A terrifying thought is a monster that knows your biggest fear and uses it to kill you.
It’s even more terrifying when you’re a high-school student.
Astrid & Lilly Save the World Season 1 Episode 3 forced our two heroes to face off against this formidable foe.
From a large snake to giant bees, the fear monster makes its mark on the girls and their school.
Astrid and Lilly’s powers also are slowly getting stronger, with Astrid gaining super vision and hearing and Lilly’s leg getting stronger.
For once, their powers worked more than just as monster radar.
Astrid was able to figure out what the monster was afraid of (what killed it), and Lilly could fend off the monster’s attacks.
Super leg strength came in handy when facing off against her biggest fear: dodgeball.
It sounds ridiculous, but a lot of Lilly’s trauma and bullying came from dodgeball, so facing this fear proved to be complicated.
Armed with her strong leg, she managed to fend off the monster’s dodgeball attacks while Astrid used her super nose to find the ingredient to defeat him.
The ingredient I speak of didn’t end up being some weird monster concoction: it is a regular ingredient you find in the kitchen.
Brutus didn’t know what exactly was needed to destroy the beast, but he knew it was its biggest fear.
Well, its biggest fear happened to be mayonnaise.
Astrid determined that every time the creature, Timiring, ran away, it was because of Mayo.
Once determined, defeating Timiring managed to be easy.
And of course, in faithful Astrid and Lilly Save the World style, gross monster goo made an appearance.
This time, the body part needed was Timiring’s Amygdala, a part of the brain (brain goo!).
Although easily defeated, the monster still managed to make a kill in their town: a substitute teacher.
Again, the show completely glosses over the actual death of a person, avoiding addressing the woman’s demise (other than seeing the body once).
People must be noticing the constant disappearances and deaths.
I know it’s a fantasy/science fiction series, but constantly overlooking these details causes the quality to dip.
Brutus’s development continues to expand, and we couldn’t be more grateful.
During “Amygdala,” we know more about Brutus and his familial line of portal protectors/monster hunter mentors.
He also helps with Astrid and Lilly’s bullying problems.
When Astrid got kidnapped by the tranced youth group (more on that to come), they saw a drawing of Brutus and laughed at her for having an imaginary boyfriend.
At the end of the episode, Brutus crashed their school day, pretending to be with Astrid to make the bullies jealous.
Brutus cares about the girls and wants to gain their trust in any way that he can.
I do doubt his presence in the human world, however.
While there seems to be a slight chance that he’s completely innocent, I feel that he will be a significant part of a twist towards the end of the season.
He still seems too convenient and shrouds some of himself into mystery.
Speaking of mysterious entities, Christine’s “angel” monster continues to be a terrifying presence.
Angel Monster: It’s working. I am becoming.
Christine: That makes me so happy my angel.
Angel Monster: If you’re happy, I’m happy. You are one of the special ones. Some of us are special. Some of us are not.
He doesn’t just have Christine under his control, but her entire youth group.
The youth group kidnapped Astrid and Sparrow (yes, kidnapped) and criticized them.
The next step in their indoctrination seemed to be being tranced by the “angel” monster.
Luckily they escape, but not without Sparrow already subjected to cruel treatment.
This plot aspect didn’t make sense until the twist of the trance got revealed.
This monster’s setup implies that he will become bad, and we hope that the payoff matches the lead-up.
This hour was not an improvement for the show, but it became the most fun.
The shapeshifting fear monster, the advancement of the girls’ powers, and the cast’s undeniable chemistry made for an enjoyable time.
The main cast (Astrid, Lilly, and Brutus) all interact with each other brilliantly and are some of the most dedicated performers we’ve seen in a while.
No matter how outlandish the writing, they consistently prove their acting chops.
“Amygdala’s” quality stays pretty consistent with Astrid and Lilly Save the World Season 1 Episode 2.
While improving from the first episode, the show seems to have stopped improving, sticking with (fun) the same middle-tier quality.
Despite the apparent flaws, the show manages to lure us in with its humor.
The comedic aspect of the show hasn’t always landed, but there were some laugh-out-loud moments in “Amygdala.”
The evolution of the comedy in Astrid and Lilly Save the World has been fascinating to watch.
The fart, sex, and other immature jokes don’t always land and aren’t always necessary (but they do have their moments).
The things that land are the uses of their weird powers.
Lilly constantly kicked the dodgeball back at the Timiring wound up to be a hilarious moment, and got complimented by the absurdity of Astrid running through their school looking for mayonnaise.
Brutus’s deadpan delivery of random monster-dimension facts also has grown on us, becoming something we look forward to hearing.
Lilly: Why are you so invested in helping us close the portal?
Brutus: Fair enough. TLDR: I come from a long line of interdimensional monster-hunter mentors as part of an organization called the portal protectorate. Agents are trained from hatchlings to monitor the border between worlds and to step in if there’s a breach. It’s all very official. We even have badges!
Another exciting mystery got introduced: Astrid’s biggest fear.
Lilly faced her biggest fear, but the monster didn’t manifest anything for Astrid.
Brutus observed that that would be impossible unless she had already faced her biggest fear.
Brutus: What did it manifest for you?
Lilly: Dodgeball monster. Pure nightmare fuel.
Brutus: Mm. And you?
Astrid: Nothing. It didn’t work on me.
Brutus: That’s weird. The only way that would happen is if you’ve already survived your worst fear.
What could Astrid’s biggest fear be/have been?
When did she face it?
We loved this aspect of the episode and hope that the details on her fear get expanded in the future.
So Fanatics, what did you think of “Amygdala?”
Did you have as much fun with this episode as we did?
Let us know in the comments below, and remember to watch Astrid & Lilly Save the World online on TV Fanatic.
Michael Stack is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.