Drama
The Runarounds
Young viewers should perhaps run around this Prime Video show about some perpetually inebriated wannabe rock stars.
Brooklyn and Malibu aren’t your average Barbies. They’re the hosts of a hit true-crime podcast, and they’re ready for their next big case.
The two BFFs’ podcast on the disappearance of two beloved horses (seen in Barbie Mysteries: The Great Horse Chase, the first season of the series), was a smash hit. Even teen detectives need a break, though. A summer at Beach Bash, a festival that’s the highlight of every year, sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
But a Barbie’s work is never done. When several mysterious thefts wreak havoc at Beach Bash, Brooklyn and Malibu jump back into action. What’s the deal with that shifty illusionist performing at the festival, anyway? And are there really ghosts haunting the nearby sea caves?
Whatever’s messing with Beach Bash, Brooklyn and Malibu will get to the bottom of it. No one messes with a Barbie summer.
Barbie dolls, movies, books and TV shows have provided family-friendly fun for decades, and Barbie Mysteries: Beach Detectives fits right in. This lighthearted cartoon is a clean, wholesome option for younger viewers craving a mystery.
Parents should be aware of a few potential concerns, though.
This season focuses heavily on magic and paranormal elements: an illusionist named William Warlock performs tricks that seem fairly impossible without magical help, and some people blame the “Sea Cave Ghost” for the ongoing thefts. It’s unclear at this point if supernatural forces are actually at work, but nevertheless, it’s a recurring theme in this mystery.
If you’ve got an aspiring Sherlock Holmes on your hands, Barbie Mysteries; Beach Detectives could be a fun way to put those investigative skills to work. But the show’s paranormal issues may put a wrinkle in this case.
(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.)
Teen true-crime podcasters Brooklyn and Malibu start their jobs at Beach Bash, only to have their summer plans upended by a string of thefts at the festival.
Ghosts, magic, and other supernatural elements are a heavy focus in this mystery. Many people think that the nearby sea caves are haunted. An illusionist named William Warlock puts on a magic show in which he flies, teleports and makes people in the audience disappear. It’s unclear whether or not he’s actually using magic, but his tricks seem pretty impossible for a standard magician to pull off.
Malibu, a strong believer in all things paranormal, visits a fortune teller with Brooklyn, who’s more skeptical. The fortune teller claims that she works with ghosts from “the spirit realm,” and she uses her crystal ball to predict trouble in the girls’ futures. Malibu later drags Brooklyn to her favorite magic shop, and Brooklyn remarks that “this town certainly has a thing for magic.”
Brooklyn’s top shows a bit of midriff, and other Barbies wear bikinis on the beach.
Lauren Cook is serving as a 2021 summer intern for the Parenting and Youth department at Focus on the Family. She is studying film and screenwriting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. You can get her talking for hours about anything from Star Wars to her family to how Inception was the best movie of the 2010s. But more than anything, she’s passionate about showing how every form of art in some way reflects the Gospel. Coffee is a close second.
Young viewers should perhaps run around this Prime Video show about some perpetually inebriated wannabe rock stars.
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