly take a dig at art and how different people perceive a particular piece of art in different ways.

The adult characters get only the last few minutes to themselves. Loid meets the Handler to discuss how his mission is going and we see the kind of efforts the Handler has to put in to avoid rival spies and informants who are constantly tracking her. Yor was pretty much missing in action, and makes a small appearance after the end credits. So here’s hoping fans get the full family bungling up together in the next episode.

Stream the series on Netflix.