Series · Netflix · 2017

Lucas the Spider

Gentle, short, and kind. It does not sneer, and it does not last long enough to do harm.

Lucas is a small hello repeated until it becomes a habit. There is no sarcasm and no product to want. The limit is the limit of any sweet short: it will not make a child useful, and it should not be the whole afternoon. Put it on for a few minutes. Then go outside and find something that is actually alive.

The eight

Industry
3/10
No work. A little creature greeting the day.
Household
5/10
Friendship is the whole plot, and it is not a joke.
Piety
4/10
Wonder at ordinary things. No creed, no sneer.
Courage
4/10
He tries the next small thing even when he is unsure.
Republic
5/10
A neighbor is someone you say hello to.
Temperance
8/10
Quiet, brief, and not hungry.
Truth
6/10
It does not pretend the sill is the world.
Stewardship
5/10
A child may copy the hello. That is enough.

Live historicallyAfter it ends, go look at one real insect and leave it where it is.

Series · Netflix · 2019

Carmen Sandiego

Skill and a code. She is loyal to a crew and vague about any law above the code.

Carmen is a thief with better taste than her enemies, and the series wants the taste to be enough. Often the object really should go home. A child can enjoy the competence and should be told that a private code is not the same as a law, and a crew on a radio is not the same as a people. Older children, with you.

The eight

Industry
6/10
The heist is a craft, and she is better at it than the people she robs.
Household
3/10
A found crew. No family she will stay for.
Piety
3/10
A private code stands where a conscience would answer to someone.
Courage
7/10
She goes in. The risk is physical and she takes it for the stolen thing, not for applause.
Republic
5/10
Returning a treasure to a people is a public good. Doing it outside every law is the hitch.
Temperance
5/10
Glamour, held back by the fact that she is not stealing for herself.
Truth
6/10
The show is clear about who the real thieves are. It is softer about her.
Stewardship
5/10
What she hands back is an object. She does not hand a child a way to live in a town.

Live historicallyAsk where the object belonged, and who had the right to move it.