With these friends and others, Pete lives it up in Cat City. He goes to school, throws parties and plays guitar in a band. When things don’t go their way, Pete and his friends figure out a solution, often through song.

A wise old hound dog (Pete’s guitar teacher) narrates each episode and shares the moral succinctly at the end of each story.

Keeping Tabs on This Tabby

Most episodes (barring special holiday episodes) have two 12-minute stories. With catchy tunes, Pete and his friends learn that it is important to be your unique self, try new things, embrace optimism and live each day to its fullest.

Basically, Pete and his pals encourage young viewers to dive into life with a smile and don’t let anything get you down. For these characters, there’s always a solution. Thematically, Pete the Cat feels happy-go-lucky, focusing on overarching attitudes for life rather than specific issues.

That said, parents shouldn’t skip straight into this show with their own happy-go-lucky attitude. Sally the squirrel has two dads, and they get some short but rather flamboyant screentime in “A Very Groovy Christmas” and “Taking Care of Bobness & Sally Comes Clean.”

While Sally’s dads aren’t core to the theme of either episode, the characters treat it as a normal thing to have two dads, which might be confusing to some children who haven’t been appropriately introduced to LGBT issues. Not too groovy.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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In one corner, we have fighters from the Underground Arena, where the title of World’s Strongest Man is decided! These animals are muscular, dangerous and will stop at nothing to win a fight—especially Baki Hanma, the martial arts champion who aims to one day best his monstrous father in hand-to-hand combat.

In the other corner, we have representatives of the Kengan Association! These men are gladiators hired to fight on behalf of powerful companies in order to settle business disputes! And the scariest among them is Ohma Tokita, a fighter for Yamashita Trading Co. who, like Baki, wants to be the strongest there ever was.

But those aren’t the only combatants climbing into the ring! Yes sir, it’s certain that “an arena chock-full of absolute monsters” (as described by one of the arena’s security guards) is sure to have some impressive fights—especially when the only official rule is “no weapons allowed!” Were we less organized, you might be here all day. That’s why each group is putting forth three fighters—that’s right, just three—to represent them in the three-match competition.

Last chance to grab your popcorn from the concessions stand. Because the first match is about to start—and you won’t want to miss it.

Or will you?

Kick, Punch, Spit Blood, Repeat

It’s like Netflix has been planning this all along.

First, Kengan Ashura premiered on the service in 2019. Then, having given viewers enough time to get into that show, they premiered Baki Hanma two years later. Now, in 2024, they’ve released the crossover event that’ll be more than enough to excite all the fans they’ve made via hosting those two shows.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Baki Hanma vs. Kengan Ashura won’t be a show you’ll want to hop into prior to watching at least one of the anime referenced in its title. The release is meant for in-the-know fans, and it won’t stop to explain who its large cast of characters are for anyone who hopped on late.

And that’s somewhat helpful for us at Plugged In. It suggests that if you are reading this review, you’ve probably seen one of the shows. And if that’s the case, you’ll already know, generally, what to expect to see in Baki Hanma vs. Kengan Ashura.

Even if you don’t fall into that category, I’ll bet you could guess the main issues with relative accuracy. Imagine the most muscular people in the world, multiply their muscle size by three, and hypothesize what might happen if those people collectively agreed to punch each other in the face. With that mental exercise, you’ll have deduced roughly 80%—including broken bones and torn flesh—of what you can expect in this animated tournament.

The other 20%? Well, we hear a reference to extreme doping. We hear a few crude words used, and a few characters are described in spiritual terms.

But otherwise, it’s just an hour of animated characters punching each other until someone collapses.

In summary, kick, punch, spit blood, repeat.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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Seven years ago, he was forced to go into hiding after he murdered the man who raped his master’s daughter. And for seven years, he’s been hiding in a small cabin in Hokkaido, Japan, to avoid the pursuing detective.

But those seven years of hiding are up. Because when the martial artist stepped in to protect a pair of hikers being attacked by a bear nearby, his heroic act only drew the attention of investigating police.

So Juzo’s on the run again, and as news of his fight with a bear spreads, others start to hunt for him, too—including the mythical “Sergeant,” who thinks the man would be a perfect candidate for an illicit (and deadly) martial arts tournament.

If there’s any hunter who has his claws around Juzo, however, it’s himself. Because ever since Juzo slaughtered that rapist, he’s vowed never to fight another human.

But even still…when Juzo sees injustice, he can’t deny the “wolf” inside him, begging to overwhelm him into beating thugs into the ground. And it won’t be long before the beast forces him to break his vow.

Bears, Beatings and Blood

For martial arts anime fans, Netflix just may be their favorite streaming service.

Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf joins the ranks of other martial arts anime like Baki Hanma and Kengen Ashura on the platform. And like those other two anime, Garouden packs plenty of punches.

As you might expect, violence is Garouden’s biggest content concern, and viewers can predict at least one character will be bloodied and on the ground by each episode’s end. As for the aforementioned rape, while we don’t see the act itself, we do see the woman before and after the incident, bruised and on the ground.

Swearing, including the f- and s-word, is likewise an issue prospective viewers will need to consider.

What’s more, Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf suffers from a convoluted plot that doesn’t really pick up much steam at all until halfway through the first season—making those content issues all the more difficult to justify.

All of those reasons and more are evidence that perhaps viewers of this lone wolf should just pack it up and leave.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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Hazel knows that these changes won’t be easy, but she’s prepared to handle them like the mature 10-year-old she thinks she is.

Unfortunately, things don’t go as well as she hopes. On her first day of school, nobody laughs at her jokes. She sits in wet paint at lunch. And then she comes home to find out that Antony’s flight got cancelled, so he won’t be able to visit until the holiday break.

Hazel’s had it. She packs her backs and prepares to run away. But that’s when she runs into her new neighbors, Wanda and Cosmo.

The pink- and green-haired duo immediately suspects that something’s up. They quickly realize that they can help Hazel—and that this kid needs them.

So, with a little magic, Wanda and Cosmo reveal their true nature to Hazel. They aren’t just retirees living next door: They’re fairies, with wands and wings and “floaty crowny things.” What’s more? They’re also godparents, and they’re prepared to make Hazel’s every wish come true.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The Fairly OddParentsgot its start on Nickelodeon back in 2001, when Wanda and Cosmo were helping a young boy named Timmy. After Timmy grew up, they helped out his cousin, Viv, as chronicled in The Fairly OddParents: Fairly Odder (which premiered on Paramount+). But now, this fairly odd couple is back on Nickelodeon in A New Wish.

Much like the previous incarnations, magic is one of the biggest concerns here. Cosmo and Wanda are from a fairy realm and, as already stated, can use magic to grant wishes. But, as Timmy, Viv and now Hazel all learn, magic isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be.

Sure, the godparents can make Hazel friends with her teachers or turn her into a fly so she can fly to visit her brother. But sometimes, those wishes have unintended consequences, such as making her teachers so immature the entire school nearly fails a test or getting caught in a Venus fly trap.

The good news is that Hazel learns from these wishes gone wrong. She realizes that just because she’s mature for her age doesn’t mean she’s mature enough to be an adult. And yeah, waiting for Antony to visit may not be fun, but there are other fun things she can do to pass the time.

Parents should also note that Cosmo and Wanda, who have been married for about 10,000 years, occasionally gender bend. In the original Fairly OddParents, Timmy wishes for the couple to have a baby; due to the way that fairy reproduction works, Cosmo becomes pregnant instead of his wife, Wanda. And that gender fluidity continues in A New Wish. While playing pretend, Cosmo dresses up as a princess so that Hazel (who plays a knight) can rescue him. So it wouldn’t be surprising if similar content shows up later in the series, too.

The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish is mostly cute, animated fun with some good lessons about growing up. But the concerns noted above might keep some families at bay until their kiddos are old enough to discern fantasy from reality.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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Their survival was nothing short of spectacular. But now, dinosaurs don’t just roam a few islands off the shore of Costa Rica: They roam the whole planet.

In this neo-Jurassic Age (so dubbed by Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), animals and humans must coexist. And thanks to the Department of Prehistoric Wildlife (DPW), it’s not nearly as bad as you might expect. They keep the more dangerous dinos away from humans and relocate the creatures, when possible, to dinosaur reserves.

Unfortunately, their efforts aren’t always successful. Although Darius (former employee of the DPW and paleontologist) and the rest of the Nublar Six kept in touch for a while, they all drifted apart after Brooklynn (who went into investigative journalism) was killed by a dinosaur during a job.

Darius blames himself for Brooklynn’s death since he was supposed to meet her the night she died. But Ben isn’t so sure that Darius is at fault. Why did Brooklynn want to meet that night? How did a carnivore mysteriously show up in the middle of the city undetected? And why was the DPW so slow to respond?

Ben thinks Brooklynn was targeted. And while Darius is hesitant to accept this conspiracy theory, when man-eating dinosaurs start showing up at the homes of his fellow Camp Cretaceous survivors, even he can’t deny the suspicious circumstances.

Their only hope of survival is to get what remains of the Nublar Six back together, settle their differences, and do a little digging of their own to hopefully solve Brooklynn’s death.

Neo-Cretaceous Show

Jurassic World: Chaos Theory is a continuation of Camp Cretaceous. And the show pretty much has all the same content concerns as before.

Adults in Camp Cretaceous were rare, and most of them were corrupt individuals who had no problem abandoning helpless teenagers on an island filled with prehistoric dinosaurs. Darius and his friends are the adults now, but we still experience quite a bit of that corruption. And the show’s antagonists still have no quandaries with taking human lives.

The dinos have no problem killing people either. Some do it out of hunger, but at least a few have been trained to hunt humans by humans. As with Camp Cretaceous, these types of deaths typically occur offscreen, but there’s no doubt what’s happening.

Sammy and Yaz (both women) became a couple during Camp Cretaceous, even moving in together after escaping Isla Nublar. And they’re still a couple here, sharing the occasional kiss. Brooklynn and Kenji were another couple from the previous show, but they split up just before Brooklynn’s death, leading to some very complicated feelings between foster brothers Kenji and Darius, since Kenji also blames Darius for Brooklynn’s death.

And, of course, you can’t have a Jurassic World show without broaching the topic of cloning and gene manipulation, since that’s how the dinos were created to begin with.

So while Chaos Theory is certainly a more kid-friendly approach to ravenous, prehistoric dinosaurs (it certainly doesn’t spill as much blood as the live-action Jurassic World films), the LGBT content, dino creation and humans potentially serving as bite-size snacks may be unnavigable territory for some families.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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Milo, Lark and Lofty are 5 years old. They aren’t sure what they want to be when they grow up, but they do think it would be amazing to be explorers, hairdressers, tennis players, news reporters, dancers, chefs, cruise ship captains or just about anything else you can imagine. And the fact that Milo’s Mum and Dad run a laundry service helps keep that imagination humming.

This PBS KIDS show is incredibly formulaic. Customers come into the shop asking Milo’s parents to clean their clothes—dirtied up by their professions. Then Milo and his friends ask the family’s sentient washing machine, Suds, to loan them some outfits of that same vocation so they can test it out for themselves.

The kids learn that every job has its challenges and rewards. They learn about teamwork, honesty and the importance of making (not breaking) friendships. And while they do occasionally disagree, they also apologize and work through their differences.

When folks come into the shop to have their clothes cleaned, those adult characters are briefly seen in their underclothes (tank tops and boxer-like shorts in a pattern pertaining to their respective careers). Since the characters are all animals, this is meant to be silly, and there are no defining anatomical features to make it anything but. However, younger kiddos may try to mimic this silliness and wind up prancing around in their own underthings.

That one silly caveat aside, Milo is free of most anything parents would find concerning. It has encouraging messages about friendship. And it lets children know that all vocations have value, encouraging them to try new things.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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“Before long, the supernatural became the totally normal,” Izuku Midoriya recounts.

In Midoriya’s day, roughly 80% of the world has some form of superpower, or “quirk.” Many of these, which often develop by kindergarten, are minor—the ability to lengthen your nose or telekinetically float a small object—and cause no real ruckus. Others, however, are much more powerful, enough for their wielders to become superheroes … or villains.

The most famous superhero is All Might, a Superman-like figure whose desire is justice and who has a smile that toothpaste brands would kill to take credit for. He’s also Midoriya’s idol, and Midoriya can’t wait for his own quirk to emerge so that he can become a hero and fight villains just like All Might.

Only…Midoriya ends up being in the 20% of people who don’t have a quirk.

The news is devastating to Midoriya when he first hears it. That devastation is further compounded when he finally meets All Might and is told that he can’t be a superhero without a quirk.

He’s so busy feeling sorry for himself that he hardly realizes when he’s walked into the middle of a villain attack. And as he looks up, he recognizes that it’s his childhood bully, Kacchan, who’s being held hostage by a gloopy sludge monster.

Without a quirk and without thinking, Midoriya finds himself running straight at the beast, desperate to save the boy.

Anyone Can Be a Hero

Well, Midoriya doesn’t really do much actual saving. It’s not until All Might steps in that Kacchan is rescued. But Midoriya’s actions make All Might realize that the boy really does have what it takes to be a hero.

He lets Midoriya in on a secret. Due to a battle scar obtained long ago, he’s unable to maintain his super muscly hero form for longer than a few hours before reverting to his true identity—that of a scrawny, blood-coughing man. And those hours are trickling down as the injury worsens and the days go by.

That’s why All Might has been looking for a worthy successor. See, his quirk, called One For All, was given to him by a previous wielder. And as it passes from person to person, the power becomes stronger and stronger, which is why the wielder must be pure of heart. And All Might thinks Midoriya is just that person.

As Midoriya soon realizes, One For All is a really powerful quirk. So strong, in fact, that he initially can’t even use a fraction of it without breaking his arm—even with All Might’s extensive training!

But he’ll need to train as fast as possible. Because a new threat, the League of Villains, is rising in power. And if Midoriya can’t master his newfound abilities soon, everything he knows and loves may be lost.

Going Plus Ultra

You could argue that anime entered a sort of golden age in the 2010s. Well-known titans in the genre such as, well, Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online and Demon Slayer emerged during this time. Rising along with them was My Hero Academia.

The superhero saga follows Izuku Midoriya as the world’s most powerful superhero passes his powers onto the boy, forcing him to train hard in order to fill the sizable shoes of his predecessor. He, along with his fellow heroic classmatesat U.A. High School (Japan’s top hero school), are thrust into hero work when a villainous organization suddenly threatens society.

As you might expect, My Hero Academia offers some positive messages about self-sacrifice and about fighting for those who cannot protect themselves. It also contains a whole lot of superhero-based violence, including a primary antagonist whose quirk allows him to decay whatever he touches to dust (which can be rather frightening when he does it to a person). Another villain drains people of their blood so she can assume their identities. Blood and death are real concerns.

What you might not initially expect are the occasional sexual references. One boy in Midoriya’s class is obsessed with girls and frequently attempts to see his female classmates naked. A few female heroes have powers or suits that are quite sensual (one woman even intentionally dresses like a dominatrix), and one male hero struggles with a quirk that allows him to phase through objects—including his own clothes. Naked rears are occasionally seen, too.

My Hero Academia strives to show how anyone can be a hero who stands up for justice. But be warned: Hero work, as this show reveals, can be a bit messy.

(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)

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And Hera has finally reached her breaking point. The Queen of Olympus has taken it upon herself to slaughter all of the lightning god’s illegitimate children so as to not be reminded of all of Zeus’s betrayals.

That’s pretty bad news for Heron, since he is one of those kids. But besides the fact that Hera wouldn’t mind shoving a spear through his chest, Heron has other big concerns, too: the lands are facing a threat of demons—ex-human monsters who’ve turned into violent beasts after consuming the flesh from the corpses of ancient evil giants.

Any Olympian god would recall the terrible clash from ages past as gods and giants battled for supremacy. And although the gods won, the ancient scuffle was closer than they’d like to admit.

And as Hera thinks about that wicked race, she recognizes that the giants just might be what she needs to enact her vengeance on Zeus, his progeny and all who have wronged her, once and for all.

That is, unless Heron can stop her.

Facing the Giants

(The following contains major spoilers for the show’s second season)

At the end of Season One, Olympus cracked and crumbled against the power of the raised giants—but it did not fall. While Zeus did fall, Hera’s scheme was a pyrrhic victory: As she watched the life drain from Zeus’ eyes, she obtained the revenge she had craved … but she didn’t expect him to die by sacrificing himself to save her.

And like Olympus, Heron’s journey has left him a weary state. For one, Zeus truly was a loving father figure to him. For another, the fight against Hera revealed many secrets—including the fact that the demon leader, Seraphim, whom he slew in the final battle, was actually his half-giant half-brother.

As you might expect, Zeus’ death has an impact on Mount Olympus—and it’s one on which his brother, Hades, seeks to capitalize. He’s always felt that he got the short end of the stick when he was assigned to serve as god of the underworld. And with the Olympian throne now vacant, Hades believes it’s time that he and his wife, Persephone, take a turn ruling the heavens.

But in order to make his power play, Hades needs the Eleusinian Stone, a lightning-filled diamond in which untold power resides. But the stone rests in the Hidden Realm, a place where only those with the heritage of the giants can enter. But the Fates must favor Hades, as Heron’s slaying of Seraphim quite literally brings the half-giant lynchpin right to his doorstep. Hades is more than willing to let Seraphim escape eternal judgment and enact revenge on the living once more, provided he can do Hades this little favor.

And, if things go how Hades intends, it won’t be long before Mount Olympus is flush with pomegranates.

Thanatos Must Be Working Overtime

Blood of Zeus is aptly named, as the Netflix anime’s characters bleed gallons of blood and ichor alike.

Greek mythology has never been one to shy away from graphic content, and—while this derivative tale is thousands of years younger than those myths—Blood of Zeus is no exception to that rule. In this fantastical world, the most common description of death on any ancient coroner’s analysis would read something like “demise through decapitation, disembowelment and dismemberment.” At the very least, we see instances of all three onscreen.

Blood of Zeus obviously plays heavy on its Greek mythology, and, to its credit, it uses the ancient stories in clever ways for its plot. But other elements of that mythology appear onscreen, too, such as a brief scene referencing Apollo’s bisexuality, the implied consumption of infants and witchcraft, too. Likewise, female nudity is occasionally present, and a couple statues depict male anatomy.

All of that’s got to make you feel bad for Heron. I mean, at least Percy Jackson got to go to summer camp!

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Bon Namihira finds himself lying on the floor and concludes, “Obviously, I had a nervous breakdown from studying too hard.”

What other explanation could there be? After all, Bon is just an average teenager. He wakes up late for school. He’s neither popular nor unpopular. He always snags mediocre scores on his exams.  In fact, Bon claims, “I actually like being average at everything.”

But Bon’s days of averageness are over.

While he relaxes at his friend Tetsuo’s house, Bon’s perception of reality transforms. As the boys chat, Tetsuo falls from a deadly height and dies. Before Bon can tell Tetsuo’s mother what has happened, reality warps before his eyes, and Bon finds himself sitting next to Tetsuo as if the incident had never happened.

“I am starting to lose my mind,” Bon fears.

But just as Bon is certain that he’s merely having a nervous breakdown, he meets a girl named Ream Stream and her sidekick, Buyoyon. He’s not going crazy, they tell him:  Bon had witnessed time travel. Ream and Buyoyon are members of the Time Patrol. According to Ream, Time Patrol agents “travel through time and across the globe to save people from unfortunate deaths.” In fact, they may save anyone whose deaths are not “historically relevant.”

Unfortunately, Bon’s newfound knowledge of time travel poses a problem, and the Time Patrol agents conclude that Bon must be erased from existence. That is until they discover that Bon himself is historically relevant.

One option remains: Bon Namihira must abandon his average existence and join Time Patrol. Accompanied by Ream and Buyoyon, Bon goes everywhere from 1500 B.C. Crete to 1945 Okinawa to save innocent lives.

EXPECTED ANIME

Based on Fujiko Fujio’s manga series, Time Patrol Bon, Netflix’s T • P Bon features everything you might expect from a teen-targeted anime.

On Netflix, viewers can choose between watching the show with English subtitles (listening to the original Japanese) or using English dubbing. Regardless of which option viewers might choose, characters use profanity such as “h—” and “d–n.” Additionally, although the series is animated, the violence can be rather graphic. Blood drains from victims of sword slashes. Natural disasters destroy cities. And the fifth episode of Season One depicts an accused witch being tortured (via waterboarding) and is, ultimately burned at a stake.

Some episodes also feature references to non-Christian spiritual beliefs. For example, in episode three of Season One, a character bows to what he believes is a goddess, and in episode six a character asserts, “Whether I live or die is at the mercy of Buddha.” Occasionally, episodes feature nudity. In episode five of Season One, for instance, a woman’s bare breasts are seen, and in other episodes male characters are seen wearing no shirts or using small pieces of cloth to cover their critical regions.

I’d venture that some viewers may perceive T • P Bon’s content issues as less intense because of the show’s animated—rather than live-action—medium. Nevertheless, content issues like violence, profanity, nudity and false spirituality still appear in most episodes. If these elements are not sensitivities for your family, enjoy T • P Bon’s exciting time travel adventures. Otherwise, you won’t have to travel very far to find other time travel-based entertainment.

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The name alone tells you that you’re probably not going to be one of the good guys. Seems like your superiors are pretty ready to kill you for the smallest of infractions—or, at least, lock you in a Force-powered chokehold for far too long. (And let’s face it, any time spent in a force-powered chokehold is far too long.)

I mean, sure, they promise power, power and more power. But dental benefits? Minimal. Flexible work hours? Forget about it. And don’t even get me started on their retirement packages. Because no one, it seems, ever gets to step away from the Dark Side and spend their golden years gardening.

So what’s the appeal?

This short Star Wars series asks us to consider how, and why, two Dark Side warriors decided to throw their lot in with the Empire (or the remnants thereof). And it seems that good dental insurance was way down on the list.

This Is Not the Way

We were first introduced to Morgan Elsbeth (onscreen) in a flashy cameo in Disney+’s The Mandalorian, then in a more prominent role in the first season of Ahsoka. The Nightsister (think a Force-wielding witch) threw her lot in with the megalomaniacal Grand Admiral Thrawn and showed, in Ahsoka’s final episode, just how far she would go to fight for a new, resurgent Empire.

But when we first meet Morgan in Tales of the Empire, she’s only a child, desperately running from General Grievous (who made his first appearance in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith) and his droid armies. Grievous killed Morgan’s mother, and his droids destroyed her people. Ever since then, she’s been nursing a destructive anger. “My world has been burning since I was a child,” she says, as one of the planets she rules is awash in flames. “Why should this one be any different?”

Morgan’s origin story takes up the first three episodes of Tales of the Empire. The tragic unraveling of Barriss Offee comprises the last three.

We don’t need an origin story as much for Barriss. Onscreen, we’re privy to it in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. A one-time Jedi and close friend of Ahsoka, Barriss came to believe that the Jedi had betrayed their original purpose—so she betrayed the Jedi in spectacular fashion.

In Tales of the Empire, we pick up Barriss’ story after her arrest. She watches from her cell as the Jedi temple is invaded and destroyed during the very last days of the Galactic Republic. But with the corrupt Republic quickly transforming into the evil Empire, seems that she picked a good time to be arrested.

Elements within that fledgling Empire see talent in her—and they have an eye on training her to become one of its fearsome Inquisitors, who’ll be tasked with rooting out the Jedi’s last remnants. If Morgan’s driven by rage, Barriss seems at first motivated by misguided idealism.

Yes, the people at the heart of Tales of the Empire are on a dangerous path. But the show itself? It’s sticking to the Star Wars road.

The Clone Shows?

In terms of content, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is very much in line with what we’ve seen from many other of the franchise’s in-canon animated series, from The Clone Wars to The Bad Batch.

And given that Tales of the Empire deals with, essentially, villains whose experiences helped nudge them over to the Dark Side, this series can feel more grim than its more heroic brethren.

Naturally, the quasi-spiritual Force is a big player in the first season’s stories. And with the inclusion of Morgan, the Dark Side takes on an occult-like tang. (While Morgan doesn’t feel quite as dark and “witchy” as she did in Ahsoka, magical incantations and mysterious runes are all part of the Nightsisters’ overall vibe.) Moreover, we’re introduced to another group of Force/magic users in her story—a colony of peace-loving druids who can still flex some spiritual muscle if the need arises.

And, of course, Tales of the Empire can be quite violent. Characters fight often, and people are injured and killed. But even though viewers could face some disturbing imagery—someone getting run through the chest with a lightsaber, for instance—actual blood is kept to a trickle.

Tales of the Empire really has no sexual content pitfalls to navigate thus far; it just doesn’t come up in these 15-minute-long episodes. And bad language? That is thankfully lacking in this galaxy far, far away.

Certainly, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire comes with some cautions—but cautions that franchise fans know all about by now. And yes, the stories are perhaps a bit darker. But the Empire, for all its faults, keeps its ship decks squeaky clean and its personnel in line. And relatively speaking, Tales of the Empire is ship-shape, too.

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