Watching Miraculous 6: "Mr. Pigeon"

S1E06: Mr. Pigeon

"A pigeon? What am I supposed to do with this?"

The one with ...oh, where would I even begin?

Derby hats. Not pronounced "Derby", nor even "derby", but instead "d-er-by". And if like me you're British, they're bowler hats anyway. Clear? Excellent. Anyway, in this episode an illegal feeder of pigeons is akumatised, turns his servant flock into planes and a sleigh, gets them to threaten our heroes with a hail of... well, let's say guano... says, "Roo rooloo!" a lot and is generally very strange. Also, Cat Noir in a police cap whistling La Marseillaise is apparently a dead ringer for a real officer. I know I try to be silly in these posts, but what actually happens here is pretty much unimprovable. Meanwhile, Chloé is ever more annoying, Sabrina is ever more downtrodden – and, almost at the last moment, Marinette remembers her "I am really dense" requirement by not linking Cat Noir being allergic to feathers and Adrien being allergic to those same feathers. Really, though, it's all about the pigeons, including Mr. of that ilk. Watching this episode for the first time is something of a rite of passage for Miraculous fans. Watching it for about the fifth time still is!

Quote: Marinette: "A cake derby hat, stylish and tasty!" I see no flaws in this plan.

Next up, "Rogercop". Early Instalment Weirdness? Don't be silly. It doesn't stop being weird with this show.

Watching Miraculous 5: "Timebreaker"

S1E05: Timebreaker

"Be confused. Be very confused."

The one with the Eiffel Tower cake

Marinette's parents are about to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. What a nice, normal thing for a couple. Shame this is Miraculous Paris, then. We properly meet Alix here, as she's given a remarkable watch that is clearly absolutely definitely not going to have any deeper significance in any future episode, oh no indeed. Meanwhile, Ladybug takes up the hotly contested "I'm an idiot" baton by misusing her powers to dash across town with a banner she forgot about. Oh, and Alya's valiant attempt to win back Idiot of the Day by not even trying to look after the watch properly. Chloé scoots in and causes the watch to get broken, thus winning Jerk of the Day though. As usual. Then the day is – natch – interrupted by weird Hawk Moth-related akuma stuff. Timebreaker is a nasty villain, and when she gets Cat Noir it's an early heart-in-mouth moment for the series. Then Hawk Moth gets a cheesy line ("Or should I say double villain?") and we're back to silliness. Though the final battle is a great one. Overall, probably my favourite episode thus far.

Quote: Kim: "You're no match for me. My neck is bigger than your thigh!" I... well... no. I got nothin'.

Next up, "Mr. Pigeon". Anyone who has seen this knows of the glory that this episode contains! Anyone who hasn't... is in for a treat.

Watching Miraculous 4: "Lady Wifi"

Easter is out of the way, so let's get cracking and return to Paris!

S1E04: Lady Wifi

"Does this show make any sense, M'Lady?"

The one with Ladybug's magic mask

In this episode, we discover that Chloé is Ladybug. What? No, thankfully that's just Alya being idiotic as she jumps to erroneous conclusions. Again. We do however discover that Chloé cosplays as Ladybug when she thinks no-one's looking. I'm not sure that's much better, really. We get our first extended school scenes, including its ideal-for-bullies outdoor staircases. Alya gets akumatised to the eponymous Lady Wifi – and in truth the episode works better than you'd expect from such a cringy premise. This show can do that. Sometimes. Cat Noir joins the growing "I am an idiot" crowd by pushing Ladybug to reveal her true identity. Meanwhile, Ladybug herself uses a microwave to jam all the phone signals. Handwaving away that Lady Wifi surely wouldn't be stopped by jamming 4G signals. Unless Paris has some bizarre integrated tech. No, me neither, but let's roll with it. As with many early S1 episodes, this is really very silly but also a good deal of fun. It's not a bad deal.

Quote: M. Damocles: "I'm sorry Chloé, but there's no school policy on invasion of privacy." Or on much else, by the looks of that place...

Next up, "Timebreaker". As opposed to "Timewaster", which would probably be my superhero name.