Spy X Family – Episode 16 Recap & Review

Yor’s Kitchen / The Informant’s Great Romance Plan

Episode 16 of Spy X Family begins with Loid pondering about Yor’s late arrival home as Anya and Bond play with each other. When Yor arrives home, Loid notices her gloomy demeanor and flesh wounds.

Yor tells them to have dinner without her as Anya picks up on Bond’s vision. In the future sight, Anya notices Yor crying and wonders what’s wrong with her. In her room, Yor looks at her finger wounds and says that if she fails at something, she’ll lose Loid and Anya.

The next day, Yor visits a nearby shop to pick up something and arrives at Camilla’s house deviously. Camilla and Dominic greet Yor. We flash back to 3 days before this incident and at Yor’s workplace. Yor’s shown asking Camilla if she can teach her how to cook because Yor feels she’s in danger of losing Loid and Anya. After some nagging from Dominic, Camilla agrees to teach Yor.

In the present, Yor dawns her cooking attire and is ready to start cooking. Dominic informs them that he invited someone over to taste test Yor’s cooking. Yuri arrives. Yor tells him not to let Loid and Anya know that she’s trying to get better at cooking. Camilla scolds Yor for buying ingredients she doesn’t need and for her poor preparation skills.

As she’s preparing these meals, Yor injures herself, leading Yuri to supply her with bandages. Camilla tells Yor that she should divorce Loid since she doesn’t have much hope for her. Yor worries, but Camilla comforts her. Yor finishes her first dish and Camilla and Dominic insist that Yuri test the meal. Yuri pretends to like the meal even though Camila sees him throwing it up.

Dominic and Camilla eat the meal themselves but don’t like it. Camilla scolds Yor for her failure while Yuri politely asks her for seconds. They try with another meal but end up with a similar result. Camilla wonders if Yuri’s taste buds got messed up after their mother passed away. Camilla asks Yor and Yuri to recall a meal their mother made for them. Yuri tells Yor to try making the fried egg stew their mother used to make.

Yor prepares the meal as Camilla coaches her. Dominic walks over and takes a whiff of Yor’s cooking. He tells her that this dish could succeed since it smells great. Camilla tests the stew and says it’s not bad. Camilla recommends Yor toss in some sour cream to make it taste better. All three test the dish and find it delectable. Yor and Yuri depart from Camilla’s residence as Dominic and Camilla do some flirting.

At the Forger home, Loid’s training Bond and says it’s almost time to teach him some defensive tactics. Yor arrives. She tells Loid she’s planning to make dinner tonight. Yor informs him and Anya that she had Camilla teach her how to cook.

Loid and Anya taste the fried egg stew and find it delicious. Yor’s happy about the scenario after seeing these two smiling and enjoying her meal. Loid says he plans to count on her from now on. She whips another dish for them to try, but the two find it disgusting. The next day, Loid visits Franky in a nearby alley, who tells him he fell in love with a girl. Franky asks Loid for advice on how to score a successful date.

While Loid shows no interest in Franky’s endeavor, Franky threatens to leak his information to the secret police. Loid stares at him menacingly, causing Franky to offer Loid a new and free small recording device if he helps him out. Franky goes over all the information he dug up on his date while Loid finds his behavior stalker-like. The two get into an argument about romance.

Franky goes on a wild tangent about Loid’s work as other people are in the area. The anime informs us that they’re whispering. Not wanting to continue the argument further, Loid asks Franky if he wants him to analyze his potential date and conjure a plan. Franky confirms. Loid hands him a conversation flow chart that should help him on his date and explains in detail what Franky should do.

Franky finds Loid’s flow chart scheme complicated, resulting in Loid offering to disguise himself as Franky’s date and do a pretend session. After a long session, Franky thanks Loid and departs. Franky arrives at the woman’s workplace and plans to execute all he learned from his mockup session with Loid. Franky’s nervous about the situation.

The next day, we see the Forger family, who plan to attend an obstacle course event. Anya spots Franky on their way there and greets him. Loid asks Franky how his date went, and Franky tells him she backed out on him last minute because she needed to do something. Anya reads Franky’s mind, catches his bluff, and comforts him. After their exchange, Franky heads to a bar to wallow in shame.

Franky’s upset that the girl didn’t want to date him because of his horrid looks. Franky asks the bartender for the cheapest drink he can offer him, but the bartender gives him the higher-priced one. Franky asks why and learns that Loid ordered it for him. Loid also happens to be in the bar, and Franky notices him.

Franky asks Loid if he’s at the bar to mock him, but Loid asks Franky if it’s okay for people like them to get emotionally attached to others. He tells Franky that even if his date went successful, his line of work would make it impossible for him to follow up with her. The episode concludes with the two sharing beers together.

The Episode Review

Episode 16 of Spy X Family is a giant and risky leap for the series. While other episodes featured one self-contained narrative, this one offers fans an episode structure with two shorts. While this is a gamble for the show, there are ways to make it work. However, this episode didn’t execute this concept properly.

For instance, the second short involving Franky needing help with a date feels obsolete and unnecessary. While the segment had some humorous moments, this episode repeats former ideas already touched upon in better ways in prior episodes. At the same time, it was hard to buy into the idea that no one heard Franky’s big mouth in the diner when he was discussing Loid’s line of work.

There could’ve been something more pivotal to the overarching plot in place of this segment. As for the first segment, viewers will adore seeing Yor wanting to hone her cooking skills. However, the episode kind of baits the viewer into thinking she’s grieving because of her assassin work. They play it up as this dramatic and emotional occurrence, but the payoff is anything but that.

While the first part’s title clearly states it involves Yor indulging in activity concerning kitchen work, there are many ways the episode could’ve gone given Yor’s occupation. As stated earlier, the episode has some heartwarming and delightful scenes. The wait to see Yor participate in some awesome assassin work is a bummer.

Overall, this was a decent episode of Spy X Family. It had its share of fun scenarios, but these shorts don’t deliver new life lessons or pivotal plot points. It simply repeats old lessons touched upon in better ways in previous episodes. Hopefully, the next episode features something refreshing and vital to Spy x Family’s overarching storyline.