Mondo Ramirez has alway been the big man on campus at his middle school in Savannah, Georgia. He’s known for being very grandiose and has a flair for the dramatic. His plan to ask his crush, Harper, to prom is no exception. It’s going to be perfect. Or it was, until a mysterious man with a black cloak and scythe appears. Oh, and Mondo accidentally electrocutes the man. Before long, Mondo learns that the mysterious man was the Grim Reaper himself. Now that the Reaper is dead, his role and title has been passed to Mondo. And as if that wasn’t enough, Mondo also learns that his classmate, Marcus Aronson, is the current wielder of Cupid’s powers. Mondo must get the hang of his new powers, and duties, with a little help from Marcus. But both boys must be careful, for there are dark forces lurking about. Thankfully, Chloe and Felix are also keeping a close eye on things from Mother Nature HQ. Hold on tight, because chapter two of The Natureverse is here.
As I said in the introduction, I’d been meaning to review this season of The Natureverse for a while. But, as often happens, life had other plans for me. Still, I’m doing it now. I thought that Cupid and the Reaper was absolutely fantastic. In fact, it was even better than Becoming Mother Nature. The writing team built upon the strengths of Becoming Mother Nature, while also addressing and correcting its shortcomings. One of my biggest complaints about Becoming Mother Nature was that the rules of Chloe’s powers were very poorly defined. It seemed like the writers were discarding rules as soon as they created them. In Cupid and the Reaper, however, the rules Marcus and Mondo’s powers are far more consistent and straightforward. Also, when Chloe does appear, her powers are far more streamlined. The way they work is presented in a far more straightforward, simplified, and internally consistent way.
Interestingly, some stories about the Grim Reaper say that it is indeed possible to kill the Reaper. However, should you successfully accomplish this, you become the new Grim Reaper. So, the way Mondo gets the role of the Reaper has roots in actual folklore. He can travel anywhere in the world, and even to the underworld, by tapping his scythe twice and thinking about his destination. He even get’s a new digital assistant, named Cerberus, to help keep track of his assignments as the Reaper. Mondo’s primary duties are to reap the souls of those due to die, and bring them to the underworld. After that, the ferryman Charon takes them across the River Styx to the Land of the Dead. However, if a soul that is due to be reaped stay in its body too long, the person becomes a zombie. Fortunately, zombies can be stopped if their souls are reaped. Well, they’re easy enough to deal with as long as Mondo doesn’t let them get out of hand.
Mondo might seem a bit mismatched with his role as the Grim Reaper, but I think he fits fairly well. He’s very friendly, personable, and has laidback and easygoing personality. In other words, the kind of person you’d want to meet after dying. True, he has a bit of a learning curve, but eventually he does get the hang of being a psychopomp. For reference, psychopomps are gods, spirits, and other mythological beings who guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
Marcus has a pair of retractable wings, a bow, and quiver of arrows. The gold-tipped arrows make people fall in love, while the lead-tipped arrows make people fall out of love. Again, this is accurate to mythology. This most famously happens in the story of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo got hit with a gold arrow, and fell madly in love with Daphne. Daphne, unfortunately, got hit by a lead arrow, and wanted nothing to do with Apollo. She did wind-up turning into a tree, but hey, at least she didn’t have to put-up with Apollo anymore. So, you know; win some, lose some.
Marcus is very nerdy and super smart. He tracked down the original Cupid to a fountain at a park in Savannah. Cupid had grown a bit weary over the past 1000 years. He got to spread love, but never had time to pursue love of his own. So, he agreed to let Marcus have his powers on a trial basis. I really liked the Cupid before Marcus. He only appeared a few times, but he seems like a pretty nice guy, and he gives helpful advice to our heroes.
Now, some of you are probably confused about the pervious Cupid only serving for 1000 years. Surely, it ought to be at least 3000 years? Well, that ties into one of the things I really loved about this season. It is explained that the various gods from mythology aren’t individuals. Rather, they are titles and positions that are passed from person to person. That’s actually a pretty brilliant way to explain all the contradictions within mythological stories. It wasn’t the ancient writers misremembering things, or getting the details wrong. Rather, they were recording accounts of different individuals who happened to hold the same title and position. So, major points to the writers at Gen-Z Media for creativity and originality.
Marcus take a very meticulous and analytical when it comes to love. He’s developed an algorithm to determine how compatible two individuals are. Of course, he got a pretty good reasons for this. Mr and Mrs. Aronson were about to get divorced, so Marcus hit them with extra-strength love arrows. They still argue, but they do so in a very lovey-dovey saccharine way. So, Marcus knows what it looks like when a relationship falls apart. Interestingly, this is the only time he abuses his powers. He never seems tempted to use them to make girls like him. Maybe that’s why the previous Cupid trusted him with the powers. He knew Marcus wouldn’t use them to nefarious ends. Or maybe the algorithm didn’t show him as comparable with any of the girls at school. In fact, Chloe seems to be the first girl Marcus has even truly fallen in love with. He develops a major crush on her shortly after the meet. Oh, and Harper, the girl Mondo likes, is Marcus’ sister. As you can imagine, this creates issues.
I’d also like to take a moment to praise the strong performances that the cast gave. There were some very strong performances all around. Of course, excellent voice acting is to be expected with a Gen-Z Media production. I particularly liked how they handled the accents. Cupid and the Reaper is set in Georgia, but we hear a variety of accents. Some character have thick Southern accents, while other have more subdued accents, or are almost totally lacking any stereotypically Southern characteristics. As someone who is from the American South, I can confirm that this is how it goes in real life, especially in descent-sized cities.
I might be wrong, but I think Mondo’s voice actor was in the first episode of The Creeping Hour. Come to think of it, Marcus’ voice actor sounds very similar to Max from Treasure Island 2020. I wonder if it was the same person. Well, in any event, I do have one minor critique. I found some of Chloe’s dialogue to be a tad stilted and wooden. It was particularly jarring, as none of the other characters suffer this issue. For that matter, none of Chloe’s dialogue from Becoming Mother Nature had this issue either. Though, I do concede that it is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.
Okay, that’s pretty much everything I can discuss without major spoilers. So, if you don’t want any of that, turn back now.
Last chance, you sure you want to continue.
If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.
There is one more important character to discuss. Mr. Apep is a really cool teacher at Mondo and Marcus’ middle school. Well, that’s how he initially seems. This is one of those instances where being in audio was a major advantage for Cupid and the Reaper. If it had been in print, I would have figured Mr. Apep out far sooner. Apep is an alternative name for Apophis, the serpent of chaos from Egyptian Mythology. Mr. Apep was a much better villain than Duncan Sunshine was in Becoming Mother Nature. Duncan wanted the powers of Mother Nature…so that he could be the greatest weatherman in the world. Oh, and he also had an array of weather manipulation satellites, making the whole thing rather redundant. Mr. Apep’s motivations make far more sense, and his reasons for trying to manipulate the heroes is far more justified.
Mr. Apep knew Grandma Ivy, and fell in love with her. Unfortunately, she only had eyes for Chloe’s grandpa. So, Mr. Apep wants Mondo to take him to the Land of the Dead so that he can bring Grandma Ivy back to the world of the living. Of course, this is a serious violation of the natural order of things. The dead are suppose to stay dead, after all. But hey, he’s the embodiment of chaos, so what does he care? Obviously, he needs Mondo to take him to the Land of the Dead to pull this off. It was never stated, but it appears that part of his powers include eternal youth. Going off the voice, Mr. Apep appears be physically younger than his age would suggest. Based on certain comments he makes, Mr. Apep has been around since Ancient Egypt.
A big theme for this season is that death is a part of life; it is as natural as the rain. It was also clear from the start that something was going happen with Harper. She was going to be reaped if Mondo hadn’t accidentally killed the old Grim Reaper. As the playwright Anton Chekhov famously said, if you introduce a gun in act one of a play, it better fire by act five. So, what would happen with Harper? Would she become a zombie? Would she turn out to be terminally ill? Would Mondo be forced to reap her?
All wrong. She helped take down Mr. Apep. However, Mr. Apep’s power work like the Grim Reaper’s do. Since Harper, technically, killed him, she is the new embodiment of chaos. Well, didn’t see that coming, but I do like it. That’s going to open a lot of possibilities for season three. I’m also happy that the previous Cupid met a nice man at a resort in Tahiti. I guess he found love after all. Of course, Mondo also exposed his secret identity to the world, and became a bit of a celebrity. It seems that season three will involve Father Time, and probably time travel as well. I do love a good time travel story. Oh, and apparently the current Father Time is female.
Cupid and the Reaper was absolutely fantastic, and I can’t wait for season 3 of The Natureverse. Cupid and the Raper built upon the success of Becoming Mother Nature, while also correcting the mistakes and shortcomings of its predecessor. If you loved Becoming Mother Nature, you certainly won’t want to miss Cupid and the Reaper.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
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