Spy X Family – Episode 22 Recap & Review

The Underground Tennis Tournament: The Campbelldon

Episode 22 of Spy X Family begins with Fiona remarking on how much she adores Loid. She’s dead set on stealing Yor’s role as his wife from her.

Fiona hands Loid a document for their collaborative case. It involves them stealing a painting from a man named Cavi Campbell called Lady In The Sun. It once belonged to Erik Zacharis, who worked in the East’s military intelligence division during the war and had a role in ending it. They believe Erik has a document called The Zacharis Dossier which could contain secrets that could reignite the flames of war. 

The document is rumored to contain information about East-West human experimentation on prisoners of war and massacres. They hope to obtain the dossier before the Eastern government learns of its existence. Fiona reports that the painting is being held beneath Campbell’s mansion. Unfortunately, Campbell has tight security and ties to Public Safety, and it’s rumored to be impossible to enter the area without causing a scene. 

Fiona tells Loid that she has the plan to enter the area, though. Meanwhile, we Segway toward an underground tennis court where a doubles match wraps up. Many people in the crowd complain after losing money they wagered. Loid and Fiona show up to the tournament in disguises and seem to be participating in the events. Fiona highlights how Campbell and the club organizers sponsor this underground tennis tournament. 

It’s an illegal event where business leaders and underworld fixes meet to move vast sums of money. It’s designed for hired pro players, but everyday people can compete as long as they pay a reputable entry fee. The champion receives an item from Campbell’s collection as their prize. Winning the competition is their best option since it’ll allow them to steal the painting. 

Loid and Fiona participate in the event as a married couple named Twin and Nafalia Foney. They are up against a champion pair, which worries Loid since he doesn’t have much experience with Tennis. The two tennis players approach Loid and Fiona and boast about their incredible talent. The match begins, and Loid scores several points, scaring the former pros. They’re astounded by Loid’s skill and agree to aim their attacks at Fiona. Fiona scores points on the former pros and receives praise from Loid. 

Fiona hopes that by strutting her skills at Tennis, Loid will abandon Yor and have Fiona become his new wife for Operation Strix. The match concludes with Loid and Fiona defeating the former tennis pros. The client that hired the pros is infuriated by their performance. Mr. Campbell turns toward another client whose confident that his team won’t lose against Loid and Fiona.

He had given his team, the Boric pair, OSO-R doping drugs developed for the East-West competition. The second round begins, and Loid and Fiona notice the Boric pair’s Incredible Hulk-like forms. Yor, Anya, and Bond are playing Tennis at the park, and Yor ponders if Loid’s playing Tennis with Fiona since he told her he’ll be competing in a competition.

Anya reads Yor’s mind as the thought of murdering Fiona strikes her mind. Anya tells her not to worry, and Yor wonders if Anya heard what she was thinking, which startles her. Anya steers the conversation another way to avoid Yor discovering her Esper abilities. At the tennis game, Loid wonders if why they look different from how they appeared in the first game.

Fiona confirms that this tennis tournament allows cheating and that these men must’ve used some steroids. The Boric brothers intimidate Loid, infuriating Fiona. We cut to the match’s conclusion, and it appears that Fiona’s anger allowed her and Loid to score a flawless victory over the Boric pair. The client who hired the Boric pair is shocked by the result.

One of the men tells Mr. Campbell that he should be sweating bricks. Mr. Campbell pays him no mind. The narrator narrates over several stills showing Loid and Fiona triumphing over their opponents and advancing further in the tournament. A butler shows Fiona and Loid to their room to prepare for the final matchup. Fiona wonders what Loid thinks of her effort in each game. 

Loid dwells on the fact that they’ll be playing against Mr. Campbell’s high school children, who have been receiving elite tennis training since early childhood. Fiona argues they shouldn’t worry about them as they’re guaranteed to win. Loid grabs Fiona’s hand as she misinterprets his action as a sign of love. However, Loid tells her not to overdo it because he knows many comrades who died because they lacked restraint. 

Fiona senses a strange odor seeping its way into their room. Loid wonders if this is how the siblings’ claimed many victories. Loid tries fleeing the room, but realizes the guards locked the door. He says it would be best to act as ordinary people anyway. He argues they could try faking it to fool Campbell’s children. Loid feels they should cover their skin and climb atop the room’s lockers to reduce the toxin’s damage.

He asks Fiona to hold her breath. At the match Mr. Campbell tells his colleagues that he placed a $10,000,000 wager on his children to win while the others bet on Loid and Fiona. Mr. Campbell’s children plan to flatten Fiona and Loid and purchase a new cruiser with the cash. The Campbells crush Loid and Fiona in their first set because of their highly advanced rackets.

The next set begins, and Loid and Fiona score three swift points over the Campbells. Mr. Campbell’s son orders one of his men to utilize the court’s traps to throw Fiona off balance. Loid tells Fiona to provide support as the episode concludes with Fiona telling him it’s best to tackle them together. 

The Episode Review

This chapter of Spy x Family leaned more into action and intensity than comedy. Once again, we have another inconvenient threat toward maintaining peace, and it’s up to Loid to prevent it from happening. This time we see our protagonist pair up with Fiona instead of Handler.

While Fiona was slightly unbearable last week, this chapter retains her quest for Loid but doesn’t make it an overwhelming plot point. That’s not to say that Fiona’s given up on her journey for Loid’s heart. It’s simply not the main agenda this week, which is appreciative. Many fans will adore the intense whiplashes and action dished out in today’s episode of Spy x Family.

Unfortunately, some tennis match-ups are skimmed over to reach the final bout between Fiona and Loid and the Campbell children. It would’ve been better fun to see our pair struggle to defeat the Boric brothers considering the drug enhancement they received. The build-up for their bout was nice but the pay-off didn’t leave a satisfying impression.

On the other hand, it’s great to see Yor continuously worry over Loid’s attachment to Fiona. It shows another side of Yor that I wished was explored more in this series. Overall, this was an enjoyable chapter of Spy x Family. It’ll be intriguing to see what happens after this tennis match since the preview for next week depicts Yor and Fiona meeting again.

Let’s hope we get to see Yor prove to Fiona why she rightfully deserves to be Loid’s wife for Operation Strix’s success.