Krapopolis – Season 1 Episode 11 “Tyrdra” Recap & Review

Tyrdra

Episode 11 of Krapopolis begins with a showdown between Stupendous and her great foe, the Hydra. Tyrannis has ordered his head of security to rid the city of monsters. However, due to the rapid urbanization, they don’t have anywhere to go. Their habitats are dwindling as humans take control of their homes. Sound familiar? Well, the showdown we expected doesn’t exactly happen. The Hydra backs off from a fight and promises to fly elsewhere. When Stupendous follows it, she is shocked to see the Hydra hanging itself!

She quickly cuts off the rope and saves their lives. And then, she invites them to live in the palace and names them Camille. Tyrannis is miffed with the public for not praising him, even though he got rid of the monster. Instead, the villagers bring up the stinky river as the next issue to be resolved. When Tyrannis learns about Camille, he goes down to the dungeons to confront it. However, an innocuous event changes the course of things. Due to its many heads, Camille can relay messages from one place to the other without too much fuss.

Tyrannis sees this as a possible way to connect the villagers with each other, i.e., phones. The family is happy with this new luxury and have their fun with it. But soon, the news reaches the villagers who assemble as an angry mob. Tyrannis tries to explain to them its utility and how it can benefit their lives. They quickly jump on the opportunity to cut Camille’s heads, as on severing one, they grow two. The villagers are enamored with this new invention and Camille also seems to have found its calling. She said she wanted to be useful to others when Stupenous asked about her happiness.

Tyrannis and Deliria are engaged in a competition for more likes than the other. But the true potential of Camille is unleashed when Shlub is left to contend without sex. This boils his blood and he starts relaying dark messages as “Anonymous Monster.” Shlub’s actions start a chain of resentment that the villagers share. Tyrannis is informed of this growing sentiment by Camille and tweaks her communication skills.

Instead of telling things as they are, Tyrannis asks Camille to “read the room” and tell people “what they like hearing.” This ultra-positive spin on everything results in even more damage and misinformation. Stupendous opens Tyrannis’ eyes to the raging fire in Krapopolis. The villagers are doing nothing, divided by rumours and lies that Camille has told them. The siblings go to Hippocampus, who is on his own mission. Earlier in the episode, his overthinking and ignorance prevented Hippocampus from accepting Daphne’s proposal to start a relationship. And now, he is on a crusade with other virgin women-hating men to stop women bullying men.

Ultimately, they are able to figure out that Camille’s words are actually Shlub’s, which deters Hippocampus and the others from their purpose. The family assembles to discuss how to reverse Tyrannis’ dangerous invention. Deliria suggests that he should give everyone a single thing to agree on…and that is hating Tyrannis. The villagers gather together to throw water from the stinky river as an expression of how much they hate him!

This extinguishes the fire in a day’s time and the city is saved. Camille is fired and asks Stuepndous for time to spend alone in reflection. She also remarks that humans have a long way to go since it only took them two days to turn on each other. Stupendous prunes Camile at the root of its heads, thus killing all the extra heads she had grown.

A strange epilogue explains what happens in the aftermath. The heads started decomposing, forcing the villagers to light them on fire. The smoke reached Heaven where it was known as Cancer, a constellation of stars shaped like a crab; not seafood but pubic lice. However, the confusion over the constellation killed a royal prince, which triggered reevaluation. This led to a debate between humans and Gods about the name and shape of such constellations.  Eventually, humans recognized that Gods didn’t control the stars since they were billions of light years away. So they replaced Gods with “smartphones,” which made the people stupider…and that’s why fall comes after summer.

The final moments of the episode see Stupendous finally facing off against Camille, although their friendship still remains.

The Episode Review

Episode 11 was a long time coming but it is the best episode of Season 1 of Krapopolis. This is exactly the mixture of absurdity, comedy, and cinematic storytelling we expect from Dan Harmon. The episode’s remarkable trajectory led us from a warrior facing off against a monster to the invention of phones and social media. Not to forget the tempting conversation about how we are destroying the home of “monsters” and replacing them with our own.

The story is underscored by a strong critique of social media in the most unimaginable of ways. Kudos to the creative team for using such a clever and powerful metaphor to get their message across. Camille’s words of wisdom come straight from the hearts of people who feel the world is growing unhappier as it is getting more connected and globalized. 

Giving family dysfunction a backseat in the episode – all because Shlub’s “needs” weren’t being met – is ingenious. That is the sort of optionality that Harmon and Co. used to keep their brand of Krapopolis unique and refreshing.