Aboard the "Infinity Train"

I haven't been keeping as close an eye on Cartoon Network's output lately as I've been meaning to, but I knew that I had to make time for their anthology series "Infinity Train." The first two seasons were produced for special event miniseries format, with episodes aired nightly over the course of a week. Binged all together, the way I did, each season adds up to a nicely self-contained, feature length cartoon. The show follows in the footsteps of 2014's "Over the Garden Wall," which debuted this format with a spooky Halloween fable. "Infinity Train" aims a little broader and more formulaic, but it has a fascinating central concept.

Part of the fun of "Infinity Train" is trying to figure out the rules of its universe. We meet a girl named Tulip (Ashley Johnson), who boards an impossible train one night while running away from home. Tulip discovers that each train car houses its own fantastic environment, from a kingdom of talking corgis to a giant kids' indoor playground. Tulip travels through the cars in search of a way home, accompanied by a morose little ball robot, One-One (Jeremy Crutchley and Owen Dennis), and one of the talking corgis, King Atticus (Ernie Hudson). Occasionally they also encounter the Cat (Kate Mulgrew), a trickster who can't be trusted, and far more dangerous robotic creatures called Stewards. Tulip also has to figure out why there's a glowing green number on the palm of her hand, that increases or decreases based on her progress. The second season keeps the setting and a few characters, but follows a different pair of kids - MT (also Johnson) and Jesse (Robbie Daymond).

"Infinity Train" does the allegorical hero's journey to maturation and improved mental health with plenty of style and imagination. The train is essentially a giant therapy facilitator, setting the kids on adventures that force them to confront their personal issues, connect with other people, and build new emotional support systems. I like how the writers tackle common childhood dilemmas and really dig into them. Tulip is handling her parents' recent divorce badly. Jesse is revealed to be a people-pleaser and too easily pressured into going along with the crowd. MT has a lot of identity issues. Sorting out everyone's baggage is not easy, and the series treats these challenges as far more difficult than defeating evil robots and puzzling through the different train cars.

The show borrows a lot of imagery from dystopian and cyberpunk media like "Snowpiercer," and occasionally wanders into (kid friendly) horror territory. However, what stands out is the moody, mysterious tone, bolstered by an excellent trance/electronica score, fun character designs, and an endless variety of weird environments to explore. And while there's some intense content, including violence and death, the show's unusual gravity comes across more clearly in its quieter, contemplative moments. The whole conception of the train is great, this gigantic, mechanical wonder barrelling through an endless wasteland, with no apparent beginning or end. Though there's no direct influence, "Infinity Train" can't help sharing a little existential DNA with the anime space opera classic "Galaxy Express 999," the story of another impossible train ferrying its passengers along on a frequently melancholy journey of discovery.

If I've made the show sound too serious and grim, rest assured that it's very much aimed at kids, and has plenty of humor and absurdity to balance out the monsters and trauma. There are puns and pop-culture references everywhere, along with the fun of mixing a whole lot of different genres and character types together. The young heroes are great - Tulip's a sarcastic, know-it-all geek girl who wants to be a game designer, and has a lot of defense mechanisms to disarm. Cynical MT and goofy Jesse make a good odd couple. The show also boasts some memorable animal sidekicks. My favorite is a bizarre, shapeshifting deer that the kids name Alan Dracula. He never says a word, and never needs to. Kate Mulgrew, however, was surely born to voice a slippery feline con-artist.

I like that the series has embraced an anthology format. Characters recur, but there are also clear endpoints to the main characters' stories, so you get satisfying emotional payoffs with every season. The premise is strong enough, and there are enough lingering mysteries that "Infinity Train" could go on indefinitely. My only real disappointment with the show is the same one I had with "Over the Garden Wall" - the TV quality animation is perfectly adequate, but the material is so strong that I can't help wishing for better than adequate. Even so, "Infinity Train" is something special, and I look forward to the third season whenever I get around to a free trial of HBO Now.
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