Animation
Good Times
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
You may not realize this, but the world is twice as big as you thought.
No, they got the geography right—but you can’t measure based on mileage alone. There’s a whole spirit world all around us—one that only people like Kodi, Summer and Eddy can see.
The three siblings are junior park rangers at the fictional Xus National Park in California, where they live with their parents. The three of them also just so happen to be able to transform into spirit animals—Kodi Cub, Summer Hawk and Eddy Turtle.
And as it turns out, much of what we’d call natural occurrences are actually the result of the spirits who live in the world. The thunderstorm comes with the flight of the thunderbird, nightmares are held at bay by intricate dreamcatcher spiderwebs, and the lunar eclipse is the result of the sun and moon playing hide and seek.
The spirits often need a bit of help from the trio of Spirit Rangers, and the siblings’ guidance will additionally help their park ranger parents keep the park safe and secure.
Spirit Rangers is the creation of Karissa Valencia, who created the children’s show as a way to celebrate Native American storytelling. The half-Chumash showrunner wanted to make a show that would help Native American children feel represented onscreen.
“How cool is it going to be that Native kids and non-Native kids will just see us in the present day, and also as your favorite action hero who is rescuing buffaloes and condors,” Valencia told Huff Post.
The show features siblings Kodi, Summer and Eddy as they transform into their spirit forms to help the spirit inhabitants of the fictional Xus National Park. These spirits include animals, but they also include the sun, moon and even a volcano!
You won’t find much violence or any language problems in Spirit Rangers. The show’s centrality on these Native American spiritual elements will be the biggest concern for Christian parents. The show teaches us about many natural events from a spiritual perspective, and a very specific perspective at that. (For instance, a very hippie-like hedgehog treats nature itself like a deity.) As for other concerns, well, there’s a stink bug who passes quite a bit of gas.
The episodes are told in a “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”-esque way, according to Valencia. Each episode teaches the Spirit Ranger siblings or their spirit friends positive lessons, including overcoming fear, controlling anger and how winning isn’t everything.
Those are all good messages for kids to learn—if parents can accept the presence of the show’s spiritual elements.
When the sun doesn’t rise, Kodi, Summer and Eddy deduce that it’s the work of a few spirit tricksters. Also, Eddy wants to adopt a stray kitten, but a spirit mountain lion teaches Eddy just how much work raising a kitten is.
The siblings transform into their spirit animal counterparts to discover where the sun was taken. Along the way, the three trickster spirit animals prank them, scaring them with fake snakes and spraying them with water.
A character says, “Creator knows I could use a nap.” Three troublesome kittens frequently find themselves in danger, such as when one tries to jump into a volcano’s lava or when they sail towards a waterfall.
Kodi, Summer and Eddy become junior park rangers of Xus National Park, but Eddy doesn’t quite feel ready for the role. A storm brought on by thunderbirds might help to change his mind. Also, the Spirit Rangers need to figure out why the sun isn’t setting on the summer solstice.
The trio uses magical items to transform themselves into spirit animals—a bear cub, hawk and turtle, specifically. Additionally, the group assists many spirit animals throughout the park. Coyote spirit burns his tail on the (sentient) sun while trying to tickle it awake. Kodi gets pinned under a rock by the sun.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Netflix takes a classic sitcom, Good Times, and turns it into a vulgar, violent, sexually-charged TV-MA show.
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