Crime
Prime Target
This math-centric thriller comes with an interesting premise. But Prime Target comes with some primary problems, too.
Carl the Collector is a very aptly named kid. From bouncy balls to stuffed animals to lint, there’s nothing this upbeat raccoon won’t hoard.
But if there’s one thing Carl loves even more than his collections, it’s enjoying them with his friends. Sheldon, Rocket and twins Nico and Arugula can’t get enough of Carl’s treasures.
And with all the adventures awaiting the kids of Fuzzytown, you never know when those treasures might come in handy…
A causal viewer of Carl the Collector might just see an anthropomorphic raccoon with a sharp eye for detail and a fascination with random stuff. But if you pay closer attention, you’ll find that there’s more going on here than meets the eye.
Carl is actually autistic, which causes him to notice things that others don’t and focus like a laser on his interests. His neurodivergence isn’t a banner headline in every episode, but it gives some context to his collecting habits.
Carl’s autism means he sees the world a bit differently than those around him, but as Carl the Collector shows, that isn’t a bad thing. “Sometimes a neurodivergent person is going to have a unique take on something that others can learn from,” series creator Zachariah O’Hara said in an interview with CNN. Carl invents ways to deal with his growing plushie collection that neither his mom nor his friends would have ever considered. He’s able to tell identical twins Nico and Arugula apart by noticing tiny details that other people miss.
This wholesome cartoonis a great way for children like Carl to see themselves on screen. And it’s also an opportunity for other kids to learn that not everyone thinks exactly like they do. Empathy is at the heart of Carl the Collector, and who can argue with that?
Not everything the series sets out to normalize is so admirable, however. Carl’s mother and father are divorced, and while they seem to be on good terms, parents might want to be prepared for that to result in some tricky questions (“Why don’t Carl’s mom and dad live together? Why does Carl spend weekends with just his dad?”).
Carl the Collector is heartwarming, has great lessons about empathy and friendship, and is just ridiculously cute (Carl’s voice actor, 10-year-old Kai Barham, will tug at your heartstrings with every line). However, parents should be aware that it might result in complicated conversations, some on topics that they might want to avoid for now.
(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 [email protected], 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.)
Carl enlists his friends’ help in organizing his overwhelming plushie collection. When his bouncy ball collection bounces all over the neighborhood, Carl and his friends set out to find them.
In “The Plushie Collection,” Carl’s friend Rocket tells him to only keep a stuffed animal if it “sparks joy.” This is a reference to the famous KonMari Method of cleaning, which encourages organization based on “listening to the heart.” While it would be fairly out of the ordinary (a vast understatement) for a child watching Carl the Collector to know anything at all about a feelings-based cleaning method, it may be worth noting for parents to pick up on.
In “The Bouncy Ball Collection,” we learn that Carl’s parents are divorced when he comes home from spending the weekend with his dad. Mom and Dad seem to be on very friendly terms.
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.
This math-centric thriller comes with an interesting premise. But Prime Target comes with some primary problems, too.
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