Season three of Carmen Sandiego recently released to Netflix on Oct. 1, and with a fourth season on the way, I could not possibly be more in love with the series. I try to recommend the show to as many people as possible, especially because there are only 24 episodes total, so it’s an easy watch. I could write an essay three times longer than this to try to convince you to watch it, but I’ll stick to the basics for the time being. You’re welcome.
First, the characters. Carmen Sandiego, being the titular character, is the main hero. She and her team are very fun to get to know, along with the recurring characters of Villain’s International League of Evil (V.I.L.E., generally regarded as the villains), Agency to Classify and Monitor Evildoers (A.C.M.E., who Carmen has a love-hate relationship with) and Interpol agents Chase Devineaux and Julia “Jules” Argent. Along the way, many minor characters are introduced, and due to Carmen traveling around the world, there’s no shortage of ethnic diversity. Carmen herself is Argentinian, which means the show’s main character is, in fact, a woman of color.
The plot for Carmen to take down V.I.L.E. is very driven, with some sub-plots along the way in a sort of episodic format. Each episode has a new V.I.L.E. caper for Carmen and her team to foil, all while evading V.I.L.E. operatives, Agent Devineaux and Agent Argent and A.C.M.E. There’s plenty of action along the way, and the audience gets check-ins with V.I.L.E. themselves along with A.C.M.E. and Devineaux and Argent. Even with a vast cast of characters, there’s always going to be plenty of screen time for whichever character your favorite is.
Something I find incredibly interesting about Carmen Sandiego is that it’s a reboot of a computer game made in the 1980s, something I didn’t know about until I talked to my mom about it. I also recently learned about the game show and cartoon from the 1990s centered around the same plot. However, this reboot has one major difference: Carmen is not the villain. In the original game, Carmen was in essence the final boss; the game is only completed once you take her down. This time around, she’s described as a modern-day Robin Hood by stealing in order to foil V.I.L.E.’s plans. The differences between the original franchise and the reboot are very interesting, but I suggest you watch the reboot before looking into them to avoid possible spoilers. If you’ve already seen the reboot, though, there’s an easter egg to the original involving one of the recurring characters.
One part of the reboot that stays true to the original is the main purpose: to learn more about the world. Just as you have to track Carmen down between countries in the video game, there’s a different location just about every episode. While some of the information given in the reboot may not be entirely accurate, there’s a lot of information about local cultures, fun facts and other information. I swear I’ve learned more about geography from this show than from ninth grade geography quizzes.
Finally, perhaps my favorite part of the reboot, is the art style. This is a cartoon, but the art doesn’t look like what you would immediately think of when you think about cartoons. Instead of the figures being outlined by thick black lines as a lot of cartoons usually do, the art and the animation are smoother, with less harsh lines like classic cartoons. For an example, here’s a link to the season one trailer.
Hopefully I’ve been able to convince you. I highly recommend checking out the trailer linked above if you’re still on the fence, but I hope you give Carmen Sandiego a chance!