As a mother of 2 small children who experiences repeated viewings/readings/etc. of the same kids’ media ad nauseam, I have found myself growing overly critical of what is meant to be simple, innocent entertainment for small children. I share my sarcastic analyses of harmless kids’ entertainment in this ongoing feature…
Stephanie Overanalyzes Children’s Entertainment: PJ Masks, S1E7
PJ Masks has been a favorite of my kids for a couple years, and there is just so much to say about this show. I mean, I could probably write an entire post on all my issues with simply the theme song alone. So there’s no way I could overanalyze the whole show in a concise way. Instead I decided to focus on one episode – my oldest son’s favorite episode – “Catboy vs. Robocat.” Here are many of the questions I would like to ask Romeo, the nighttime villain & continual foe of the PJ Masks, after my 120th (or so) viewing of this episode.
How did you kidnap 2 children without a sound in less time than it took Connor to retrieve a frisbee from behind a nearby wall?
Hold up. You KNOW the daytime identities of the PJ Masks?!
How did you come by this information? How long have you known? Why have you not used this to your advantage before? Why don’t you ever try to use this to your advantage again??
THIS SEEMS LIKE A REALLY BIG DEAL!
Why didn’t you wait around and nab Connor, too, when he returned from retrieving the frisbee? You had to be waiting very nearby since you managed to grab Greg & Amaya in less than 30 seconds. A little patience could’ve solved all your problems.
Or did you know Amaya & Greg’s daytime identities but not Connor’s? If so, would it have been too much of a stretch to assume that the 3rd boy with them, dressed in blue, with blue eyes, was indeed the 3rd PJ Mask?
Am I belaboring this point? Ok. I’ll move on.
Why were you carrying the robot circuit boards with you while you were snatching Greg & Amaya? You didn’t need the circuit boards for kidnapping. You could’ve kept them safe and sound in your lab, then not lost the one for Robocat.
Did you sprain your eye muscles from rolling your eyes at how Catboy shone “a light on the situation” by shooting fur balls from his car at a street light instead of just… turning on his Catcar headlights?
Why keep Amaya and Greg in cages suspended from a building? That strikes me as unnecessarily convoluted. Does your lab not have a cage? Maybe you should build one.
Wait. Have they been in those cages up there ever since you kidnapped them?? Why didn’t anyone see them in the daytime?!
Are you, like me, super curious why Greg and Amaya didn’t attempt to escape their cages in the MANY hours that elapsed between when you kidnapped them and when Catboy showed up, but then were able to escape within 7 minutes using tools they had with them the entire time? No? That’s just me?
It was easy to kidnap Amaya and Greg without their powers, huh?
… I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this, but… Has it occurred to you that you could commit all your villainous shenanigans in the daytime and the PJ Masks would NEVER catch you? Never. Because you seem abundantly aware that their superpowers only work at night. With their pajamas. So… I mean, do I have to spell this out for you?
When Catboy said he’d go get the other kids’ pajamas, don’t you think he meant he’d go back to their houses? I doubt he assumed you had the pajamas. Why didn’t you just let him work off his false assumption and take all the time to go back to their houses and search for their missing pajamas while you worked on your evil plan? Why reveal you had the pajamas in your possession? Just made his job easier.
Follow up question: how did you even get Greg & Amaya’s pajamas? They weren’t wearing them when you kidnapped them. Did you break into their houses to steal their pajamas? If so, why did you not take Connor’s pajamas from his house while you were at it?! All your Catboy problems would be solved if you had simply added 5 more minutes of breaking-and-entering to your day.
It took years to build the supercomputer to power your robots? Like… how many years? How old are you, exactly? Your voice indicates you’re a child, as does the fact that you regularly fight & are thwarted by children. However, your advanced scientific & technological skills point to someone with much more life experience. How long have you been working on this supercomputer? Since you were in diapers? Actually, you know what, don’t tell me. That will just lead to SO MANY more questions.
Are you a little concerned that Connor can’t seem to tell your robots’ voices apart from his real friends’ voices? You can’t manage to defeat heroes who are that dense??
I’m sorry. I really feel like I need to revisit my earlier point. Move your villainy to the daytime and YOU WILL SUCCEED EVERY TIME. Clearly there is no law enforcement in this city. They depend on 3 kindergartners to prevent crime. If those 6-year-olds don’t have their superpowers, then you are scot-free to do whatever you want, bro. I realize this one isn’t a question, so… Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
Now that you’ve demonstrated you’re aware of their non-superhero identities by kidnapping 2 of them in broad daylight, do you think the PJ Masks will behave differently or in any way alter their lives in the knowledge that a villain could be after them at any time? No? They’re doing the exact same thing they did the previous day that got them kidnapped? Hmmmm.