Watching 'Cannon Busters' Episode 6

The lack of food is once again affecting Philly, so much so that he tries his best to get roadkill by driving the car into a field to chase after a wild animal. As far as comedy goes, it was perfectly fine, granted it did not get me to laugh, however the effort to even try it was present. It was fine. He does crash, forcing Philly to stop the rampage, and it is here where we are told that Philly is conspiring to trade Sam and Casey so that he would be able to get rid of debt.

The new city that they reach has shades of a desert city in Tatooine. The colour is composed of various shades of brown as opposed to the usual bright colours we are usually shown in the show. When they are in the city, we get a distinct haunted city feel emanating from the environment, almost like an abandoned town in a western. Once more, aesthetically the show really does excel, so much so that you are instantly curious about what happened here. It is not only Sam, Casey and the viewers that are surprised to find the city to be abandoned, Philly is also surprised as this was where he is supposed to be meeting the debt collector, and this place was evidently filled with people when he was last here.

When the realization settles on the group, Philly has everyone scavenge the town for anything that may have value or can be used during their travel. During their search, Sam manages to find a couple of people that are hiding in the closet clearly scared of something. Moments later, they are disintegrated the moment the light hits them. This setup is incredibly enticing, as you are left wondering if it was the light itself or something associated with the light that just took the people away.

Once Philly has eaten all that he could, he is working on Bessy, and this is where we are introduced to the villain this episode: the Fetter. Looking at him, I was very much reminded of comic book characters in DC comics, one of whom being Kiran from the New 52 run of Teen Titans. Not for the powers that the characters possess, but for the look of the characters. While Philly is being killed and taken by the Fetter, Sam and Casey go to a library that is devoid of all technology, which is a great contrast to see in this technology-filled world that we are in. While they are in the library, Sam and Casey look up the possible reasons as to why the people disappeared. They find that it is the result of the Fetter.

During this episode, the show decides to talk about the vices of gluttony through Philly and the Fetter, Philly from the way he was eating beyond what he was able to when they first arrived, and Fetter by the way he is constantly consuming beyond his own control. During this moment, we see the Fetter kill Philly over and over again, and because Philly is trapped, he has no choice but to endure the repeated deaths that he is experiencing. As he is being pushed this far, we get to see his memories, in particular the memories of his parents being killed in front of him. In running away, he sells his soul for the power of Immortality so that he can get his revenge.

The Fetter, having seen his memories as a result of sucking the life out of Philly, confronts Phill, about how he is wasting his gifts and about how strong his desire truly is. Meanwhile, Sam and Casey manage to find where Philly is. Sensing that Philly is in trouble, Sam transforms once more and into a completely new form.

Prior to Sam and Casey's arrival, the Fetter tells Philly that his resolve is weak because he has Sam with him, Sam being the prince’s friend, and the prince along with his family is whom Philly wants to kill for the murder of his family. Both Sam and the Fetter fight at this point, and we are told that Sam is not in fact a machine, Sam is magic.

Sam ultimately defeats the Fetter, and Philly learns to not be quite so gluttonous. However, the lesson that Philly learns is marred quite a bit by the fact that he is now being accommodating as a result of the information he now has on Sam, and his desire for revenge. Much like the previous episode, the show tries to put across a good message, only for the show itself to shoot itself in the foot and muddle the lesson.