Anne-sterminator

**"Anne-sterminator"** is the second segment of the fifth episode of the third season of *Amphibia*, and the eighty-fourth episode overall.

It premiered on October 30, 2021, alongside "Fixing Frobo".

## Synopsis

*A dangerous enemy finally locates Anne and the Plantars.*

## Plot

The episode begins with the Cloak-Bot. Having finished repairing and upgrading itself using construction equipment and hardware tools as replacement parts, King Andrias contacts it to see how the Cloak-Bot is doing. He expresses displeasure at its lack of progress, namely the fact that Anne is still alive (he's also upset that it got "Cynthia Coven" book 3 instead of Book 2, which was sold out.) He gives an ultimatum; destroy Anne in an hour, or the bomb planted inside the robot will self-detonate. After he ends the transmission, the Cloak-Bot then receives a signal from the recently reactivated Frobo, and follows it.

Meanwhile, at the Boonchuy residence, Anne amazes everyone by doing the laundry, taking out the trash, washing the dishes, and providing Hop Pop with a coaster - all at breakneck speed. Her mother and father tell her how proud they are of her new responsible behavior, which causes her to drag Sprig into the kitchen. She tells him she can’t keep the secret about Andrias, the Cloak-Bot, and the invasion anymore, and that she's decided to tell her parents everything.

Anne then pulls everyone into the living room to finally explain what is happening, when Cloak-Bot suddenly arrives in front of her house. It attacks and the Boonchuys and Plantars run upstairs into the exercise room, only to find that it had been converted into a shrine of sorts for Anne. She notices that there are numerous art pieces, including one of her dressed as a doctor, which Anne assumes means that her mother has high expectations for her. Cloak-Bot enters, but cannot decipher the real Anne from the sculptures and they use it as a distraction as everyone escapes into the Boonchuy van and drive away as fast as they can.

As the Cloak-Bot chases them down the highway Mrs. Boonchuy asks why it was after them, so Anne reluctantly tells her parents that the king of Amphibia is trying to destroy them, and Sprig tells them she punched the King in the face shocking them with disbelief. Meanwhile Hop-Pop inadvertently tells the Boonchuys that this was not the first time they encountered the killing machine shocking them both even further. They then hide under the highway, but the Bot finds them. After briefly evading the Cloak-Bot the families make their way to a junkyard where Mrs. Boonchuy explodes in anger at Anne for keeping secrets and says that she's still the same irresponsible little girl who used to cut class, while Anne rebuffs her by saying she lied because she wanted to keep her loved ones safe and she was under a lot of pressure from her parents about becoming the daughter she and her husband wanted which stunned Anne’s mother. As the Cloak-Bot closes in, Anne asks her parents for their help in defeating it; Mr. Boonchuy agrees without hesitation while Mrs. Boonchuy is reluctant as she is still processing everything, but Anne comes up with a plan and manages to convince her to help.

Just as the Cloak-Bot catches up to them, Mrs. Boonchuy uses her artistic skills to create a bunch of fake Anne dummies out of junk to confuse and distract the Cloak-Bot long enough for everyone to severely damage it. As a last ditch effort the Cloak-Bot decides to kill everyone with its self-destruct sequence, but Anne uses her powers to kick it into Earth's orbit before it explodes, saving their lives and astonishing her parents. Anne says she has so much to tell her parents before she passes out right after used her abilities. As Mr. Boonchuy drives everyone home, Mrs. Boonchuy comforts her unconscious daughter now understanding the kind of pressure she was putting on Anne, and tells the frogs she now knows she was just trying to keep them safe and promises that the Boonchuy family will help the Plantar family however they can.

In the last scene, 2 male Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents in an office at an undisclosed location find a paused screen of a traffic camera video footage showing Anne and the Plantars escaping from Cloak-Bot on a computer and decide to contact Mr. X about those findings.

## Cast

* Brenda Song as Anne Boonchuy
* Justin Felbinger as Sprig Plantar
* Bill Farmer as Hop Pop Plantar
* Amanda Leighton as Polly Plantar
* On Braly as Mrs. Boonchuy
* Brian Sounalath as Mr. Boonchuy
* Keith David as King Andrias
* Troy Baker as Cloak-Bot

### Additional voices

* Matt Braly as Fumigator 4 Narrator
* Silver Paul as LAPD Police Officer, FBI Agent
* Eden Riegel as Dog Walker

## Trivia

* **Viewership:** This episode was watched by 0.33 viewers on its premiere.
* The title is a portmanteau of Anne and "exterminator".
* The female dog walker is also seen in the Season 3 opening sequence, although the dog is different.
* This is the first episode where Mrs. Boonchuy sports footwear inside the Boonchuy residence.
* Anne's racket reappears during the episode.
	+ However, this is a different tennis racket as the one she brought to Amphibia is still there.
* This is the only Season 3 episode in which Andrias appears but Marcy is absent, although he is depicted as a piñata in "Sprivy".

### Revelations and significant events

* Mrs. Boonchuy seems to have started wearing a pair of brown bear slippers when in her home.
* Upon entering Mrs. Boonchuy's workout room, a note on the wall reads "89 days that Anne has been gone", implying that Mrs. Boonchuy managed to emotionally overcome Anne's disappearance after almost three months (i.e. by the events of "Anne of the Year").
* Mrs. Boonchuy is shown to wear a pair of reading glasses when finding the preferred path to escape from the Cloak-Bot inside the red van.
* Anne's middle name is Savisa as said by Mrs. Boonchuy when she & Mr. Boonchuy are confronting her about being hunted by the Cloak-Bot.
* Mrs. Boonchuy gets mad at Anne for lying to her all the time and told her that she's still the same irresponsible little girl who used to cut class, just like how Anne was so mad at Sasha for lying to her and betraying her for the second time and calls Sasha a horrible person in "True Colors."
	+ Anne now finally sees what it feels like to be treated that way whenever she lied to someone she relates to and loves the most, like how she reacted the same way to Hop Pop for lying to her for burying the Calamity Box in "After the Rain", to Sasha for lying to her and betraying her again and calling her a horrible person in "True Colors", and to Marcy for lying to her and getting both Anne and Sasha stranded to Amphibia on purpose in the same episode.
* Anne's parents learn about King Andrias, the Cloak-Bot and Anne's abilities.
* Cloak-Bot is finally destroyed, though its right arm after getting separated by Anne's right foot kick seems to still be intact.
	+ The arm of the Cloak-Bot is later found by Robert Otto in "Spider-Sprig".
* The FBI finds out about the Plantars and Anne from the traffic camera and also due to Cloak Bot's desperate, reckless and non-discreet attacks on Anne and the Plantars.

### Continuity

* This episode takes place about two weeks after "True Colors", "The New Normal" and "Turning Point" and around one week after "Adventures in Catsitting".
* King Andrias reminds Cloak-Bot of its failed mission to eliminate Anne and getting the second *Cynthia Coven* novel, which he specified in "The New Normal".
* The events of "True Colors" and "The New Normal" are mentioned by Anne, Sprig and Hop Pop.
* King Andrias saying "Olms have mercy!" ties in with the previous episode where the Amphibian vase says "Seek the mother of Olms", which could be information for Anne and the Plantars to find out how to get back to Amphibia.

### Production notes

* This is the last episode to credit Keith David in a standard credits sequence.

## Allusions

* ***The Terminator*** - The title of the episode, in addition to deriving from "exterminator", and plot are based on the 1984 live-action film of the same name. The plot of the Cloak-Bot persistently hunting down Anne also parallels the T-800 model Terminator's role in the film. Also, the sequence of letters in the name "Anne-sterminator" is the same as in the phrase "Anne's terminator".
* ***Predator*** - The Cloak-Bot's menacing laughter before it is about to self-destruct as a last resort to destroy Anne references the film's climax when the titular creature initiates its self-destruct and laughs maniacally. Which the explosion by the Cloak-Bot is almost like a nuclear explosion.
* ***Super Smash Bros.*** - The hammer Anne's mom uses looks almost like the Super Mario Bros. Hammer used in the SSB series power up.
* ***Thor*** - The style also looks like Thor's hammer from the Marvel character of the same name.
* ***Angelyne*** - A billboard is shown for a woman named "Angelique". This is a parody of various billboards around Los Angeles during the 80s and 90s advertising a mysterious supermodel.

## Errors

* Cloak-Bot replaced its right shoulder plate and right leg, yet those parts were never damaged.
* Anne is shown wearing her shoes inside the house. But when she spins through the kitchen, she isn't. She has them back on soon after.
* When the dog walker is crossing the road, she is walking from right to left. However, during the over the shoulder shot, when the dog barks at the robot, she is suddenly walking in the opposite direction.
* When Mr. Boonchuy reacts to the Cloak-Bot's self-destruct initiation, his golden wedding ring on his left ring finger is missing.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "October 2021 Programming Highlights". *Disney General Entertainment Content* (September 21, 2021).
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Metcalf, Mitch (November 2, 2021). "Saturday 10.30.2021 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". *Showbuzz Daily*.
3. ↑ Jenava Mie (writer) and Joe Johnston (director) (October 9, 2021). "Turning Point". *Amphibia*. Season 3. Episode 2B. Disney Channel.