Spy X Family – Episode 17 Recap & Review

Carry Out The Griffin Plan / Fullmetal Lady

Episode 17of Spy X Family begins with Anya and Becky walking to class while discussing an episode of Berlint in Love. Becky finds Anya immature because she enjoys watching cartoons more than romance dramas. Becky and Anya stumble upon Damian and his friends as Anya narrates a flashback involving her previous encounter with them.

Anya has a second weapon she wants to utilize on Damian, being a family photo with Bond on it. She hopes this will convince Damian to let her come over to his house for a dog battle. Anya deliberately drops her family photo on the ground but doesn’t get Damian’s attention. Damian’s busy discussing their class’s exam with his friends. Becky picks up Anya’s photo and is star-struck by how handsome Loid is.

Becky bombards Anya with multiple questions about Loid, but Anya assures her that he’s married to her mother. Becky says she’ll keep the photo, but Anya wants it back because she has to show Damian her dog. We arrive at Master Rodin’s arts and crafts class. However, Henderson announces he’ll be today’s instructor because Rodin’s out sick. He tasks the students with making 3D animal objects out of the provided materials.

Everyone will be split up into small groups and receive minimal materials. Damian’s friends are thrilled, but Damian finds the activity childish. However, Damian overhears some classmates discussing that important figures will be looking at their projects. They worry that this will affect their grades, causing Damian to take the task more seriously. Henderson announces that Damian and Anya will be in the same group.

Anya’s happy, while Damian’s annoyed. Anya asks Becky for her family photo back, but Becky refuses again. Henderson starts the competition. Anya plans to create a cool-looking Bond figure to show off to Damian. Henderson walks around to observe the students. In thought, Henderson says he’ll judge them based on cooperation, creativity, flexibility, enthusiasm, and uniqueness.

Henderson walks over to Becky and asks her what she’s making. Becky shows him her Loid action figure. She made a combat suit attachment to add more flair to her design. Henderson’s stunned. Although her design is elegant, he reinforms her that their topic is animals, so she needs to start over. However, Becky argues that humans are technically animals. With sudden realization, Henderson takes back what he says.

After Henderson departs, Becky destroys her design because calling Loid an animal is rude. Anya passes her bond sculpture to Damian and says its name is Bond. Damian asks her if she’s into naming garbage, causing Anya to feel slightly depressed. Damian reveals to his friend that he’s making a griffin that resembles his family’s crest. Damian tells the others he’ll need a lot of paper and to use their supplies sparingly.

Damian has a hunch that his family will look at their crafts, so he doesn’t want to disappoint them. If he can make the griffin look amazing–he can impress his father. Anya hatches a plan to help Damian build a griffin so that he can impress Desmond. This would persuade Desmond to ask Anya to bring her parents over. Anya offers some paper to Damian, but he tells her to do her project.

Anya tells Damian she wants to help him out. Damian gets charmed by Anya’s beauty and allows her to help him. Becky stares at them and thinks Anya has the hots for Damian. Henderson realizes that Anya and Damian plan to make a sculpture together. Anya presents Damian with jet engine parts for the griffin, angering Damian. He wants her to make standard legs and tells her to make feathers instead.

Anya presents him with poorly-made feathers, enraging him more. He calls Anya useless, causing her to cry. Henderson yells at Damian for his poor behavior. Damian tears up because he wants to impress his father. Henderson tells Damian that he needs to take his time and work within his limits. Time runs out, and Henderson asks everyone to line up their projects in the hallway.

While Damian’s frustrated, Anya presents him with a girl griffin she made, but Damian doesn’t want it because it looks horrendous. Anya persuades Damian by telling him it would look great next to his manly griffin. Some people walk by and remark how great everyone’s animal designs look. Henderson informs Damian that his and Anya’s sculpture won the top prize because the judges loved its theme.

Anya says he should show it to his father, but Damian refuses. At night, Damian calls his butler, Jeeves, and asks how his pet dog Max is doing. Jeeves tells him he’s okay and wonders if Damian will be returning. Damian says he’d rather stay at Eden Academy to concentrate on his studies. He asked Jeeves if he had told Desmond about his orientation, and Jeeves said his father was worried about his health.

Damian doesn’t buy it and hangs up the phone. Damian believes his father never worried about his well-being. Damian tells his pals Ewen and Emile that after they eat, they should study for exams with some instructors. Damian feels he needs to become an Imperial Scholar to win his father’s love. Henderson ends the segment by looking at Damian and Anya’s griffin.

The next set piece features a brief reintroduction of Sylvia Sherwood, WISE’s handler. The narrator confirms she performs duties as an attache at Westalis’s eastern embassy. Unofficially, she commands numerous agents but must avoid the Secret Police’s detection. Due to her stellar performance, her agents call her Fullmetal Lady. As Sylvia’s in disguise, some officers conduct an operation to tail her.

In her head, Sylvia commends her trackers for their effort. She goes about her daily activities to catch them off guard. The trackers decide to get some food because they feel she’ll be in there for hours. Sylvia continues. If she can create some free time, she can act even when she visits an enemy nation. After her pool session, Sylvia puts on a new disguise and meets Loid at their agreed-upon location.

Sylvia walks past the men tracking her, and they don’t bat an eye because of her new disguise. During their meeting, Sylvia shares and tells Loid Desmond and his camp’s financial reports. As Sylvia prattles on, Loid focuses on Sylvia’s jacket as she keeps the tag on it. However, he’s afraid he can never let Sylvia know when she makes mistakes. After their meeting, we get a combined monologue from the narrator and Loid.

The narrator shares information about Loid while Loid discusses his meeting process with Sylvia. He says they put their lives on the line with every encounter. He says if anyone dares to tail Sylvia, they must enact measures to shake them off. Loid demonstrates this process by giving Sylvia hand signals, informing her how many people are following her and where they’re located.

Loid says this is how they go about their meetings every time. At their next meeting, Sylvia asks Loid to report his progress with Operation Strix. Loid says some random things, throwing Sylvia off. After the ending theme concludes, we get a brief montage depicting a younger Yor feeding a younger Yuri her meals. Yuri barfs up everything but pretends to like it. He tells Yor he can’t wait to see her get married as Yor slaps him.

Afterward, we see Yuri and his friend patrolling the area. His friend asks if he’s okay because Yuri was hit by a car and stayed up for four nights. The episode concludes with Yuri informing his comrade that he’s okay while sparking a severe look on his face.

The Episode Review

Spy x Family continues the two-segmented story format kick-started from the previous episode. This episode focuses on Anya’s school activities, while the second one gives viewers an overview of Handler and how her meetings with Loid go. While the former was full of charm and incredible story beats, the latter doesn’t offer much outside of a recap.

Like the previous episode, this chapter’s second half introduces material the viewer doesn’t need. The after-credit segment doesn’t offer much to look forward to either. It would’ve been better if the episode concluded with Yuri entering the Forger household and saying he’s thrilled to be Anya’s tutor for the day. It would’ve built up anticipation for episode 18.

That aside, the former segment involving Henderson’s arts and crafts assignment was a delight to watch. Many will find it amusing to see Anya’s failure at making a cute replica of bond and a griffin. At the same time, this episode offers a strong message against perfectionism. It’s one of those ideas that often lingers in people’s minds, so to have this episode offer a situation against that is highly motivational and appreciative.

At the same time, this chapter presents fans with a saddening outlook on Damian’s family. While it’s unknown if Desmond despises his son, it’s unfortunate to see Damian dealing with issues concerning his self-worth and esteem. This makes the lead-up to Desmond’s introduction feel more exciting, as many want to see Damian show up as his brother and impress his father.

Overall, this episode has some funny comedic moments and exciting developments. Let’s hope the next shows us another side to Yuri’s character, as he’s one of the few characters that need some screen time.