Revisiting the Fun Girl Spy Show TOTALLY SPIES!

I’ve been revisiting some of my childhood shows recently, and when I saw that Totally Spies was available on Amazon Prime, I had to go back and watch it. I remember watching it on Cartoon Network when I was a pre-teen and teenager, and this time I learned that I only ever saw the first two seasons of the show when I was younger. There were four seasons and a movie that I knew nothing about. Nevertheless, I have now watched all six seasons and the film which is available to stream for free on YouTube on the Totally Spies channel. Let’s dive into this cult classic show.

Totally Spies is a show made by French animation studios but in an anime-esque style. It follows three high school girls named Clover, Sam, and Alex from Beverly Hills, California who also happen to be spies for WOOHP or the World Organization of Human Protection under the management of Jerry. The episodes tend to be very episodic with no real story connecting them. Sometimes you would get returning villains or other characters, but most episodes were self-contained overall. There were some exceptions, and I will say that those two-part episodes tend to have the best writing of the series. If you are looking for just a fun little spy show about girls, this was and is a great watch.

The art is really fun to watch throughout Totally Spies, and they do a fantastic job of leaning into the anime style while not feeling Japanese that everything just works. They also do a great job of establishing character details like Clover is all about fashion, Sam is the smart one, and Alex is kind of the sporty one. They’re also teenage girls, so there’s constant flirting with boys, trips to the mall, and more. Another item that many fans, including myself, really enjoy is the fact that the characters are constantly in new clothes. Often in cartoons, characters will wear the same clothing in every episode with few exceptions. In this case, they wear the same spy outfits, but their civilian clothes are constantly changing which helps them feel alive and real. One complaint I do have about watching the show now though is that at least on Amazon Prime, they offer the show in a 16:9 format while all but the sixth season were aired in a 4:3 format. This means that a lot of shots have the tops and bottoms cropped which is a little weird to watch.

I also like the action in the series. It isn’t detailed like Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it does give you enough to feel satisfied. These are spies, and they try to be covert, but sometimes, you just need a little butt-kicking. In addition, the gadgets that they use are always fun and cleverly used. It is interesting how they always have the exact gadgets that they need for an episode though.

Another thing I appreciate is that the girls do progress to some degree. It’s episodic, but they do eventually graduate high school and go on to college. It’s a small change, but it’s very welcome.

I do want to address some other problems I have with Totally Spies now. First, starting with Season 3, there were some production changes I believe which led to a couple of voice changes and there were times throughout that felt like they were trying to retcon the first two seasons. The voice changes aren’t bad, they’re just different and aren’t so much a problem, but the retcons were a little annoying. For instance, we meet the mothers of the spies in the second season. They look related and very fitting for the roles. However, we then see them again in later seasons and now the mothers look exactly like their daughters with a couple of aging lines. It’s just a weird change that didn’t need to happen. Possibly my biggest problem with the show is the entirety of Season 6. It’s an okay season if you isolate it, but as it stands, I really don’t like it. Season 5 ended with an incredible two-parter that ended with Jerry and the girls putting an end to evil and retiring for good. Then, we go to Season 6, and they don’t touch on it at all. It’s like the Season 5 finale never happened. I know I said that the show is episodic and that’s fine, but when you establish something like your characters retiring, you need to address it when you revive the show.

Totally Spies is a fun show to go back and revisit. It isn’t anything to take seriously, they talk about a spy gene after all, and definitely has its flaws, but it’s worth giving a try. If you grew up on it, go back and rewatch it. If you never saw it, give it a few episodes and see if it’s something you like. Personally, the first two seasons are my favorites and I would skip Season 6, but maybe I’m wrong and the sixth season is actually a masterpiece that I just don’t understand. I didn’t talk much about the movie, but it is fine. It is a prequel to the series, but once again features things that tend to try to retcon earlier seasons. I can take it or leave it. Do you remember Totally Spies?