Krapopolis – Season 1 Episode 15 “Death Takes a Holiday” Recap & Review

Death Takes a Holiday

Episode 15 of Krapopolis is divided into two subplots. The first one involves Shlub, Stu, and Hippo welcoming Jason and the Argonauts. King Tyrannis has given them special instructions to treat the guests hospitably. Since Homer will be travelling with them, Ty sees this as an opportunity to put Krapopilis on the map through his poems. Goddess Hestia invites Ty and Deliria to her private island Virtulis. She is hosting an exclusive, relaxing retreat for the gods and their human companions.

Upon arriving at the island, Deliria and Ty realize that every god has been paired with a human being. The interesting bit is that Hestia has tweaked the air with Brotus, a plant that takes away the divine powers from gods. In this way, she has put the pair on an equal footing. Although Deliria wants to leave instantly, Ty relishes this opportunity to test his mother. But the tables turn on him quickly as he realizes it is Hestia’s cruel way of making fun of humans and their everyday lives.

The gods enjoy seeing the humans struggle through their mortal experience. Ty connects with Tony, Hestia’s human companion over their mutual loathing for the gods. During the closing ceremony, Hestia gives all the gods the antidote for the flower. When it is Tony’s turn, he reveals his diabolical plan as he pushes Hestia to her death. There is no antidote. The gods were served hot water. Tony plans to take revenge on the gods for taking the humans for granted and making their lives miserable.

There is chaos everywhere as gods start dropping like mortals. Deliria and Ty make a run for it. One of the rebels gives chase and injures Deliria with an arrow. She starts to bleed and her eyes start fading. Ty promises to find the antidote and come back to save her life. He has a confrontation with Tony, who also reveals the giant god-killing machine that they have built. It is armed with a huge arrow dipped in Brotus and aimed toward Olympus.

However, Ty triggers the arrow to go straight into the walls of the room. He proceeds to kill Tony and take the antidote off his neck. Ty saves Deliria’s life just in time and they abandon the kill box to go back to Krapopolis.

In the other subplot, things go awry from minute one. As soon as the Argonauts dock their ship, they are repulsed by the smell. The royal trio can’t even put a word in as Jason instructs them to turn back. However, Stu resists and holds on to the rope tied to the mast’s wooden beam, In this struggle, all the Argonauts are killed in a freak accident.

Homer, though, emerges from his cabin much later. Since he is blind, the royal trio concoct an ill-thought plan to make him believe that all the guests are still alive.  They go to extreme lengths like creating a fake scenario with a giant, poisonous serpent to organically present Homer with the conclusion that everyone is dead.

However, the execution is so amateurish that Homer calls them out. In fact, he knew from the get-go that the Argonauts were killed in a freak accident. He kept the charade on to see how far the royal trio would go to save their backs. Homer and the trio make a deal to remember the trip as a glowing account of his brilliance as a swordsman and his masculinity. However, the episode ends with Heracles killing Homer at Olympus as revenge for the Argonauts. 

The Episode Review

Somehow, the subplots in every Krapopolis episode till now – or rather most of them – are on the opposite end of the spectrum. While one is edgy, funny, and finely tuned in terms of drama, the other one is always light. The writers and makers haven’t been able to strike a balance and give us a wholesome experience consistently. In Episode 15, the buck clearly favours the Vitrulis Island subplot. It is arguably a defining moment in Deliria and Ty’s topsy-turvy relationship. 

The context gives the writers to dig deep into the issues of dysfunction between them. Credit must go to Richard Ayoade and Hannah Waddingham for nailing the voice roles and providing the scene gravitas. But the other one involving the Argonauts is very flat-paced and monotonous. After the initial curveball with their decimation, the rest of the subplot doesn’t really pick up.

Season 1 is overstaying its welcome and the writers look somewhat out of ideas. The end product is now becoming jaded and repetitive.