A New Family Member
Episode 15 of Spy x Family starts where we left off with the previous episode, as Loid’s currently fighting off one of Keith’s bomb dogs. The bomb dog ends up biting Loid’s arm, but Loid throws the bombs strapped to him into the river. Keith notices the dog bites Loid’s arm and detonates the bomb. Keith realizes that the bomb somehow landed in the river after he explodes it. Loid slams the canine into the ground and places it in a dumpster. He apologizes for his brute force. Keith looks at Loid, realizing he’s not Foreign Minister Brantz. Keith flees the scene. Meanwhile, Yor is searching for Anya and spots Keith fleeing the scene. She jumps in front of his vehicle and delivers a powerful kick, causing Keith to crash into a nearby light pole. Yor calls the police to alert them that she’s taken care of the terrorist. After alerting the police, Yor continues searching for Anya while Keith lies in his car, injured. Loid revisits Handler and her men in a nearby shop. Handler reports that the Eastern government will be working on erasing all signs of this event to prevent the media from reporting on it. As for the remaining dogs, she orders her men to keep them at the shop and report their whereabouts to the higher-ups at WISE. Loid departs the meeting and bumps into Anya, Yor, and the white canine. He’s puzzled that they weren’t at the adoption event. Yor explains what happened to Loid, and Loid apologizes for remaining in the bathroom for a long time. Anya tells Loid that the white canine protected her, and Loid theorizes that the dog was one of Project Apple’s test subjects. Handler arrives and informs them that she’s a part of the State Security Police and plans to take the white canine off their hands and asks them to remain silent about the whole situation. Anya throws a fit to make Handler abandon her mission to retrieve the white canine. She threatens not to go to school. Handler gives in to Anya’s demands, allowing the Forger family to adopt him. She whispers to Loid that if Anya acts terribly then Operation Strix won’t go swimmingly. It’s best to adhere to Anya’s demands as she asks Loid to keep an eye on the white canine. Handler kneels down and informs Anya that the other dogs will receive proper care. Before Handler departs, she tells Loid that Anya’s a great kid and reminds her of the daughter she used to have. Handler informs the Forgers that they’ll take care of the white canine for the night to check him for illnesses and send him to them in the morning. The Forger family heads home, as Loid’s suffering from a real stomachache this time. The next day, the Forger family awaits the white canine’s arrival. On television, the news report claims that police are investigating the weird traffic accidents that occurred the previous day. One of Handler’s men delivers the white canine to the Forgers. The Forgers welcome the dog to their home. Loid suggests that they should give him a proper name which makes the canine recall the harsh treatment he received from Keith and his men. Anya rushes to hug the white canine to comfort him. The canine barks and wags his tail, showing that he’s happy to be with the Forgers. The news reporter on the television states that Brantz’s summit meeting has gone well. The following day, Anya asks Loid if she’ll get any Stella Stars for helping them stop the bad guys. Loid confirms she won’t since the agents must keep the whole situation a secret to keep the East and West from coming at each other’s necks. He tells her not to discuss the matter with anyone. This alarms Anya that she must work toward fulfilling Loid’s Friendship Scheme involving Damian and herself becoming buddies. At school, Beck runs into Anya in class. Anya tells Becky that she has a pet dog now, leading Becky to bombard her with questions about it. Anya departs. Anya runs into Damian and his friends and tells him she has a pet dog. Damian isn’t impressed, leading Anya to kneel in defeat. Damian’s friends egg on his poor behavior, but Damian asks Anya what’s the dog’s name. Anya doesn’t respond to him, resulting in Damian and his friends depart. At lunch, Anya asks Becky for advice regarding naming an animal. She suggests naming him peanuts, but Becky shoots that down. Beck informs Anya that she should let her parents name her pet. Anya arrives home as the white canine rushes and licks her. They visit the dog park to get some fresh air. On their way, Anya asks Loid to let her walk the dog, but he tells her that she’s not ready for that yet. He says that Anya and the dog need to learn more things before they can be alone. Loid proposes naming the dog after something that’s easy for him to understand for them to say. He says it’s best to give him a name with vowels since dogs have difficulty remembering words with consonants. Loid argues it’d be easier to name him once they learn more about his personality. As Anya and the white canine play in the park, she walks around, asking other pet owners for advice about naming animals. Loid ponders what will happen after Operation Strix is complete. He promises he’ll check up on them sometimes, but he knows he won’t need them once he completes his task. He tells Anya it’s time to go, but she realizes her favorite gloves are missing. As the Forgers look for her gloves, the white canine discovers that another woman’s puppy has retrieved them. Anya tries to get them back, but the lady’s pet refuses to let them go. It takes the white canine’s intimidating presence to convince the nearby dog to drop the gloves. That dog’s owner yells at the Forgers for scaring her pet and leaves. Anya rushes over to the white canine and retrieves her gloves. She recalls a scene from her favorite cartoon Bondman. Anya tells the white dog that he reminds her of Bondman, leading to her giving him the name Bond. At home, Anya ties a bow collar around Bond’s neck. Anya feeds Bond and decides to take a nibble of his dog food, finding it nasty but somewhat good. Anya takes Bond to his toilet and tells him he needs to do his business there because doing it elsewhere would make Yor furious. After Bond finishes his business, Anya and he decides to watch some Bondman. Loid yells at Anya for not committing to her studies. He tells her that she needs to prepare herself for bath time. Some time passes, and Loid’s angry that Anya’s taking too long watching Bondman with Bond. Loid exits the bathroom, and Yor tells him to come near her. The episode concludes with Yor and Loid watching Anya sleep with her new pet, Bond.
The Episode Review
Spy X Family continues to be a bundle of charm and action. This episode was a great follow-up to the previous, as we’ve finally moved past the dreadful case involving Keith and his various goons. Everyone got some time to shine here, and we finally obtained a name for Anya’s new pet. While it’s great to receive a name for Anya’s pet, the episode dragged the situation out longer than I’d anticipated. While Anya’s hardship with this task was hilarious, they could’ve cut out some parts. Most of this episode’s comedy felt repetitive and overused, as I’d much preferred we’d gotten to Bond’s naming scene swifter. Besides this elongated running gag, there’s a lot to like. For instance, it was great seeing Yor utilize her strength to stop Keith from fleeing the scene. The first season established that she was no pushover, so seeing her cause that much damage to his vehicle didn’t feel unrealistic. While she reverts to her worrisome mother persona afterward, that brief physical moment gives me hope that this season will flesh out her character’s assassin lifestyle more. At the same time, we got some brief insight into Handler’s past. Her character has always been intriguing. Finding out that she was in a similar boat as Loid makes me wonder what other secrets she’s keeping from him and WISE. As for Loid, he delivered a stellar performance from beginning to end, and I always enjoy seeing him act like a well-mannered father figure to Anya. I hope he’ll continue forming a tight relationship with his fake family as we near the next phase of his operation. Overall, this episode delivered the hilarity and wholesomeness we’ve come to expect with this show. Let’s hope the next episodes will give Yor more spotlight.
