Krapopolis – Season 1 Episode 12 “Buy Low, Sell Ty” Recap & Review

“Buy Low, Sell Ty”

Krapopolis returns with Episode 12, titled “Buy Low, Sell Ty,” after weeks of absence from Fox’s animation block.  King Tyrannis has a new concern this time around. He is worried about the city’s future. It is going nowhere, although they have transitioned into civilization quite quickly. As Tyrannis is cussing about the people’s lack of will to change things – which is apparent in the meeting he has with the common pupil at the episode’s beginning – he runs into Gregorios. Now this isn’t just any other traveller. Gregorios is from Athens.

The moment he hears the city’s name, Tyrannis’ eyes light up. He cannot contain his excitement and asks Gregorios what is he doing around these parts. Although he doesn’t understand the word “vacation” – which is what old Greggy is doing there – something else catches his fancy. The traveller introduces Tyrannis to what he calls a “coin.” Gregorios explains that Athens is now dealing in a currency, which has replaced the barter system.

Tyrannis is intrigued to no end when he is handed a coin by Gregorios. He immediately brings it to Hippocampus to discuss how they can implement their own system. It seems easy – just replace the symbol in the centre of the coin with Tyrannis’ image. They announce the introduction of coins into financial transactions to the public, who are surprisingly blase about it…by their standards. 

Meanwhile, in the episode’s other subplots, we see Shlub and Deliria come up against each other. Deliria had taken Stupendous to her temple to get it cleaned up. Hitherto, people offered their prayers in the form of animal sacrifice. Her temple is filled with rotting carcasses. But when Stupendous shows her a coin, Deliria makes up her mind to accept only coins going forward.

This makes her plenty rich, although she doesn’t need it because…well, she is a God. Shlub runs into problems at the bar. Turns out that regaling the other drinkers with his gift of the gab isn’t enough. The bar owner wants to get paid and now he can since Tyrannis invented money. But because Shlub increases the business of the bar because people like his energy, the owner hires Shlub as an entertainer, allowing him, in exchange, to drink as much as he wants.

Shlub is disappointed, though. He has trouble getting over the fact that he now has a “job” and must work while drinking at the bar. When he sees the bag loads of coins that Deliria received from her worshippers, Shlub gets an idea. He pays off the owner and buys the bar, promising free drinks to everyone. The owner begs Deliria for her help and she agrees to go against Shlub. However, this takes away their interest to go to Deliria’s temple and instead, spend all their time in the bar.

Deliria announces to everyone at the bar that they can have free drinks at the temple. Their presence will also be rewarded with five coins over and above the free drinks. All said and done, the bar owner, sat next to Deliria, expresses that he didn’t get his wish. He also mentions the same to Shlub and apologizes to him. Shlub, who is himself concerned about the lack of vibes in the temple, decides to give him the bar back. 

In a very simple allegory, Dan Harmon and Co. explain how printing more money can lead to a higher inflation level. This is a direct nod to the US Fed, whose questionable printing press has landed the global economy in a precarious position. Tyrannis and Hippocampus have been relentlessly printing new currency, leading to increased inflation on prices of things like chicken. To resolve this new challenge, they decide to go to Athens. However, the city has turned into a dark place.

People have become living zombies and Gregorios is at hand to explain what happened. “Mo’ money, mo’ problems” is what his crisp explanation is. The brothers decide to bring Gregorios as a “regulator” to keep account of the money and dictate the prices of items. Tyrannis dissuades everyone from ever questioning the system by telling them how complicated it is. He also slips in the concept of “vacation” to further distract them…

The narrator explains how this snowballed into modern civilization as we know it. The commentary is filled with irony and sarcasm, one that we truly deserve. 

The Episode Review

While the underlying correlation to modern civilization is apt and is tastefully done, Krapopolis’ return to Fox isn’t as exciting. This has been a continuing problem with Season 1. It has been wildly inconsistent, going from brilliant in one week to baseline mediocre in the other. Episode 12 has a lot of loose ends in the writing. Only the money subplot has any legs and perhaps should have been the only one.

Shlub and Deliria’s matchup felt like a time pass. It is almost half the runtime of the episode which is wasted in directionless content. The jokes are thin but well-written. Stupendous is completely neglected, highlighting the trend where each episode elevates some characters at the cost of the others.

One problematic flaw in Episode 12 is the lack of a clever ruse to hide the creators’ real intention. This has been waning in the past few weeks and perhaps the writers’ room needs a fresh start. The best bit remains when Tyrannis learns how printing more money will compound problems rather than solve them. If only Jerome Powell had that realisation a couple of years ago…