Drama
The Rainmaker
This adaptation may lack the depth of its source material, but it isn’t a bad option if you’re itching for a new legal drama.
Hiro is a little guy trying to make it in a big world: The world of the groundbreaking San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, that is. The most recent addition to the institute, the 14-year-old prodigy comes with a few mechanical extras, too—most notably his robotic, balloon-like sidekick, Baymax.
Hiro and Baymax live with Hiro’s quirky, slightly naïve Aunt Cass in San Fransokyo. When Hiro’s not lounging at home with Baymax, sampling Aunt Cass’ questionable food creations or working on various academic challenges, he and Baymax hang with his some of his closest classmates.
There’s Honey Lemon, a spunky scientist who loves art and chemistry; Wasabi, a type-A personality with a knack for physics; GoGo, a brave, logical speedy girl who specializes in engineering; and Fred, an enthusiastic, goofy science lover. They’re not so different from any group of teens, really, except for their outsized smarts and nifty tech creations. But when evil raises its evilish head, these friends fight off the city’s villains as the superhero group, Big Hero 6.
Following 2014’s movie Big Hero 6, this Disney series takes place where the Academy Award-winning film left off. Each 22-minute episode follows Hiro, Baymax and the rest of the superhero team as they grow in friendship, mold their genius minds and unite to take down the scientifically supercharged villains of their day.
Their tasks can sometimes feel daunting: It’s not easy to defeat baddies who are continually on the cusp of new discoveries. But the team’s brain power—and the bonds of friendship they all share—give Hiro and his pals all they need to defeat any looming threat.
Aimed at kiddos ages 7 and up, Big Hero 6: The Series sometimes includes a bit of name calling, elementary-style jokes, explosions and mildly frightening bad guys. But that’s more than balanced with moral lessons, friendship, love and the truth about what it means to be a hero.
(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.)
Hiro finds out that Baymax can detect lies by reading people’s biological responses, and he uses his robot friend to uncover the truth about a deceptive villain.
Baymax blinks every time someone lies. Hiro initially suggests that some lies are OK if you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings , but this backfires. Hiro himself lies a few times, as do his friends as they play the game “two truths and a lie”, but in the end Hiro and his pals understand that it’s best to be honest.
Fish-like villains shoot laser beams from their tentacles, and a mutated bear tries to attack Hiro and the gang. Hiro and his pals use their supercharged suits to fight back. An annoyed waiter sees Baymax’s rear end get stuck in a chair, and Baymax deflates himself to get unstuck. A guy tells his friend he’s “dumb.”
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
This adaptation may lack the depth of its source material, but it isn’t a bad option if you’re itching for a new legal drama.
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