Earlier this year, it was announced that the Cartoon Network show Infinity Train had a fourth season in the works, about half a year after the third season ended on such a concerning cliffhanger. However, rather than pick up where that mini series left off, this new chapter focuses on two new characters, childhood friends Min-Gi Park and Ryan Akagi. Considering that this season will remain the last installment of the series, despite that not being series creator Owen Dennis' intent, it's best to view this as a stand alone chapter within the show's main structure. So, as a possible final series finale, how did it work out?
Set way before the past three seasons, this chapter focuses on the aforementioned Ryan and Min-Gi, two best friends from Canada who want to become famous musicians, but end up straining their relationship due to the former's foolhardiness and the latter's uncertainty for the future. Upon entering the train, they meet a talking service bell named Kez who tries and fails to handle her mess ups. While all the previous seasons were driven by conflicting leads, this season arguably might be the most deep in terms of a relationship. Throughout their journey across the train, Ryan and Min-Gi end up going off and on about their pros and cons towards one another, making their friendship a lot more complicated than the average black and white conflicts that we see in children's media. On the side, Kez tries to play up a dorky nice gal facade finally in lieu of hiding the mistakes she made to other train denizens she accidentally harmed. It really shows how two different arcs can actually play off one another between the normal and unnormal, making these characters further relatable for the audience.
Now compared to the previous seasons, the locations of train cars are a little more restrained and limited visually, as a lot of the carts mainly showcase general obstacles and smaller scaled worlds. However, the stakes that do rise through the individual carts are still intriguing enough, from bizarre creatures out for blood on Kez to little tidbits of characters that played bigger roles in the seasons prior. In addition, the smaller amount of music than before actually allows the more emotional sequences to stick out well when Ryan and Min-Gi get into heated arguments. Also, with those two being aspiring musicians and the series hinting at being set in the mid-80s, the music they create with each other is super charming in its own right, and reinforces the message that what you make together is more important than creating whatever the mainstream prefers. Lastly, while the whole cast is stellar, Johnny Young, Sekai Murashige and Minty Lewis blend so well as Min-Gi, Ryan and Kez respectfully that they almost feel like an old married trio, platonically of course.
All those qualities and more make the fourth and so far final season of Infinity Train worth checking out on HBO Max. Out of all the animated series Cartoon Network has shown to the world only to let go when it was just starting to gain attention, this one might be their most daring in terms of riskful storytelling and psychologically maturing characters. Supposedly, there may be a cult status for the show to grow so big that more seasons will just have to be created, but as for now, the wonderful stories Owen Dennis and the crew have managed to put together are enough to last until the end of time.
Set way before the past three seasons, this chapter focuses on the aforementioned Ryan and Min-Gi, two best friends from Canada who want to become famous musicians, but end up straining their relationship due to the former's foolhardiness and the latter's uncertainty for the future. Upon entering the train, they meet a talking service bell named Kez who tries and fails to handle her mess ups. While all the previous seasons were driven by conflicting leads, this season arguably might be the most deep in terms of a relationship. Throughout their journey across the train, Ryan and Min-Gi end up going off and on about their pros and cons towards one another, making their friendship a lot more complicated than the average black and white conflicts that we see in children's media. On the side, Kez tries to play up a dorky nice gal facade finally in lieu of hiding the mistakes she made to other train denizens she accidentally harmed. It really shows how two different arcs can actually play off one another between the normal and unnormal, making these characters further relatable for the audience.
Now compared to the previous seasons, the locations of train cars are a little more restrained and limited visually, as a lot of the carts mainly showcase general obstacles and smaller scaled worlds. However, the stakes that do rise through the individual carts are still intriguing enough, from bizarre creatures out for blood on Kez to little tidbits of characters that played bigger roles in the seasons prior. In addition, the smaller amount of music than before actually allows the more emotional sequences to stick out well when Ryan and Min-Gi get into heated arguments. Also, with those two being aspiring musicians and the series hinting at being set in the mid-80s, the music they create with each other is super charming in its own right, and reinforces the message that what you make together is more important than creating whatever the mainstream prefers. Lastly, while the whole cast is stellar, Johnny Young, Sekai Murashige and Minty Lewis blend so well as Min-Gi, Ryan and Kez respectfully that they almost feel like an old married trio, platonically of course.
All those qualities and more make the fourth and so far final season of Infinity Train worth checking out on HBO Max. Out of all the animated series Cartoon Network has shown to the world only to let go when it was just starting to gain attention, this one might be their most daring in terms of riskful storytelling and psychologically maturing characters. Supposedly, there may be a cult status for the show to grow so big that more seasons will just have to be created, but as for now, the wonderful stories Owen Dennis and the crew have managed to put together are enough to last until the end of time.
